Club Shay Shay - Big Daddy Kane Part 1

Summary

Club Shay Shay – Big Daddy Kane (Part 1)

Host: Shannon Sharpe
Guest: Big Daddy Kane
Date: September 24, 2025

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Overview

In this rich and candid episode of Club Shay Shay, Shannon Sharpe sits down with legendary rapper Big Daddy Kane to reflect on his four-decade career, the roots and evolution of hip hop, his relationships with icons like Tupac, Biggie, and Jay-Z, and the culture-shaping role of Brooklyn. Kane offers trademark wisdom about lyricism, authenticity, collaboration, money, competition, and the endurance of musical legacy in the streaming age. The conversation is animated, full of stories, laughter, lessons, and deep respect for hip hop’s past, present, and future.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Enduring Legacy and Humble Beginnings of Big Daddy Kane

• Kane's Reaction to Accolades (04:27): Kane downplays the 40-year span (“It’s only been 37… but it’s all good. I take it.”), expressing gratitude for the recognition and the journey from childhood passion to cultural icon.
• Finding His Voice in Brooklyn (06:42–08:00): Kane details how the street vernacular of hustlers and the unique Brooklyn energy shaped his lyricism:
  • “I just want to have that slick talk, you know?”

2. Brooklyn’s Role in Hip Hop Greatness

• “What is it about Brooklyn?” (07:42): Kane credits the “quality of uniqueness” and an independent way of doing things.
• Kane notes he wasn’t the first mainstream Brooklyn rapper—Houdini was, followed by others like Fat Boys and Jimmy Spicer (08:31–09:04).

3. Lifting Others and the Juice Crew Era

• Mentorship & Giving Back (09:46–11:22):
  • Kane’s career was boosted by Biz Markie after a battle in ‘84. In return, Kane felt compelled to help the next generation.
  • “With everything that Biz did for me… I wanted to try to do that for other artists.”

4. Relationships with Biggie & Tupac

• Kane’s Interactions with Biggie (12:35–14:40):
  • Biggie was a fan, and Kane respected Big’s rapid improvement:
    • “Had he lived, I think he would have probably been the greatest MC ever.” (13:19)
  • On their playful phone conversations: “‘Ah, the real big.’ That’s the first thing we… and we just laugh and whatnot.”
• Tupac Connections (14:47–17:12):
  • Kane recalls inviting Pac and Biggie onstage at Madison Square Garden early in their careers, recalling Bobby Brown doing the same for him.
  • Brief studio collaborations:
    • “We worked together before… I recorded a song called Wherever You Are with Pac. I wrote a song for Hammer called What You Gonna Do For Me? And me, Pac and Hammer… did a song called Too Late Player all in the same night.” (17:18–17:54)

5. Almost Signing with Death Row East

• Suge Knight Negotiations (17:54–19:07):
  • Kane recounts Suge offering more than Kane asked for (“I would be insulting you to give you less than a million.”), but Kane declined a $100k upfront, wary of feeling “indebted”:
    • “All of a sudden, that just felt like a gangster move.” (19:07)

6. Reflections on Tupac’s Legacy

• Pac’s Influence & Mythology (22:47–23:40):
  • “Pac would have probably been the Michael Jackson of hip hop.”
  • “Anytime you pass away and people have sightings of you, that’s when you a bad dude.”
• Pac’s Complexity (23:56–25:39):
  • Was Pac authentic? “I think Pac was a real dude. I think… he was just easily influenced.”
• The Reality of Youthful Mistakes: Kane admits they all did “dumb shit” like fighting at afterparties:
  • “You can’t just put that on Pac… we all did that.” (25:31)

7. Money, Success, and Perspective

• Financial Wisdom (28:45–31:20):
  • Kane stresses protecting and wisely spending money, and recognizing those who came before:
    • “There was always someone before you… There was Run DMC before me; Melly Mel before me.”
  • On Drake and Jay-Z’s huge successes:
    • “I love hearing those stories because I know how difficult… especially with Jay Z. Because this is someone who I tried to get a deal for in the early 90s… So to see this dude become a billionaire, I’m like: in their face!” (30:39)

8. The Evolution of Hip Hop: Culture and Genre

• Hip Hop as a Genre (31:33–33:28):
  • Kane explains how hip hop went from marginalized to a global genre. He’s accepting of changing structures, like ghostwriters, observing:
    • “Artists today… are looking at themselves as artists, not as MCs. So it’s different to them.”
• Changing Definitions: "Freestyle" & Biting (34:00–35:29):
  • “What we called biting, today they call paying homage… what we called a freestyle in the 70s and 80s, today they call it a written rhyme.”
  • “Freestyle is free of style, right? You’re not talking about no specific subject matter.” (35:20)

