Antonio Hardy(born September 10, 1968), better known by his stage nameBig Daddy Kane, is an Americanrapper, producer and actor who began his career in 1986 as a member of theJuice Crew. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and skilledMCsinhip hop.Rolling Stoneranked his song "Ain't No Half-Steppin'" number 25 on its list ofThe 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time, calling him "a master wordsmith of rap's late-golden ageand a huge influence on a generation of MCs".
In high school, Kane met Mister Cee, who would later play an integral in Kane's career when he served as his DJ.[3] In 1984, Kane became friends with Biz Markie, and he would co-write some of Biz's best-known lyrics.[4][5] Both eventually became important members of the Queens-based Juice Crew, a collective headed by renowned producer Marley Marl. Kane signed with Tyrone Williams's (Marl's manager) and Len Fichtelberg's Cold Chillin' Records label in 1987 and debuted the same year with the 12" single "Raw", which was an underground hit. The name Big Daddy Kane came from a variation on Caine, David Carradine's character from the TV show Kung Fu(1972–1975), and a character called "Big Daddy" whom Vincent Price played in the film Beach Party(1963).[6]
Kane is known for his ability to syncopate over faster hip hop beats, and despite his asthmatic condition,[4] he is acknowledged as one of the pioneering masters of fast rhyming. His sense of style is renowned and set a number of late-1980s and early-1990s hip hop trends (high-top fadeshairstyles, velour suits, and four-finger rings). The backronym "King Asiatic Nobody's Equal" is often applied to his moniker.
He released his debut album on Cold Chillin' Records in the early summer of 1988 called Long Live the Kane, which featured the 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 members Craig G, Masta Ace, and Kool G Rap.
In 1990, Big Daddy Kane was featured on Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet on the song Burn Hollywood Burn in which he discussed the depiction of African-American characters particularly in the Jim Crow Era. Big Daddy Kane also referenced Aunt Jemima as an example of the way Black women where characterised and given low status roles, with the lyrics "And Black women in this profession / As for playing a lawyer, out of the question / For what they play Aunt Jemima is the perfect term".[7] Big Daddy Kane's lyrics can be seen to still having contemporary meaning after the company which produced the character removed Aunt Jemima from packaging 30 years after Burn Hollywood Burn was released.[8]
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, Kane's experimentation with R&B beats and his alignment to the Five Percent Nation drew criticism.[citation needed] 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.
During the early 1990s, Jay-Z toured with Kane, 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."[9] Kane himself says that Jay-Z was not 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."[10] Jay-Z was also featured on Big Daddy Kane's track "Show & Prove" from Daddy's Home (1994), as well as in the video.[11]
In 1995, Kane recorded with MC Hammer and Tupac Shakur on the rap song "Too Late Playa" (along with Danny Boy). He was also mentioned to signing with Death Row East in 1996.[12] In 1997, Kane teamed up with Frankie Cutlass on his third single title "The Cypher Part 3" and some of Marley MarlJuice Crew veterans. In 1998, he released his final solo album to date, Veteranz' Day. It received mixed reviews and did not sell well. However, Kane did not give up rapping and made many appearances in the 2000s.
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Antonio Hardy
