03 September 2009

The Smooth Operator


"I hate to brag... but DAMN I'm Good!"

When it came to looking fly when rhyming some of the most incredible lyrics heard in hip hop during the late 80's & early 90's, you couldn't go passed this man right here. The man that represented Brooklyn to the fullest and yes, gave Jay-Z his early shine. King Asiatic Nobody's Equal. That's right, you little whipper snappers. Big Daddy Kane. One of the golden era's most prominent MCs.

Now this 'Inspirations' entry is more mine than Daniel's (even though he, too, is a BDK fan). As a little tacker, I remember reading through the credits/ shouts in the old Public Enemy album jackets (ahhh...the good old days) and seeing names of artists I wasn't too familiar with. I was so intrigued. Like the little rap nerd I was. And to some degree, still am. Haha.

I saw names such as Biz Markie, Stetsasonic and Major Force (big up my Nippon crew!). I saw BDK listed in there. Then I started seeing photos of him and ads for his debut album, 'Long Live the Kane', when I first started buying/ racking 'Fresh' and 'Word Up' magazines ("Salt n Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine").

Then one great afternoon, my sister brought home 'Long Live the Kane'. Now keep in mind, where I was living at that time, it was so not New York. Haha. Not even London or even Sydney. So to find this in my town was like coming across a wallet on the road that had money in it. Haha (not that I would take it, of course).

So anyway, this bloke, for me, was the epitome of an MC. He had the look (suits and all), the voice and the lyrics. Hell, he even had the mad DJ (Mister Cee), the mad dancers (Skoob & Scrap Lover), and the maaad posse (The Juice Crew - Marley Marl, MC Shan, Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap & Roaxanne Shante). The complete package. Bam!

So in honour of this great Brooklynite, we salute Big Daddy Kane and his legacy. But hold up - dude is still going hard so I don't want to seem like he has left us or anything. Haha.

Long Live the Kane, indeed.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a dope read. I remember going through Part One's album jacket for the first time, buildin' knowledge and then came along Part 3 and was like hmmm, who is Axe Aklins and KOA. But then did I learn. Pow !

Hauie said...

Ahhh...exactly, young Jedi. That's how it should be. A lot of kids nowadays don't have the chance or don't want to appreciate this part of the game.

You can't know your future if you don't know your past.

Glad you enjoyed the read bro. Nice one.

marz said...

Nice blog. Keep it up man.