9. Lyricism Then and Now

• Where Are the Lyricists? (35:42–36:25):
  • Kane lists modern lyricists he rates: “Kendrick Lamar… J. Cole… Conway the Machine, Benny the Butcher, Lady London.”
  • “J. Cole is my favorite of this era.” (36:15)

10. Streaming, Ownership, and Sampling

• Kane on Streaming (36:53–37:32):
  • Kane sympathizes with new artists struggling to make living from streams versus hard sales.
• Ownership & Sampling (38:41–41:45):
  • Kane does not yet own his catalog—hopes to soon (“Allah willing.”).
  • On sampling: “I think I would probably rather not hear it… If this is an opportunity for you to shine and become successful, I’d rather you just do you.”
  • On hip hop’s origins: “Hip hop didn’t invent anything. It reinvented everything.” —quoting Grandmaster Caz.

11. Craft and Collaborative Mindset

• Studio Process & Writing (44:42–46:44):
  • Kane likens himself to an artist, painting verses patiently:
    • “I love to think of myself as an artist… I like to take my time and paint a portrait just right.”
• Approach to Collabs (47:07–47:56):
  • “If you… spread love, then I want you to shine. But if you say ‘Kane, I need you to be spitting hard’… Now I’m gonna eat you up.”

12. Old School Competition, Beef, and Respect

• Competitive Spirit in Old School Hip Hop (48:34–52:49):
  • Label focus shifted from party tracks to lyricists after 1986 (thanks to Rakim, KRS-ONE).
  • Rivalries (Juice Crew vs. Boogie Down Productions, LL Cool J vs. Kool Moe Dee, Jay-Z vs. Nas, etc.) were common and “very, very competitive” but rarely personal:
    • “It was love… it wasn’t no real beef. It was like, I got to have it tonight.”

13. Collaborations with Musical Greats

• Working with Quincy Jones (52:49–54:59):
  • Kane describes Quincy’s deep mentorship:
    • “He’s giving me direction as a hip hop artist how to rhyme on a jazz record. That’s how bad he was.”
    • “I think that real music fans know the importance of him.”

14. Star Encounters and Relationship Building

• Being Starstruck (55:09–55:52):
  • Meeting Barry White at a Quincy Jones cookout was a major “starstruck” moment.
• Determining Collaborations (56:01–56:42):
  • Kane says “no” if the direction doesn’t fit or he can’t see himself on the record.
• Meeting Old Dirty Bastard & Wu Tang Clan (58:09–59:02):
  • Kane recalls instantly bonding with ODB and Shaheem after a Wu Tang show.

15. Kane on Modern and Old-School Artists He Loves

• Music Preferences (80:43–81:16):
  • Rides to Willie Hutch and David Ruffin, but at home listens to Lady London, Conway the Machine, and Tyler, the Creator.
• Critiquing vs. Enjoying Music (81:20–82:05):
  • Kane can’t help critiquing new artists, often hoping to give feedback.
• Who Kane Wants to Collab With Now (82:22–83:35):
  • J. Cole, Lady London, CeeLo Green, and Anthony Hamilton.

16. Soul, R&B, and Musical Lineage

• Soul’s Place Today (83:43–85:48):
  • Kane laments the decline of mainstream soul singers, but notes there are still real artists—you just “have to search for them.”

17. The Big Three, Rap Battles, and Hip Hop Competition

• On Rap Beefs Then vs. Now (86:33–88:38):
  • Kane says if someone calls him out, he's responding—“You goddamn right.”
  • On recent battles (Kendrick vs. Drake, J. Cole’s withdrawal):
    • “As I watched the Drake and Kendrick battle unfold, I had so much respect for Cole’s decision… I don’t think the fans were enjoying the battle. I think the fans were trying to fact-check… Just enjoy the battle.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Mentoring:
  “Each one teach one and someone gave you an opportunity. So now, naturally, you feel it’s Kane’s job to give back. Like somebody gave to me.” —Shannon Sharpe (11:04)
• On Pac’s Influence:
  “Anytime you pass away and people have sightings of you, that’s when you a bad dude.” —Big Daddy Kane (23:09)
• On Suge Knight’s Offer:
  “All of a sudden, that just felt like a gangster move.” —Big Daddy Kane (19:07)
• On Old School Competition:
  “It was love. It wasn’t no real beef, right? It was like, I got to have it tonight, right?” —Big Daddy Kane (52:39)
• On Freestyle vs. Today:
  “What they call freestyle now is what we called off the dome back in the days.” —Big Daddy Kane (35:34)
• On Ownership and Hip Hop’s Nature:
  “Hip hop didn’t invent anything. It reinvented everything.” —Grandmaster Caz, quoted by Kane (41:24)
• On Craft:
  “I love to think of myself as an artist. Like, I’m painting, so…it has to have a meaning.” —Big Daddy Kane (46:08)
• On Legacy:
  “I believe that the Big Daddy Kane legacy will be here when I’m long gone.” —Big Daddy Kane (78:19)
• On Sampling:
  “If this is an opportunity for you to shine…and become successful, I’d rather, you know, you just do you.” —Big Daddy Kane (40:31)
• On Changing Rap Battles:
  “I don’t feel like the fans were enjoying the battle. I think the fans were taking too much time trying to fact-check what they’re saying…Just enjoy the battle.” —Big Daddy Kane (87:18)

