16 The Courier sun • AUGUST 11, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Rapper from Jamaica used his ‘slim chance’ to give back to his community By Anthony Giudice agiudice@qns.com/@A_GiudiceReport One rapper from Jamaica is using the power of his music to bring about positive change, not only for himself, but for the entire community. Kevin Taylor, also known as Slimchance the Rapper, is using his music to inspire those who have been told that they have a “slim chance” to succeed in life, as many have told him. As a child, Taylor’s mother developed a drug addiction and his life changed forever; he was placed in a group home upstate. When he was 9 years old, his aunt gained custody of him — and his brother — and brought them to live with her and her five kids. It was while living with his aunt that Taylor discovered his love of music, coupled with the rich and lavish lifestyle of rappers, and he wanted that for himself. “It was so intriguing because you would see the fancy cars and the pretty girls, and here I am, a young kid, but I just knew that I’ve already dealt with all these problems at a young age of 8 or 9 and here are Photo courtesy of Slimchance Kevin Taylor a.k.a Slimchance the Rapper is using his music to create change in his neighborhood in Jamaica. these people on TV looking like they don’t have a problem in the world,” Taylor said. “It’s like they were in a fantasy world. I was attracted to that, like wow, I want to look like I’m living problemfree too. So I think that’s kind of the spark that made me say I want to get into this entertainment because this is where the money is, this is where everybody loves you. Growing up I didn’t feel like I had all that love.” From that point on Taylor made it his personal mission to be a success in the rap game. After years of recording his own raps on a tape deck, handing out tapes and CDs to anyone who would listen, and hours of learning how to mix his own music on a computer, Taylor now has more than 54,000 album downloads as well as a successful clothing brand. With his success, Taylor has not forgotten his roots and has done his part in giving back to the community that has given him so much. To date, Taylor has donated almost $10,000 to charities to feed children in need. He has given away 1,000 signature T-shirts from his clothing brand, SC Apparel, and has donated more than 150 pairs of sneakers to neighborhood kids in Jamaica. Taylor’s giving doesn’t just end with money and donations. He has used his rapping skills to create songs to relate to important issues facing everyday people such as breast cancer, HIV/AIDS — which is how his mother died when he was younger — Haiti relief and other issues. “I don’t use that as a gimmick, I just feel like there is so much going on in the world and it’s very rare that you have a voice that people actually respect and want to be a part of and want to listen to,” Taylor said. Now “Slimchance” has set his sights on another issue that hits very close to home for him, the Black Lives Matter movement. As a black man, Taylor was affected by the deaths of other black men like Eric Garner, Alton Sterling, Trayvon Martin and others and is using his song “Black Lives Matter…What Happened?” to talk about it, even if more mainstream artists aren’t. “This song is very important for me to put out because as I’m Googling Black Lives Matter music on the internet, nobody has recorded anything, nobody has released anything,” Taylor said. “It bothers me that these mainstream artists aren’t doing enough.” Now Taylor is working to get all the artists he knows from around Jamaica and Queens to collaborate on a song, much like the 1985 hit “We are the World” by the most influential artists of the time, to shed even more light on this issue. Roselyn Siegfried Of Flushing House Celebrates 106th Birthday! Roselyn Siegfried, the longest living resident of Flushing House, will celebrate her 106th birthday in August! The joyous occasion will bring family members together for her birthday bash on Sunday, August 28th, up on the spectacular Roof Top Lounge of Flushing House. Roselyn was born in Steubenville, Ohio on August 29th, 1910. Her family moved to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, where Roselyn grew up. At the age of 19, Roselyn and a female friend left Pittsburgh and moved to Brooklyn, New York. And, despite being the height of the Depression, Roselyn was always able to find work there as a legal secretary. Moving from the Hotel St. George in Brooklyn, Roselyn settled on the upper West Side where she met her future husband, Harold Siegfried, known to one and all as “Artie.” After Roselyn and Artie were married in 1938, they were blessed with the birth of their daughter Renee. In 1940, they moved to Utopia Parkway in Fresh Meadows, and lived there until Artie retired in 1980. Then it was off to Florida and Sunrise Lakes, where the couple spent days canoeing in the Everglades and socializing with friends. They remained in Florida until Artie showed symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease, so they decided to relocate back to New York, where they moved to Flushing House on June 6, 1991 and lived there for several months, before her beloved Artie passed away. Having made many new friends at Flushing House, Roselyn decided to stay. She has enjoyed her many years at Flushing House, participating in its many activities. During a few recent visits to nearby Flushing Hospital, the nurses and doctors made special trips to her room to find out her secrets, to both her long life and her good looks! She was quick to tell them she has “20/20 vision, perfect hearing, and all her own teeth.” She attributes this to daily exercise and vitamins. At Flushing House, Roselyn enjoys spending quality time with her daughter Renee and her two grandchildren, Suzanne and David, and especially her two great-grandchildren, Noah (13) and Eve (10). Built in 1974, Flushing House is the largest nonprofit retirement community in New York State, one of the first to offer older adults “Independent Living” along with supportive services on premises. The address is: 38-20 Bowne Street, Flushing, New York 11354. Go to www.flushinghouse.com for more information. Roselyn Siegfried
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