New York Gov. David Paterson granted hip-hopper Ricky “Slick Rick” Walters, 43, who spent more than five years in prison on a 1991 attempted murder conviction a full and unconditional pardon Friday, the Associated Press reports.

Into a statement, Walter expressed gratitude to Paterson and his attorneys. “This has been a long and difficult road and I am happy for this to be settled once and for all,” Walters said, quoted by the A.P. “I look forward to enjoying this time with my family and friends and to continue leading an honest and productive life,” he added.

The star behind ‘80s rap classics like “La-Di-Da-Di” and “Children's Story” was a successful rapper when he was convicted of shooting his cousin and another man in 1991. Both of them survived.

After he completed probation requirements in the attempted murder case, he was arrested again in June 2002. The arrest was on a 1997 Immigration and Naturalization Service warrant that had not been pursued earlier.

Walters spent 17 months in jail and a federal judge eventually ruled in October 2003 that the Bureau of Immigration Appeals denied the rapper’s due process when it issued the warrant.

In 2006, Walters told The Associated Press he intended to play out his appeals.

“If you were in my shoes, how would you look at life?” he said then. “You'd ride life out, too. Anger would just make life not enjoyable, you know what I mean?”

“Mr. Walters has fully served the sentence imposed upon him for his convictions, had an exemplary disciplinary record while in prison and on parole, and has been living without incident in the community for more than 10 years,” Paterson declared, according to the same source.

He also said he urged federal immigration officials to once again grant Walters relief from deportation, so that he is not separated from his relatives who are American citizens.