Tag Archives: Big Daddy Kane

Artist Jay Shells Turns Classic Rap Lyrics Into Street Signs [PHOTOS]

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Street artist and graphic designer Jason “Jay Shells” Shelowitz has been making a name for himself in the art world for his bold images and political statements. With his latest project, Shells is bombing the city using the clever angle of crafting street signs with rap lyrics and placing them at the actual location that inspired the lines.  ANIMAL teamed up with Shells on his journey, and he offered some insight on what inspired him to take on this ambitious work. “A lot of rappers call out their block,” he explained. “When you’re on a corner that’s called out in a song, I think it’s cool to know that.” Shells says late Harlem rapper Big L inspired the first of the signs, using lyrics from the boom-bap classic “Lifestyles Ov Da Poor And Dangerous” affixed on a red sign with bold white letters. Other notables in the project include Kanye West, Jay-Z, KRS-One, Heavy D, Big Daddy Kane, Nas, Jim Jones, and fallen greats such as Heavy D and Guru of Gang Starr fame. In a classy move, late Pro Era rapper Captial Steez also gets a nod. Shells takes some bold measures to get his signs up, even posting one in front of Brooklyn‘s 73rd Precinct in honor of a lyric from M.O.P.‘s Lil Fame and the track “Brownsville.” The artist also humorously defends his art, opting to employ a nerdy voice under the guise of an art student if cops give him any issues.

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via;hiphopwired.com
 
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Where Are They Now?: The Juice Crew All-Stars [PHOTOS]

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Founded by New York producer Marley Marl and late radio personality DJ Mr. Magic in Queens, the Juice Crew featured some of the most influential MC‘s of Hip-Hop’s “Golden Age” of the 1980s. Long before the mega-crews like Native Tongue, Wu-Tang Clan and Boot Camp Click dominated the landscape, the Juice Crew was one of the first Hip-Hop collectives to burst onto the national scene. MC Shan, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap (together with DJ Polo), Roxanne Shante, Biz Markie, Craig G, Tragedy Khadafi (formerly The Intelligent Hoodlum), crooner TJ Swan and Masta Ace were all under the production tutelage of Marley Marl. The entire collective were signed to Cold Chillin’/Warner Bros. Records, with Kane becoming the largest commercial success of them all. Kool G Rap and DJ Polo were met with critical acclaim over their four albums on the label.  Shan and Shante were the early stars, with the Biz maintaining his own burgeoning following. Disbanding in 1991 after an eight-year run, the Juice Crew acts would find themselves attempting to find fame without the crutch of the group to rely on.  Some members enjoy steady, if not highly visible, careers to this day. Other members have since fallen from the limelight.

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TJ Swan ( On The Left)

Future, T-Pain, even the late Nate Dogg, they all owe a debt to TJ Swan, the vocalist of the Juice Crew. Besides some attempts to find him by UnKut, does anyone know where this OG Hip-Hop crooner is?

Photo: David Corio/Michael Ochs Archives

Roxanne Shante

Roxanne Shante was the first act to appear under the Juice Crew banner. Known for her scathing beefs on wax with UTFO and rival The Real Roxanne, besides never earning Ph.D. like she claimed, Shante remains a beloved figure.
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MC Shan

Shan’s Marley Marl produced ode to his native Queensbridge projects “The Bridge” sparked a response from Bronx upstart KRS-One. Shan isn’t involved in music much these days (dropping a single last year), but scored big as a producer in the early 1990s with Canadian reggae artist Snow, producing the track “Informer.”

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Daddy Kane

Kane possessed one of the best rap flows on the planet during his career’s height. Although he hasn’t dropped an official album since 1998, BDK still tours extensively and does cameos and one-offs on the regular and recently formed a supergroup called Las Supper.

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G. Rap (On The Left) DJ Polo (Right)

G. Rap proved that even rappers with a lisp can flow, long before EPMD‘s Erick Sermon.  G. Rap is still making music, releasing an LP in 2011 and working alongside horrorcore rapper/producer Necro on a joint project.