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• Big Daddy Kane’s Background & Brooklyn’s Influence: 04:27–08:00
• Mentorship and Juice Crew Origins: 09:46–11:22
• Reflections on Biggie and Tupac: 12:35–17:54
• Almost Signing with Death Row/East/Declining Suge’s Offer: 17:54–19:07
• Pac’s Legacy, Complexity & Youthful Mistakes: 22:47–25:39
• Success, Money, and Jay Z’s Rise: 28:45–31:20
• Evolution of Hip Hop & Creative Authorship: 31:33–33:28
• Definition War: “Freestyle” Then and Now: 34:00–35:29
• Naming Current Lyricists & Their Place: 36:01–36:25
• Sampling, Catalog Ownership, and Hip Hop’s Roots: 38:41–41:45
• Creative Process & Collaboration in the Studio: 44:42–47:56
• Historical Hip Hop Beef & Competition: 48:34–52:49
• Working with Quincy Jones: 52:49–54:59
• Soul, R&B, and Misunderstood Legacy: 83:43–85:48
• Modern Rap Beefs & Cole/Kendrick/Drake: 86:33–88:38

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Closing Thoughts

This episode is a must-listen for anyone fascinated by hip hop’s history and mechanics. Big Daddy Kane’s humility, fierce artistry, and respect for tradition shine through, as does his adaptability to evolving cultural shifts. The episode is rich with anecdotes, advice, and the type of storytelling you can only get from those who lived it.

Transcript

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[Shannon Sharpe]

24 when he passed. Pac was 25 when he passed. Given what they were doing, how big do you think they would have been? Let's just say they live another 10 years, another 15, another 20 years.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Pac would have probably been the Michael Jackson of hip hop. All my life been grinding all my life Sacrifice, hustle, paid the price Want.

[Shannon Sharpe]

A slice, got to roll a dice.

[Big Daddy Kane]

That'S why all my life I've been grinding all my life all my life been grinding all my life Sacrifice, hustle, paid the price Want a slice, got.

[Shannon Sharpe]

The rolling dice that's why all my.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Life I've been grinding all my life.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hello. Welcome to another episode of Club Shay Shay. I am your host, Shannon Sharpe. I'm also the proprietor of Club Shay Shay. Stopping by for conversation and a drink today is an OG original, A master wordsmith, a hardcore word assassin, a Grammy award winning artist, one of the greatest rappers of all time. He helped shape the way hip hop is viewed worldwide. He defined the term lyricist. He sold over 500,000 albums before CDs, streams and social media. A pioneer from the golden era. He transformed live performance. He revolutionized hip hop fashion. A legendary entertainer, actor, songwriter, producer and a model. One of the most influential and skilled respected MCs ever. He's been active for over 40 years. An icon, a hall of famer, royalty. Brooklyn born, a key to the borough. Here he is, one of the greatest lyricists of all time. Big Daddy Kane. Kane, my brother. When you hear me read off those accolades after being in the business for 40 years, what are you thinking?

[Big Daddy Kane]

What am I thinking? I guess. Main thing that come to mind is it's only been 37 I gave you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I added three extra years to that thing, huh?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, yeah, but it's all good. I take it, man. I take it. I mean, you know, this is just something that, you know, I started doing as a kid and realizing that I have a voice and people want to hear it, I tried to do the right thing with it and, you know, promote the right message. So, you know, all these, you know, decades later to have people, you know, you know, giving you accolades and flowers and things of that nature, I think it's a blessing, man. You know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When you got started, I mean, in the very. Because we. This thing goes back. What? DJ Hurt Cool Hurt. DJ Cool Hurt in the Bronx and you got Melee male. They started this thing. So that was. Is that when you got hooked? Because prior to that there was nothing else. So how did you like, you know what? This is what I want to do.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, you know, back when Herc and Afrika Bambaata and Grandmaster Flash, know them started, you know, I was probably about five years old, right? You know, so I was really, you know, playing with toys and things of that nature. It wasn't until 1977 I heard a DJ in Brooklyn by the name of Master D, okay, And he threw on Love is the Message by mfsb. And I seen the craziest thing in the world. I just seen all the mature teens and adults line up by the DJ booth, okay? And they all just rhyme. They getting on the mic, you know, dip, dip, die, socialize at the age of one. And I'd never seen nothing like that before. That was 77. So hip hop had already been going on in the Bronx, but this was in Brooklyn, really seeing it. And I was like, all right, I don't know what that is, but I want to be a part.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I want to be a part of it.

