Big Daddy Kane has earned the “Legendary” title. Undoubtedly one of the most formidable emcees from the 90’s Golden Age of hip hop. Big Daddy Kane and the Juice Crew rose to fame in the late 80’s after signing to NY label Cold Chillin’ Records and his legacy speaks for itself.
He is still able to (after well over two decades in the business) able to fill venues all over the globe. One of those venues will be performing for two dates at London’s Jazz Café next month (which I will be attending) before hopping across the pond to Dublin.
We are humbled to be able to bring you this interview with Big Daddy Kane. A hip hop legend who has remained true to the craft and to the culture.
Are you looking forward to your London show? What do you most love about the UK audience?
I’m always looking forward to a performance in London. The audience in the UK, it’s like they get into the project in its entirety. They’re not just into the hot single or what was the poppin’ song. It’s like they get into the entire project. When I’m on stage, in the middle of the show I hear people saying – Do “Mortal Combat!”… Do “Calling Mr. Welfare!!!”… Songs that I’ve never performed in my life, because they get into the entire album.
Do you feel as though you are the Godfather of technical lyricism?
Um. It was around before me. I think that you would have to think Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Caz and Melle Mel for that. You know? Around the time artists such as myself, Rakim, KRS One… there were a lot of other great lyricists out there that I guess weren’t really seen at the time. There was the Mikey D guy. King Sun. A lot of other great lyricists but in the early 80’s with Moe Dee, Caz and Melle Mel, it was those three and everybody else was like way down on the totem pole.
What was hip hop about back then compared to now?
I think in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s it was the type of thing where it was really, really a culture. It was the type of thing where you had street guys that got into hip hop to express their anger with someone else. Their anger with poverty. With the streets and so on. You had guys that had beef going to war on the microphone, turntables or breakdancing on some rollout tile of linoleum. So, it was really a cultural thing where people really respected what it was about and treated it like an artform and it became a part of their life. The way you dressed as a b-boy. Even like, the fly guys. They were fly in a hip hop way. It was really a cultural thing and I think that emcees embraced it in a way of trying to speak for the hood for embetterment purposes. Not for in a negative way. Not to glorify gangsta activities and things of that nature. They spoke about how real it was in the streets and how cats get down but it was to try and encourage people not to go that way, not to glorify it.
Which of the elements do you feel have taken a back seat?
I think originality, number one has not taken a back seat but just disappeared. Vanished. I think that lyrics have taken a back seat. I think that positivity has taken a back seat. I think that dancing has taken a back seat. That’s all I can really think of offhand.
Which newer artists do you feel do the art justice?
*Long pause* It’s funny because I’ve been asked this question before and real quick without even taking a breath I’d just automatically say “Ludacris”. Then finally one day somebody said “Ludacris aint new!”, so I don’t know who to say right now.
Have you bought any new albums over the past 6 months?
Uh. Hip hop. No. Honestly most of the hip hop I get comes off of hip hop. I like watching the battles with Goodz Da Animal. Aye Verb. These guys. I like watching the YouTube. That’s where I go to listen to hip hop and real lyrics.
Lord Jamar has been frequently criticized for his view on hip hop but do you feel he’s making valid points in defense of the hip hop culture?
[Laughs] Well, I would disagree that white boys are guests in the culture because you have a lot of white people that were involved in hip hop from the beginning stages whether it be as emcees of just people helping to get it out there. To me music is colorblind. I don’t think a form of music belongs to a certain race. Hip hop definitely is something that was started by black people if you wanna talk about its origin. But is it specifically for black people? No music is for everybody. White. Black. Asian. Latin. Whatever. So I couldn’t really agree with that. I forget the kids name, there was a white boy that used to breakdance with Rock Steady. There was a white DJ back in the late 70’s. They’ve always been a part of the culture. That’s really that brother’s views.
Are you a fan of the Hip hop festivals going commercial/mainstream shifting the focus from spotlighting indie artists? The mainstream artists aren’t really the ones who are in need of the platform.
That’s pretty much the story of anything. Once it becomes corporate the whole infrastructure changes. That’s pretty much how everything works. Is it a good thing? No. I think that’s just the way of the world. I agree with what you’re saying. There’s a lot of indie artists that can get exposure through these festivals and it can work for them. But it’s like now ‘cause you wanna get sponsorship dollars. You wanna have Sprite, Coca-Cola and Hennessy cutting checks for you, now you focus on the mainstream artists and the independent artists are pushed to the side. They gotta go on at 11am in the morning [laughs] stuff like that. I think that it’s sad to see that, but I mean that’s just the way things are. I would love to see somebody change that. Have a real platform and stick to their guns and keep it like that. They try to start a hip hop awards thing and I noticed that a lot of that, that changed. They tried to focus on the creators of the game. The originators of the game and I guess that wasn’t paying the bills so they had to focus on the artists of now. Where when you look at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, they focus on who really deserves to be in there. Who has really put in a long, lengthy body of work and deserves to be called a rock legend to the point where artists get upset like “What haven’t they acknowledged me yet?”. At the end of the day this is a ceremony that has existed and stayed strong and people respect it. It’s highly respected. You got artists that before they got inducted they’re making $10,000 a night and after they got inducted they’re making $25,000 a night because of their respect for the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. Where you can receive a hip hop award when you were making $10,000 a night and after the awards you’re still making $10,000 a night and six months later you might be making $7,000 a night.
What do you think of the clothing you used to wear back then in retrospect?
Um. Bumpy Knuckles just sent me a picture from the “Heal” video and my reply was “I blame you for this. You should have stopped me. You should have never let me come outside of the house with that hat or shirt on!”. I mean, I had a lot of fly outfits but sometimes I was dead wrong. Completely dead wrong.
What can the London audience expect from your show next month?
I think it’s going to be very exciting. I always love the way the fanbase there respond and the energy they give so I really try to come with something extra and come with something creative. I’m tryna add certain songs from the repertoire since they’ve been asking and requesting.
You can purchase tickets to Big Daddy Kane’s London shows right HERE