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There are album MCs like Nas
And there are rock a show MCs like BDK
And there are rock a show MCs like BDK
Big Daddy Kane was basically washed at like 25, how did that happen?
- Thread starter Street Knowledge
- Start date
NZA
LOL
even he admitted his flow was stale. he sounded like the 80s which helped him until it hurt him.
This is the answer. Rap evolved extremely fast back thenRap quickly evolved year over year starting in the early 90's before it blew up and went fully mainstream
Drill/Trap lasted for years and years in this modern era
Back then, popular rap styles typically had a shelf life of a couple of years. That's why guys like LL get so much praise for longevity.
Mike the Executioner
What went on up there? Poppers and weird sex!
Back then, hip hop moved at an accelerated pace. You see how Drake, Kendrick, and Cole are still successful after 15 years? That would be impossible to do in hip hop back then. You were lucky if you were still relevant by your fourth album.
Kane was a fantastic MC, but he stopped caring about the music he was making at some point. He said that he started doing whatever he wanted because of the way his deal was structured with Warner Bros., so he was just cranking out as much music as he could. He had a crush on Barbara Weathers, so he did a song with her. He was a fan of Dolemite and Barry White, so he did songs with them. He leaned so much into the R&B/player side, he lost favor with people who wanted the raw battle MC.
He tried to go back to that on Looks Like a Job For... and he initially blamed the producers when it didn't sell. But then he realized that by '92/'93, hip hop had changed so much to the point where guys were rapping behind the beat, and he was still rapping like it was '88 with the speed flow. Uptempo records were his bread and butter, but those songs were considered ancient by the time Illmatic and Ready to Die came out.
Kane had the ability to adjust with the times, he just didn't. Rappers had way shorter careers back then. It happened to everyone. The irony is when Kane came out in '88 and set the world on fire, guys like him were replacing Run-D.M.C. who were the kings at the time. They went triple platinum with Raising Hell and became crossover stars. Tougher Than Leather took two years to come out and it sold half of what Raising Hell sold because by '88, Run-D.M.C. was starting to get looked at as old-school next to Public Enemy, Rakim, and Kane. And if you listen to that album, they're fully aware of the culture shift and adjusting their sound to fit in.
If Kane's first album was twenty years later, he would have lasted a decade and a half also. He would have the talent and the ability to move with the times. Or he would at least be relevant for more than two albums. His problem was that he strayed too far from what made him popular and tried to gain an audience that were only going to stick with him for a short time, then move on to something else.
Kane was a fantastic MC, but he stopped caring about the music he was making at some point. He said that he started doing whatever he wanted because of the way his deal was structured with Warner Bros., so he was just cranking out as much music as he could. He had a crush on Barbara Weathers, so he did a song with her. He was a fan of Dolemite and Barry White, so he did songs with them. He leaned so much into the R&B/player side, he lost favor with people who wanted the raw battle MC.
He tried to go back to that on Looks Like a Job For... and he initially blamed the producers when it didn't sell. But then he realized that by '92/'93, hip hop had changed so much to the point where guys were rapping behind the beat, and he was still rapping like it was '88 with the speed flow. Uptempo records were his bread and butter, but those songs were considered ancient by the time Illmatic and Ready to Die came out.
Kane had the ability to adjust with the times, he just didn't. Rappers had way shorter careers back then. It happened to everyone. The irony is when Kane came out in '88 and set the world on fire, guys like him were replacing Run-D.M.C. who were the kings at the time. They went triple platinum with Raising Hell and became crossover stars. Tougher Than Leather took two years to come out and it sold half of what Raising Hell sold because by '88, Run-D.M.C. was starting to get looked at as old-school next to Public Enemy, Rakim, and Kane. And if you listen to that album, they're fully aware of the culture shift and adjusting their sound to fit in.
If Kane's first album was twenty years later, he would have lasted a decade and a half also. He would have the talent and the ability to move with the times. Or he would at least be relevant for more than two albums. His problem was that he strayed too far from what made him popular and tried to gain an audience that were only going to stick with him for a short time, then move on to something else.
The flow itself is cool as it's close to the level of the GOD, but ehh..move the crowd rapper which is cool in itself.
The whole multi syllables setting it off, letting it off, rumble, humble, gumble raps without any sort of rhyme and reason leads to trash ass albums.
Dude ended up being Canibus without scaring the hoes.
Ricardo Gardner
Tranquilise, tranquilise yo
threattonature
Veteran
I think part of his problem is back then trying to sell out was taking a lot more serious. LL got a pass on it because he always came out on the Ladies Man tip and did a better job of playing both sides. Kane at one point went full blown with trying to appeal to the masses plus the optics of all the Madonna shyt. He lost his core audience and when you go the mainstream route you become disposable as they quickly move on to the next hot thing. Kane had the ability to update his style and change with the times but took too long to do it. He showed that versatility in his first two albums.
I thought he was poised for a comeback after his feature run in the late 90s. I remember him having a lot of buzz off that Big L feature (think it got verse of the month in The Source), Prince Paul feature, and I think he was on a track with G Rap and Chino XL on the Sway and Tech album but then nothing.
I thought he was poised for a comeback after his feature run in the late 90s. I remember him having a lot of buzz off that Big L feature (think it got verse of the month in The Source), Prince Paul feature, and I think he was on a track with G Rap and Chino XL on the Sway and Tech album but then nothing.
Erratic415
Superstar
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zayk35
Superstar
Shyt changed really fast between 1988-1992
His first 2 albums were classics that were highly influential. Then after that it was basically over with dud after dud. He even came out one time and admitted he wasted the production on Looks like a job for
Your comment is misleading. He said that he "wasted" the production on Looks Like a Job For in the sense that he wasn't flowing in a style that was currently fashionable. That doesn't mean he was "washed up" on that album. He was as sharp as ever, he just wasn't in line with what was trendy at the time.
this. all of this imo.
it was super refreshing to hear him admit recently that his ego didnt allow him to adjust to the way the landscape was shifting during the golden era. he heard nas, meth and others rhyming behind the beat, and he dismissed it. but ironically, he ended up sounding really dated relatively early in his career. even on "sounds like a job for..." an album i enjoy, his style still sounds exactly the same as it did on long live the kane. and that shyt was not hitting the same way in 93-95.
nah. he was not as sharp. he was still using "put a quarter in your ass/played yourself"-style punchlines.
"my rhymes like spandex they make any ass look good." in the same window when wu, big and nas were storming the gates? fukk outta here.
Doesn't help that the game forever passing him by sadly. I remember when Kane was getting them roses near the late 90s into the early 2000s with Rawkus and em...but sadly we ended up going from B Boying to A Town stomping.
Dude is the embodiment of a pokemon that doesn't adapt to evolution. Hell, I remember him trying to spit on Little Brother's mixtape and even Big Pooh washed him (before Big Pooh matured on the mic, given Phonte was the better rapper at the time).