[Big Daddy Kane]

So you're right. Yeah, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Kane, how did you find your voice? Because how did you find, like, okay, this is kind of the message that I'm going that I'm delivering, because you great with wordplay, and, you know, you krs1, we gonna get through the backdrop of that. But how did you decide to say, you know what? This is kind of the direction I want to go?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, you're talking about lyrically, yes. Well, you know, I'm from Brooklyn, so as a kid, you know, it's nothing like, yeah, you want to play outside and have fun. But, you know, when you see a coupe de vil, El Dorado, or a deuce and a quarter, pull up, you know, and one of the pimps and the hustlers get out, you know, you rush over there, right? Cause you know they gonna give you, like, a dub. They gonna give you, like a 20 spot just to run to the store to either get them a bill or a Lucy, right? And tell you to keep, you know, so you around that type of element, and then you're hearing them talk and the way they talk, and everybody just fascinated with it. Oh, they stand. Cause I remember one of my first rhymes, I used something I heard one of the older hustler dudes say. You know, one of my first rhymes, I said, I know the tricks, I know the trades, and I'm sharp as a motherfucking razor blade. That was something my older dudes said. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And I'm a kid putting that in the rhyme. You Feel the see. So it was like. That was. I'm like, you know, I just want to have that slick talk, you know? Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Brooklyn. You mentioned Brooklyn. What is it in the water? What is it in the soil? Yourself Biggie, Jay Z, Cam Foxy, Most Def, Buster, Foul Pop, Smoke, Joey Badass. What is it about that burrow that's been able to produce this?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I think that. That. That quality of uniqueness, you know? Like, I just think that Brooklyn just got their own way of doing things, right? We have our own way of doing things, you know, I just, you know, think that that plays a major part, you know, from what we've seen in the streets in Brooklyn and how it impacted us in a way where this is what we want to talk about.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. You know, were you the first mainstream from Brooklyn?

[Big Daddy Kane]

No, Houdini.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Houdini. First mainstream. First hip hop sex symbols. Houdini. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I remember in 1986, I saw Houdini. I saw Run DMC. I saw the Fat Boys. I saw. Listen, I saw about five groups at Savannah Civic Center. I'll never forget 1986. And it was unbelievable. And now that you mentioned, I was like, I did not know they were from Brooklyn.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, Houdini's from Brooklyn. Fat Boys, Yeah. I think, if I'm correct, I believe the first emcee to have a recording deal from Brooklyn was Jimmy Spicer. He had a song called Super Rhymes and Dollar Bill, Y'. All. But Houdini were, like, the first. The impact.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Knowing what you know now is that when you look back at it and you didn't know that there were gonna be so many more to come after you. But did you feel like an obligation, like, okay, I'm from Brooklyn, you know, Houdini. But the first to, like, get on there individually and do your thing, did you feel like you had to start this thing off, hold it up, because they were gonna be coming after you, or did you not think that far in advance?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I felt like I wanted to try to help other talented artists. Okay, get established. That's what I felt because that's how I got on, you know? I mean, I started rapping in 82. Okay. I was making demos and things of that nature, and no one was checking for me. I couldn't get a record deal to save my Life. Then in 84, I met Biz Markey.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Is that what y' all started for the Juice Crew?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, Juice Crew was before. Before Biz. That was with Mr. Magic.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You're right.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. Mr. Magic, you know, Fly Tie and Autumn, you know, Roxanne Shantae was the first song.

[Shannon Sharpe]

MC Shan, was it?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. Roxanne Shantae was the first artist. Then Shan, Craig G. Yeah. And then Biz, I believe. But Biz, I met him before he even had a deal.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

And I met him. We battled. Yeah, we battled. And after the battle, you know, he says, yo, you dope, you should get down with me. You know, I do a lot of shows and make a little bit of money and I promise you I'm gonna get you a record deal. So that's. That's who believed in me. That's who took me, put me on the stage for the first time.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay?

