Antonio Monterio Hardy (born September 10, 1968)[1] better known
by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who started
his career in 1986 as a member of the rap group the Juice Crew. He
is widely considered to be one of the most influential and skilled
MCs in Hip Hop.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Regarding the
name Big Daddy Kane, he said: "The Big Daddy part and the Kane
part came from two different things. The Kane part came from my fascination
with the Martial Arts flicks when I was young. The Big Daddy came
from something that happened on a ski trip one time involving a young
lady." [13]
In 1984, Kane became friends with Biz Markie, and he would co-write
some of Biz's best-known lyrics.[14][15] Both eventually became important
members of the Queens-based Juice Crew, a collective headed by renowned
producer Marley Marl. Kane signed with Marl's Cold Chillin' Records
label in 1987 and debuted the following year with the 12" single "Raw," an
underground hit. Kane is known for his ability to syncopate over
faster hip hop beats, and despite his asthmatic condition[14] he
is acknowledged as one of the pioneering masters of fast-rap. His
sense of style is renowned and set a number of late-1980s and early-1990s
hip hop trends (high-top fades, velour suits, and four-finger rings).
The backronym "King Asiatic Nobody's Equal" is often applied
to his moniker.
He released his debut album under Cold Chillin' Records in the early
summer of 1988 called Long Live the Kane which featured the hip hop
hit, "Ain't No Half Steppin". The following year Kane released
his second album and biggest hit to date It's a Big Daddy Thing which
included 1970s sample throwbacks like "Smooth Operator" and
the Teddy Riley produced track "I Get the Job Done" which
hit the R&B top 40 during the closing of the 1980s. He also had
a memorable verse on the Marley Marl produced track "The Symphony" released
in late 1988 which included Juice Crew member Craig G, Masta Ace,
and Kool G Rap).
[edit] 1990s
Big Daddy Kane appeared on Patti Labelle's 1991 effort, "Burnin'".
He provided the rap chorus to the single "Feels Like Another
One". He also appeared on the video release "Live in New
York".
Widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers during the "golden
age" of hip hop (1986–1993), Kane's experimentation with
R&B beats and his alignment to the Five Percent Nation drew criticism.
Later albums, such as Looks Like a Job For…, were acclaimed,
but he was never able to return to the commercial and artistic success
of It's a Big Daddy Thing. However, he still tours extensively.
As an actor, he debuted in Mario Van Peebles' 1993 western, Posse,
and appeared in Robert Townsend's 1993 Meteor Man. Big Daddy Kane
also posed for Playgirl and Madonna's Sex book during the 1990s.
In 1996, he collaborated with 2Pac on his song "Where Ever U
R".
During the early 1990s, Jay-Z is known to have been Big Daddy Kane’s
hype man, and Kane helped him early on in his career - Ice-T says, “I
actually met Jay-Z with Kane. Kane brought Jay-Z over to my house”.[2]
Kane himself says that Jay-Z wasn’t technically his hypeman
in the true sense of the term –“he wasn’t a hypeman,
he basically made cameo appearances on stage. When I would leave
the stage to go change outfits, I would bring out Jay-Z and Positive
K and let them freestyle until I came back to the stage.”.[16]
Jay-Z was also featured on Big Daddy Kane’s track ‘Show & Prove’ from
Daddy’s Home (1994), as well as in the video.[17]
In 1995, Kane recorded with MC Hammer and Tupac Shakur on the rap
song "Too Late Playa" (along with Danny Boy).[1]
[edit] 2000s
A rejuvenated Big Daddy Kane occasionally collaborated with a variety
of hip-hop artists, including Jurassic 5, Little Brother, and DJ
Babu of the Beat Junkies. He released two singles, the Alchemist-produced "The
Man, The Icon", and the DJ Premier-produced "Any Type of
Way" (on which he discusses urban collapse in post-9/11 New
York City ("Giuliani got New York lookin' like it's Amistad")
and the erosion of the middle class.)
Big Daddy Kane appeared on the trip-hop group Morcheeba's 2003 single "What's
Your Name". In 2004, "Warm It Up, Kane" appeared on
popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on classic
hip hop radio station Playback FM.
In 2005, Big Daddy Kane was honored during the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors.
