Times Square Gunman Beat Kanye In Trivia

The rapper and street peddler who was gunned down by cops in Times Square had a brush with fame last year when he defeated Kanye West on an MTV trivia show.

Raymond "Ready" Martinez — who was shot and killed after opening fire on an officer who thought he was scamming tourists — was chosen off the street to take on Kanye in the hip hop game show "Hood Fab" in 2008, according to the Post. In the game Martinez couldn't identify a lyric from the Slick Rick’s classic "Children’s Story," or remember the Tribe Called Quest song "I Left My Wallet in El Segundo." But he managed to defeat West — who had correctly answered prompts about legendary hip hop figures like Diamond D and Jeru the Damaja — by correctly IDing all of the artists who performed on DJ Khaled's "We Taking Over."

Martinez won a pair of tube socks and a gift certificate to Foot Locker and Kanye, for his part, looked a little bitter after the loss.

Hoodfab: Kanye West

Meanwhile DNAinfo looks into the digital papertrail left behind by the 25-year-old Bronx native. Photos on the MySpace page of his group, Square Free, depict Martinez hawking CDs and posing with customers and passersby (including Rev. Al Sharpton, GZA, Ed Lover, and Sway) just blocks from breezeway of the Marriott Marquee, where he was gunned down after his gun jammed because he held it sideways. YouTube videos show him freestyling. Friends tell the website that when he wasn't recording music and selling CDs, Martinez worked as a pimp, "sometimes with as many as 10 prostitutes in his employ."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Ben Muessig in News on December 13, 2009 6:10 PM

Comments [rss]

gabb

Ready's dead!

That's what i said!!

callo282

AND he was a pimp? Darwinism truly working at it's best.

zodak

one more wangsta off the streets. can we get the nypd to go around arresting all of these cd hustlers?

tnuc

we need a big news story to get this story off the map. enough about this perp's life. .0001% of america cares that he was on mtv last year.

keep up the good work nypd.

next topic please

Petey

"the rapper who was gunned down"?

He wasn't gunned down, he was killed while trying to kill a cop. He was nothing but a street criminal.

And he really didn't "beat" anyone in trivia. He knew 1 person that Kanye didn't know, thats it. Didn't know slick rick, didn't know a tribe called quest. But now he knows the weight of 6 ft of dirt.

Snoopy

Plus don't forget the weight of the three lead slugs he took.

NannyState

Visiting his MySpace page was like stepping into a sewer pipe. Someone needs to notify the Department of Sanitation about the potential backup into streets and residential areas.

Snoopy

After going into hiding for a few days Mr. Ready's father said to his dead son, "I never wanted this for you. I work my whole life--I don't apologize--to take care of my family, and I refused to be a fool, dancing on the string held by all those bigshots. I don't apologize--that's my life--but I thought that, that when it was your time, that you would be the one to hold the string. Senator Martinez; Governor Martinez."

marcasm

Beating Kanye in anything isn't saying much.

Thespis

Imma let you finish, but Kanye West is the best trivia player of all time!

Clarice City

I was waiting for that. Thank you.

Bernie Madoff-Goetz

Figures a douchebag who raps about violence and murder would miss a question about A Tribe Called Quest.

Malcolm Tucker

Lived like a Gangsta.

Died like a pussy.

Here endeth the fuckin' lesson.

jaycjay

I read through the comments on his MySpace page yesterday, and noted that at least of couple of people who knew him didn't seem to be at all surprised that he'd pull a gun on a cop.

"I knew how you felt and all but damn, I really didn't think you ready like that!"

"I knew you were Ready, but damn! Like this my n____?!"

[censored to get past that "held for approval by the blog owner" block]

And then there's this:

"NEVER EXPECTED FOR YOU TO WILD OUT LIKE THAT BUT I GUESS YOU FELT IT WAS NECESSARY TO TAKE SUCH EXTREME MEASURES.AND HONESTLY I DONT EVEN KNOW WHY YOU WAS CARRY THAT AROUND AND WHOEVER KNEW YOU HAD THAT THEY WERENT TRUE FRIENDS.BECAUSE A TRUE FRIEND WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU TO KEEP THAT HOME..."

kazubes

Hopefully they name a street in his memory,what a tragic loss to community

calcetines

holy shit listen to the end of the freestyle!

inoyourider

Stop posting stories about this piece of shit.

As much as I love that the reason his gun jammed is because he was too ignorant to fire it properly...

The only good or interesting things about this story are that he's dead and no one else got hurt.

Malcolm Tucker

Aww come on, mate, it's a fuckin' hilarious story! After a shite year we can all use a good laugh at this ghetto wanker's comedic demise!