[Big Daddy Kane]

So, I mean, with everything that Biz did for me, you know, once I, you know, got out in the public, I wanted to try to do that for other artists.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you each one teach one and someone gave. Gave you an opportunity. So now naturally you feel it's Cain's job to give back. Like somebody gave to me. Everybody don't look that way. A lot of times people get put on realizing someone helped cut them on. Now I'm gonna pull the ladder up. Cause I don't want nobody else to get on.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a lot of selfish thinking. I've seen it, I've experienced it, but you know, that's not my style, right? You know? Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, yeah, I've been around Big. Twice. Okay. But we had three phone calls. You know, it was always funny, you know, too. Cause we didn't have a direct connection. It was my DJ, Mr. C. Okay. Who would call and put us on the phone together. And you know, when he clicked Big. Nice. First thing he say, ah, the real big. That's the first thing we. And we just laugh and whatnot. Then he tell me what's on his mind, you know, but, you know, but I mean, he was someone that I had so much respect for, man, and I thought was super talented. Because I've seen a lot of emcees, you know, develop, you know, their style and become better throughout the years. I saw Biggie do this in like a year. Yes, in like one year. I seen him go from here to here lyrically. You know what I'm saying? So I was like, had he lived, I think he would have probably been the greatest MC ever. Wow.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did you know that he had that ability? Cause like you said, it wasn't long. It wasn't like he had a five year or ten year career. It like he blew up and then it was gone just like that.

[Big Daddy Kane]

I mean, it's the type of thing where back then when Mr. C was trying to get him a deal, C would be like, yo, he don't remind you of you? Nah. And then he came out with, I believe, Party and bullshit. You know, he rocking. And he's like, party and. Yeah. And he's asked me again. He's like, yo, you don't. Cause see, Biggie talked about stuff I didn't talk about.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Correct.

[Big Daddy Kane]

See what I'm saying? So I'm like, nah, I don't see it. Then when he came out with the remix for One More Chance, you know, and when I was like, however, I stayed coogee down to the socks. I called C that time. All right, my bad. I see it now. I see it, I see it. Yeah, Yeah. I was like, yeah. I was like, yeah. I was like, yeah, he's a monster.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Biggie invited you to one of Tupac shows? How did you. How did you and Tupac get.

[Big Daddy Kane]

I was performing at Madison Square Garden, okay. For the Budweiser Superfest.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

And Biggie wanted to come.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

And I was like, yeah. You know. And Biggie was hanging with Pac. Cause he was in New York filming Above the Rim.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

So he asked could Pac come? And I was like, absolutely. Cause I knew Pac when he was dancing for Digital Underground. Yeah. You know. Cause they like one. They were the opening act on my first tour. So I'D known Pac for that, you know, So I was like, absolutely. Yeah, bring him. So when they brought him, I just. I called them, you know, both on stage and let them freestyle, you know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

How often does that happen that someone of your ilk caliber invites somebody on stage? Y' all go ahead and freestyle this.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, the reason I really. I mean, I do it a lot, but the reason I really wanted to do it that particular night is because when I first got on, Bobby Brown did it for me. Oh, okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Cause this is when they wasn't really letting hip hop in the Garden like that. You know, I think maybe the last ones to be there might have been, like, Run DMC or ll, you know? So, like, Bobby Brown had a show, you know, his first solo album, and he let me get on and rock with him and perform one of my songs. So I, you know, I. Here's Biggie, a new up and coming artist. Here's Pac. You know, he filming a movie. Fat Joe. Also by. I. I ran out of time. I couldn't let Joe on, right? But they was telling me five minutes left, but I was like, y', all, come on. You know, Rock.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know Joe gonna tell that story. Joe gonna say, you had 25 minutes left. You know Joe. Joe gonna add some yeast to that thing so that thing grow down.

[Big Daddy Kane]

No, listen, let me explain something to you. Ain't nothing better than watching Pajochio do his thing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Pajokchio, Come on.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Kane, when he get into his element, I love it, I love it, I love it. But I'm gonna let the world know, straight up, he telling the truth when he say that he was there and was supposed to get on that particular night at Madison Square Garden. Joe telling the truth.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cause, you know, people say, man, you wasn't supposed to go on with Cade. Cade wasn't about to let you on.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Nah, nah. He's telling the straight up truth. And in all honesty, it was something that, you know, really bothered me, right? Because, you know. Cause he was a new artist at the time, so that would have been a good look for him. But they were like five minutes, and I still hadn't done Warm It Up, Cane or eight o' Clock Stepping. So I didn't have no time.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You didn't have no time to get him on. Did you ever get in the studio with Pac? Did you ever see Pac in the studio?

