‘Most feared man in Britain’ Dave Courtney had unexpected feud with Jay-Z over iconic album cover
London gangster Dave Courtney - who passed away on Sunday (22 October) - once had an unexpected feud with Jay-Z over his most iconic album cover.
The gangster-turned-actor called himself the ‘most feared man in Britain’ and was known to be an associate of the notorious Kray twins.
A post announcing his death was shared on his social media accounts on Sunday, which said Courtney 'took his own life' at the age of 64.
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In a statement to LADbible, the Metropolitan Police said officers attended a property on Chestnut Rise, in Plumstead, south-east London to find a 64-year-old pronounced dead at the scene.
His death is being treated as unexpected and is under investigation.
Courtney, one of Britain's most well-known gangsters, lived an eventful life, to say the least.
He was not only famously affiliated with the Kray brothers, Roy Shaw and Lenny McLean, but also had an unexpected feud with 24-time Grammy award-winner Jay-Z.
The rapper's 2001 The Blueprint album front cover was said to have been inspired by a photograph of Courtney doing a speech at Oxford Union, a debating society at University of Oxford.
Courtney called it the 'proudest moment' of his life.
The gangster's photo went on to be featured in a book called The Firm, by photographer Jocelyn Bain Hogg, which documents the lives of gangsters in South London.
Speaking on YouTube channel Gangster Tales in 2022, Courtney explained: "In this book, there is a photograph of me – an aerial photograph that was taken from the balcony of me addressing the Oxford Union.
"He actually looked at it like, 'wow there is a convicted felon teaching future parliament. He is the lecturer in the Oxford Union, teaching the next Lord Mayor, Prime Minister, Chief of Police'.
"He thought that was really funny. So what he did was he did the exact same picture and put his head on it.
"He put it on the cover of Blueprint, his album which is a f**king good album."
Courtney claimed: "He just changed the head on the picture and put him on it and called it Blueprint.
"My photograph became really famous on the cover of Jay-Z's album. I don't think it is the last you'll hear of that, I think it is gonna raise its head again. Right now he is running around in show business, saying he has done it all down to himself.
"He actually started off with me on front front of his f**king cover to be honest. It hasn't gone un-noticed by a lot of people."
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Anish Vij