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Craig G didn’t make a splash early in his career, but went on to become an underground rap icon. Famous for his notorious freestyle battles with rival Supernatural, he is still dropping new music. The Queens MC released the slept on LP Ramblings Of An Angry Old Man last year.
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What Biz Markie lacked in lyrics, he made up for with a zany personality and formidable beat boxing skills. With a few mild hits here and there, the Diabolical One has enjoyed a great career as a sought after DJ.

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Tragedy The Intelligent Hoodlum/Tragedy Khadafi

Tragedy was a junior member of the Juice Crew but frequent jail stints stalled his career. Changing his name to Tragedy Khadafi, the QB soldier was responsible for introducing the world to celebrated rap duo Capone-N-Noreaga. Tragedy has been active in the 2000s and still records.
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Masta Ace

The fact that he opened up the all-star classic posse cut “The Symphony” speaks to the Brownsville rapper’s MC pedigree. Ace is still doing his thing, dropping MA DOOM: Son Of Yvonne, which featured beats from fellow old-school vet MF DOOM, last year.
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Marley Marl

Marley Marl gets props for being one of the first producers to really use samples heavily on his beats.  At 50 years of age, Marley is spinning on WBLS and did manage to release a few projects with former mentee Craig G and past rival KRS-One.
via:hiphopwired.com

Time Out New York Names Jay-Z “Greatest NYC Hip-Hop Artist,” Notorious B.I.G Gets 2nd Place

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Jay-Z has beaten out the Notorious B.I.G. for Time Out New York’s ”50 Greatest NYC Hip-Hop Artists” list. Hovito won the honor thanks to his genre-bending collaborations, and for being the best at enduring “the day-in, day-out shift of the modern rap era.” According to their website, Jay “filled the void created with Christopher Wallace’s death with gold-standard-setting LPs like 1998′s Vol. 2 … Hard Knock Life, 1999′s Vol 3… Life and Times of S. Carter and 2001′s The Blueprint.” The list features a host of old school rap figures like Kool Herc (No. 47), Digable Planets (No. 36), and Big Daddy Kane (No. 11), plus the newbies, including Nicki Minaj (No. 35) and A$AP Rocky (No. 39). Rakim’s lyrical expertise helped him crack the Top 15, and Sean “Diddy” Combs landed at No. 7. “Combs made his greatest impact on hip-hop with his entrepreneurial skill as the magnate behind Bad Boy,” the story reads. “The template for every would-be empire builder who followed in his wake (not to mention the master of the original Harlem Shake).”

As expected, the list is causing controversy among readers. “While lists are ALWAYS subjective, and NO list can or should be argued, it’s pretty clear that this list is more arbitrary than carefully constructed,” commented one reader. “It’s a great list that pays tribute to a great history of artistry from our area, but it is not fully accurate, nor properly indicative of a true hierarchy, and should not have been presented as such.” Another person debated Jay-Z’s placement.”This is what happens when people who don’t understand real rap and just look at charts and sales do ‘rap’ list they pick the most popular person,” the reader wrote. “Nas is No.1 and Big is No. 2 Jay-z is third at best knock it off.” Making the process interactive, TONY allowed select rappers to nominate their favorite MCs, and encourages readers to share their thoughts via their Twitter page.
via:hiphopwired.com

Pusha T Says Big Daddy Kane Is Better Than Rakim

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Pusha T Says Big Daddy Kane Is Better Than Rakim

Pusha T explains why he feels Big Daddy Kane trumps Rakim on the mic.

It’s a debate that’s plagued Hip Hop purists for decades, but now, Pusha T gives his take on who is the better emcee: Big Daddy Kane or Rakim. In a recent interview with The Combat Jack Show, the G.O.O.D Music rapper discussed why he believes Kane is better than Rakim. He explained that after listening to a mix of Kane and Rakim’s records on Philadelphia’s Power 99, he determined that it is the Juice Crew emcee who put out the more impressive discography. Pusha even added that Kane’s legacy influenced the title of his most recent mixtape, Wrath of Caine.