[Big Daddy Kane]

We worked together before. Like a year before he passed. Suge Knight wanted to start Death Row east, right? And, you know, he invited me out. We went out to A Tyson fight. And, you know, we talked about working. And then we left Vegas and flew right back to la. Went in the studio and I recorded a song called Wherever your Are with Pac. I wrote a song for Hammer called what you gonna do for Me? And Me, Pac and Hammer. Three of us did a song together called Two Late Player all in the same Night. Wow. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Suge offered you an opportunity. Did he try to sign you to Death Row?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Death Row East? Yeah. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Why you didn't sign?

[Big Daddy Kane]

It was like he asked me what did I want. I said 400,000 an album. I didn't because I'm checking the temperature. Because at that point in time, no one was really trying to sign me. So I'm trying to check the temperature in the room, you know, So I didn't want to go hard, So I said 400,000. He was like, that's a strange number. 400. Why wouldn't you just simply say 500? Okay, 500? And he like, man, you big daddy came, man. He was like, I have to make the dog Pound. I have to make. I forgot what other artists he mentioned. I have to, you know, make them. You already an established name. I would be insulting you to give you less than a million. Okay, cool. And I mean, I thought we had a deal, right? But then he said, look, I don't know about your financial status right now, but, you know, if you need a little something, I can, you know, you know, give you a little 100,000 right now, you know, to take with you, you know? And that's what made me uncomfortable.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, yeah? Yeah. You felt if you took that 100,000, you was gonna be indebted to this man.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. And all of a sudden, that just felt like a gangster move. And I was like, you know, like.

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[Big Daddy Kane]

Nah, I'm good man. I'm good and I didn't do it. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Biggie was 24 when he passed. Pac was 25 when he passed. Given what they were Doing at the time of their untimely demise, how big do you think they would have been? Let's just say they live another 10 years, another 15, another 20 years.

[Big Daddy Kane]

I think that Pac would have probably been the Michael Jackson of hip hop. Wow. You know, because you got to understand, not only did women love Pac, men love Pac.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know what I'm saying? Men, like women wanted to be with Pac. Men wanted to be like Pack, you know, So, I mean, he was a very, very powerful figure. You know, anytime you pass away and people have sightings of you, that's when you a bad dude. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. You know?

[Shannon Sharpe]

True, true.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Like, people still see. Swear out that Michael Jackson's still alive.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Big Daddy Kane]

People still swear Elvis Presley's alive.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Big Daddy Kane]

People doing that with Pac, you know?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. How much do you think him being something that he's not played a role? Because a lot of people say Pac wasn't what he was rapping about, what he was pretending to be, you know, this thug life. And he had California, you know, tatted on him.

[Big Daddy Kane]

He.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He wasn't that. Do you think that played a role in his demise?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I. I think that Pac had a lot of hood ways in him. I think the Pac was a real dude. I think the Pac was a good dude. I think that the bad thing was just that he was easily influenced. You know, I'm not gonna sit here and say that he wasn't about it. He wasn't real. I think that he was just easily influenced.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He was a chameleon because he get with executives, be it TV or music execs. And he was charming, he was charismatic. Now all of a sudden, he gets with people that live that lifestyle. He could convince you that he's about that lifestyle.

[Big Daddy Kane]

But you see, you gotta understand, when he was a dancer for Digital Underground. Yeah. I don't know how many nights there would be where I would have to sit him. And it was him and Money B. Yeah. Money B wasn't doing that, right. Pack and my dancers, scubin scrap. I'd have to sit them down like, yo, why are y' all fighting at an after party? Why are y'.

[Shannon Sharpe]

All.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know what I'm saying? So I've seen that side of Pac before he was Pac. I've seen that side. I've seen him, you know, get into it and romp with cats, you know, after a show or backstage. I've seen that side.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What was that about, though, Kane? Because you, like, he's up and coming and then he is at an after party. He's squabbing at an after party. Why? You don't have to do that.

[Big Daddy Kane]

We all did that dumb shit, man. I mean. I mean, you can't just put that on fire, right? We all did that, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, the things you're going through. I mean. I mean, you think about it, he passed at 25, so he had to be, what, a late teenager, early 20s?

[Big Daddy Kane]

You ain't never had a fight at an after party?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Come on, Shaq.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Nah, I ain't never had no fight at an after party.

[Big Daddy Kane]

But then again, you a big ass dude, so. Yeah, nobody, they probably ain't want that smoke, you know, so it's. Yeah, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let me ask you this, though, Kane. If you could go back and do anything different in your career, what would it be?

