Ricky Powell, who photographed icons such as Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Madonna, Sofia Coppola, and Keith Haring, died of heart failure at the age of 59, reports several sources. He had deep roots in the New York hip-hop scene, including a close relationship with the Beastie Boys, touring with the group and capturing photos of them in the late ’80s. You’ve heard about him in the Beastie Boys song Car Thief: “Homeboy, throw in the towel, your girl got dicked by Ricky Powell.” No doubt, the guy was crass and would at any time blurt out something that will make you think, “who the heck is this guy!” But those who knew him knew exactly who Ricky Powell was. On Instagram, his buddy Run-DMC referred to him as a “kind-hearted, genuine, and energetic person to be around,” and to Lenny Kravitz he was “a true artist” who did things authentically.
I’ve followed Powell on Instagram for years: his moniker, the Lazy Hustler, chronicled his off-beat character and off-the-cuff style. In December of 2016, I saw on his feed that he was in town, cruisin’ up and around the Haight in Donny Gillies’ van. I was interested in writing an article about the San Francisco-based artist Donny Gillies, aka “Dirty Donny,” so I reached out to Gillies. He told me that legendary New York street artist Seen had introduced them so that Powell could help him promote his new book at an event at the Make Out Room.
I called Powell to interview him for the story, and he told me that he had just spent a quick 40 hours in San Francisco, staying at the Stanyan Park Hotel around the Haight.
“I love going to SF,” Powell told me. “It’s always a good time. Hunky-dory. Hunky-dory. Good mystique out there.”
He talked about how people came up to him on the street and treated him with “mad respect,” humoring him and giving him all the “good herbs.”
“In New York, I get treated like a wet tuna sandwich,” he said. “When I go outside in New York, it’s different. It’s just crazy.”
Our call got interrupted, and I realized that Powell was on a sidewalk in Greenwich Village as I interviewed him. It was a blustery January day, and he stopped to blow his nose, and then someone that Powell knew walked by and I heard him say, muffled, “What, you don’t love me anymore?” before picking up the phone and resuming our conversation. I got a few more questions in before another person walked by and grabbed his phone to speak to me.
“I am a friend of Ricky’s,” she said. “I want you to know he’s the best, but he didn’t show up to my 30-person Thanksgiving party but let me give him a hug and I’ll give him back to you.”
After a brief pause, I heard him tell her he was being interviewed by a journalist.
She continued.
“I want you to know that he is so special and important to the neighborhood, and I want people to remember what this neighborhood is about, arts and creation, instead of this high-rent bullshit, private equity banking [going on today]. He’s a living legend that walks our streets with a radio, and now he is spanking me on the street, and my husband is out and about and will knock him out.”
I heard him trying to get his phone back from her, but she kept saying, “No, no. I have to say this. This is important!”
She got back on the call and said about her husband wanting to whoop his ass, “Just kidding, they are both native New Yorkers and have known each other for years and are good friends.”
Before finally handing the phone back to him, she said, “I just wanted to say that I’m glad that you are interviewing him because everyone deserves to learn about Ricky Powell.”
Then I heard a muffled, “Muah!”
The phone call was disconnected, so I called him back. I really had no more questions for him but wanted to say a proper goodbye and thank him for the interview.
“You could put that stuff into the article,” said Powell. “It’s kind of funny.”
I wasn’t able to use most of these excerpts in my story back then because, well, it didn’t fit. It was an article about Dirty Donny with some background info and quotes. But today I am fulfilling Powell’s wish to publish this perfectly weird phone interview we had five years ago. Today it’s about him. Rest in peace, Lazy Hustler.