“That [debate over Big Daddy Kane and Rakim was] what Wrath of Caine was about,” he revealed. “It was always the play off the street metaphors, but what happened was I was driving to New York, and I was coming through Philly, and by the time I got to Philly, I caught it so perfectly: a mid-day, mini-mix on Power 99 and they’re doing a [Big Daddy] Kane and Rakim battle. Now mind you, this is an argument that happens with my crew [and] my brother…but I was like, when you lined it up just record for record, I thought [Kane] won.” Earlier this week, Pusha T released his long-awaited mixtape Wrath of Caine. The Clipse veteran is currently working on his solo debut My Name is My Name.

via:hiphopdx.com

Big Daddy Kane Forms New Super Group With The Lifted Crew & Showtyme

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Big Daddy Kane Forms New Super Group With The Lifted Crew & Showtyme

Big Daddy Kane discusses his new super group Las Supper with Showtyme and the Lifted Crew.

It’s been over a decade since Big Daddy Kane released his last album Veteranz Day, but now, the Brooklyn emcee is coming back with a new super group project Las Supper. In a recent interview with Fuse, Kane discussed his new project with singer Showtyme and live Hip Hop group the Lifted Crew. Kane explained that the group’s album Back to the Future merges the sounds of ’60s and ’70s soul wtih his classic Hip Hop stylings, and was recorded over live instrumentation. ”The album is called Back to the Future, and we came together collectively – myself Big Daddy Kane, Showtyme, who sings with Pharoahe Monch, and the Lifted Crew – and we basically merged together…[with] three different units coming together as one to form Las Supper,” he said, “What we tried to do is basically bring back the vintage ’60s and ’70s soul – which you see a lot of people doing [including] Sharon Jones, Amy Winehouse, [and] Raphael Saadiq – but combining it with vintage Hip Hop, like the stuff that I was doing from the beginning of my career [in] the Public Enemy, Rakim KRS-One era…[we're] doing it over nothing but live instruments – live guitar, live trumpet, even on down to the glockenspiel.”

He added, “The chemistry has just been so great. I’ve enjoyed working with these guys, we’re always laughing, having a good time, and then when we connect, it could be where something that was supposed to be very simple, once we connect on it, we end up taking it to a whole another level.” Most recently, Kane released a single produced by DJ Premier titled “28 Bars of Kane” in honor of the new Air Jordan XX8 sneaker release. Check out the second part of Fuse’s interview with Kane, in which the Juice Crew alum discusses working with Jay-Z and earning praise from Dave Chappelle.

via: hiphopdx.com

Big Daddy Kane shows his love for Jay-Z and discusses the current state of Brooklyn.

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Big Daddy Kane Praises Jay-Z, Discusses Brooklyn Gentrification

This upcoming June 2013 marks the 25th anniversary of the release of Big Daddy Kane’s seminal debut album Long Live the Kane. Now, in a recent interview with Complex, Kane retraces the steps of his career and revisits one of his former proteges. Kane first discussed his relationship with fellow Brooklynite and former protege Jay-Z. He said that’s proud to see his “Show and Prove” partner has become so successful and praised his ability on the mic. “I’m happy for him. I’ve always thought that dude was a good rapper and always wanted to see him achieve the best and he has,” said Kane. Kane also dicussed his place as one of the two Brooklyn representatives in the predominantly Queens-bred Juice Crew. He said that he always tried to do justice to Brooklyn while with the Juice Crew, but nowadays, however, he doesn’t even recognize what Brooklyn’s become.

“In the beginning there was awkwardness, because me and Shan didn’t necessarily get along and Mr. Magic was kind of funny towards me. But eventually we were all close and good friends. I definitely wanted to rep Brooklyn, because pretty much all of them were reppin’ Queens…[but Brooklyn’s] mad different. When people ask me would I move back, I say, ‘What for?’ All my memories are gone. It’s not like I can go to the Empire and put my feet up on the back of someone else’s seat so the rats don’t run across my feet. It’s not like I can go see great kung fu flicks on The Deuce for $1.50…I go there now and an old movie theater will end up being an organic shop or Blimpie’s will end up being a Starbucks.”

via: hiphopdx