[Big Daddy Kane]

If I could do anything different? I don't know. That's a dangerous thing to do, you know, I don't. I don't know if I really want to.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You ain't trying to rewrite history.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. I don't think I want to mess up what I have. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think I want to do that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

The money was money. I mean, look, there was no Internet. There was no streaming. There was. You were selling hard copy albums and CDs. And CDs. So you had to. To have somebody go wait in the line for this drop and the line be around the building. That was a powerful thing back then.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Oh, yeah. Now, I used to love, like, stuff like that. Like, I remember, like, on me and Albie Shore, we dropped, like, around the same time. So Warner Brothers had us out on promotional tour. And I get. Every day, you know, we just there clowning and joking and having a good time. And to, like, come in a record store and see the line, like you said, wrapping around the corner. Oh, man. Beautiful thing, man. I sit there and start acting silly and whatnot. You know, as they start coming in, you know, me and Al sitting there, I'm like, all right, all the light skinned fans on this side, dark skinned fans over here, you know, do you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Think it'll ever be. Will it ever be like that again, Kane? Will. Will music ever sell like that? Will people ever line up to want to hear a record, to go purchase a physical copy of a record or cd? Will it ever be like that again? Or we relegated to streams and other forms of receiving?

[Big Daddy Kane]

That. I think that it's. It's like that right now, just not as strong.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You have artists that sell in Vinyl for like $250 a copy, you know, and people are buying it, they're purchasing it, you know, so it's happening. It does exist. But will it be at the forefront like it was before? I doubt it. Because the world has pretty much become, you know, a fast food. The world is fast food now. So it's gonna be really, really hard.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When people ain't trying to wait on nothing, Kane.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Nah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I mean, hey, they don't want to go at the grocery store. They call somebody, they call somebody to shop for them. They call Uber Eats, they call doordash, they call.

[Big Daddy Kane]

No, no, no, no, hold this one. People don't even want to wait on the truth. Wow. It's not about, you know, getting the story right. It's about getting the story first.

[Shannon Sharpe]

First. Mm.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, Kane, what have you learned about money?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, I learned about money. I mean, you know, for one, you know, you have to protect it. You have to protect it and spend it wisely, you know, and.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But how does a young man that's coming into a large sum of money coming up from the background? A lot of us came up from impoverished background. Maybe it wasn't a two parent home, it was a mom or a grandmom and you've never had. And you get this sum of money and all the things that you've ever wanted as a child or as a young man, you get an opportunity to get it all at once. You can get whatever you want, as much as you want. How does one refrain from being reckless? Because when we get money, Kane, and we, and I, we in our 20s, we think we gonna be getting money like this in our 30s, 40s, 50s.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So then they gonna end.

[Big Daddy Kane]

That's the mentality. But you know, you have to understand that, you know, there was always someone before you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know what I'm saying? There was Run DMC before me. There was a Melly Mel before me. You know, there was a Jim Brown before you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know what I'm saying? So, yeah, you have to understand there was someone before me. Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You were. But to see rappers, what they become, they plot, they fly private, they got. I mean, I saw Drake. Drake, I was like, whoa, man, that Joe got a 767 decked out these guys, you know, 30, 40, 50, $60 million, nothing for these guys. Now here, Kane, probably looking back like, Damn, I'm just 40 years too soon.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well said, man, well said. But you know, I am so happy for these cats. Like, you know, when I see that, you know, when I hear About Drake's success, Jay Z's success. You know, I love hearing those stories because I know how difficult, Especially with Jay Z. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because this is someone who I tried to get a deal for in the early 90s, you know what I'm saying? And no one was receptive. So to see this dude become a billionaire, I'm like, in their face. Yes. You know, I love it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know, and that goes for the rest of them as well, you know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Kane, what is the biggest difference with the rap when you was coming up and moving it to the forefront? Let's just say when you first started and then say the first 10 years versus what you see now in the rap game.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, I mean, I have this conversation with a lot of people all the time when they're against certain things that artists of today do. I try to explain to them that when we were doing it, the first rap song came out 79.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Sugar Hill game.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Rap with the light.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. That's 79. Yeah. I got a deal in 88. That's nine years later.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Correct.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Even at that point, hip hop wasn't respected as a music genre. You know, we wasn't really acknowledged.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Nope.

[Big Daddy Kane]

And damn near couldn't really get on the radio even at that point. You know, even mtv.

[Shannon Sharpe]

MTV didn't really play y' all like that. And you didn't get the Grammys. Didn't acknowledge you until 92.