After a medley of hits performed by T.I., Black Thought, and Common,
he came out to perform "Warm It Up, Kane" with his old
dancers, Scoob and Scrap. Kane and Kool G Rap can both be seen briefly
in Dave Chappelle's Block Party documentary.
In 2006, he appeared as a guest MC on the track "Get Wild Off
This", produced by The Stanton Warriors for their Stanton Sessions
Vol. 2 breaks mix. He also appeared alongside the Wu-Tang Clan, Rakim,
and his longtime friends Busta Rhymes and Q-Tip in a segment of the
2006 Summer Jam concert (June 7, 2006), as part of an initiative
by Busta Rhymes to honor the legacy of New York City hip hop.
In 2007, a new track, "BK Mentality", was released on
the mixtape compilation Official Joints. Kane also appeared on Joell
Ortiz's The Brick: Bodega Chronicles mixtape.
Big Daddy Kane made a cameo in the 2008 video for "Game's Pain",
a track by Compton rapper The Game. The video also featured appearances
by Raekwon, Three Six Mafia and Ice Cube. The Game also referenced
Jay-Z's former occupation as Kane's hypeman: "Ask a Jay-Z fan
about Big Daddy Kane: Don't know him, Game gon' show 'em".[citation
needed] He also appeared on the remix of "Don't Touch Me" by
Busta Rhymes.
In 2010, Big Daddy Kane is working on a new album with his band
Connie Price and the Keystones, and Darnell Chavis from the 90's
R&B group, Solo, called "The Last Supper". The project
is said to have a classic Hip-Hop & R&B vibe to it. No date
is set, for the release of the album.
[edit] Legacy
Big Daddy Kane is regarded as one of the most influential and skilled
golden age rappers.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][18] MTV put
him at No. 7 in their Greatest MCs Of All Time list,[2] he is placed
at No.4 in Kool Moe Dee’s book There's A God On The Mic: The
True 50 Greatest MCs,[3] and RZA lists him as one of his Top 5 best
MCs.[4] Allmusic says, “his best material ranks among the finest
hip-hop of its era, and his sex-drenched persona was enormously influential
on countless future would-be players”,[5] and describes him
as, “an enormously talented battle MC”,[6] “one
of rap's major talents”,[6] refers to his, “near-peerless
technique” ”[6] and “first-rate technique and rhyming
skills”[19] and says he “had the sheer verbal facility
and razor-clean dexterity to ambush any MC and exhilarate anyone
who witnessed or heard him perform”.[18] Kool Moe Dee describes
him as “one of the most imitated emcees ever in the game”[20]
and “one of the true greatest emcees ever”,[21] and Ice-T
says:
"To me, Big Daddy Kane is still today one of the best rappers.
I would put Big Daddy Kane against any rapper in a battle. Jay-Z,
Nas, Eminem, any of them. I could take 'Raw' right now and put it
up against any record [from today]. Kane is one of the most incredible
lyricists… and he will devour you on the mic. I don't want
to try to out-rap Big Daddy Kane. Big Daddy Kane can rap circles
around cats".[2]
His first two albums are also considered Hip Hop classics[7] and
Rolling Stone says, “he has received consistent critical kudos”.[22]
In the book, Rap-Up: The Ultimate Guide To Hip-Hop And R&B, Cameron
and Devin Lazerine say Big Daddy Kane is “widely seen as one
of the best lyricists of his time and even today regularly gets name-checked
by younger dudes”,[23] and music journalist Peter Shapiro says
Kane is “perhaps the most complete MC ever”.[12] Eminem
references Big Daddy Kane in the lyrics to his song ‘Yellow
Brick Road’ from his Encore album, saying, “we (Eminem
and Proof) was on the same shit, that Big Daddy Kane shit, where
compound syllables sound combined”[10] and he quotes the same
lines in his book, The Way I Am – this illustrates how Big
Daddy Kane had an influence on both Eminem’s and Proof’s
rhyme technique.[11]
[edit] Discography
Main article: Big Daddy Kane discography
* Long Live the Kane (1988)
* It's a Big Daddy Thing (1989)
* Taste of Chocolate (1990)
* Prince of Darkness (1991)
* Looks Like a Job For... (1993)
* Daddy's Home (1994)
* Veteranz' Day (1998)