[Big Daddy Kane]

There you go. So it's like, it's the type of thing where I try to explain to a lot of artists, you know, from my era, it's like, you got to separate the culture from the genre, because now hip hop is a genre. It's a music genre, just like R and B, just like rock, you know, just like pop. And let's just look at R B. Two of the greatest R and B vocalists ever. Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross, two of the greatest ever. Both of them had writers. So you see, like, an artist of today, you be like, yo, he not even writing his own stuff yet. He ain't hip hop. It's like, culturally speaking, that's. We don't. Nah, we didn't do that. I still don't do that. I let someone write a hook, but not my verse. Okay. You know, that's because I. I'm a part of the culture. I'm from that era, from that cloth. But artists today, they're coming out in this thing as it's a hip hop genre. So they're looking at themself as artists, not as Emcees, So, you know, it's different to them.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And some of it is still hardcore. Cause I hear this man, he only write. He got ghostwriters. He got this. But I never heard anybody say, well, Whitney can't sing because she didn't write the song. Mariah can't sing because she didn't write the song. I never hear that with other genres except rap.

[Big Daddy Kane]

That's because it's like. It's people that understand the culture, that understand hip hop culture, you know? Cause, like, what we called biting today, they call paying homage.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay?

[Big Daddy Kane]

You see what I'm saying? So it's like. It's just. It's just. It's just different. Like, I mean, even like what we called a freestyle in the 70s and 80s, today, they call it a written rhyme, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Because freestyle, I'm thinking, okay, they say, hey, coming to the mic. Hey, to freestyle, this is Kane, okay? They start playing a beat, you going through. Okay. How you want to.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know?

[Shannon Sharpe]

And then you go, if you already got the song in your head, you already know what you gonna say. And they drop a beat. That ain't a freestyle. A freestyle mean you gotta come up there and give it to them free.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yes. No, no. That's today's definition, you know. No, no, you're not wrong. You're not wrong, because that is today's definition. Okay? But back in the. In the 80s, we said off the dome.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

70S, they said off the top, right? Today they say freestyle with us. If you write a rhyme and it's not about a girl, it's not about poverty, you know, it's not no gangster stuff about, you know, who you shot up. It's just a rhyme. Just bragging about how dope you are. That rhyme that you wrote, that's called a freestyle. Cause it's free of style, right? You're not talking about no specific subject matter.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

That's what a freestyle is.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's what a freestyle is. Free is that you're not talking about anything specific, right?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Off the dome. So you going up. So you just going up there and you just talking about.

[Big Daddy Kane]

What they call freestyle now is what we called off the dome back in the days.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, okay, okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You just say the first thing come to mind and make it rhyme, you know?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. But what happened to the lyricists? Where did they go? Did all y' all retire at once?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Kane.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did all y' all. Did all y'.

[Big Daddy Kane]

All.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, I'm up out of here. I'm up, May. When you leaving? I'm leaving. Where are they now? You know the story that used to come on tv, like, the athletes or whomever that. The entertainers. Where are they now? Where are the lyricists now?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Kendrick Lamar is a great lyricist.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

J. Cole. Conway the Machine is a great lyricist. Benny the Butcher.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, okay. Benny.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Great lyricist.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Lady London is a magnificent lyricist. J. Cole is my favorite of this era.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really?

[Big Daddy Kane]

My favorite.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Great lyricist. So they're there, they're there, they're there. It's just that music is going through this phase where it's, you know, the fans ain't really focused on the lyrics. When, like, you talk to someone, you ask them about a song, the first thing they say is, yo, yeah, that's a vibe. You know, like the disco era.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know, as long as you can hear that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You didn't care what the body was singing. You know what I'm saying? It was vibes, you know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Streaming now. Where are you on streaming? You cool with it?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, I mean, I don't have no new music out, you know, so, you know, it is what it is. I wish it was different because I understand that, you know, artists are not getting the money that they're supposed to, and they're being paid less for streams, right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Than they would a hard. A hardcore, physical, you know.

[Big Daddy Kane]

So, I mean, I'm sympathetic, you know, for the younger generation that's coming out trying to make music, if that's what they plan to do for their livelihood.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know, because it's going to be very difficult, you know, depending on streams. Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, Kane, when you sold 500,000 copies, did you realize what a feat, what a. What you had accomplished? Did you understand at that moment what you had done?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I mean, yeah, they gave me the gold record, so I knew what I did. But it's just that that's never been my mentality.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know, my Grammy, I didn't. Let me see. I got it in 90, maybe 91. I can't remember what year it was. I mean, I never put it up until like, 2000. You know, my whole thing was this. What meant the most to me was someone coming up to me saying, yo, man, your music got me through high school. Your music got me through college.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Your music got me through Desert Storm. That's what meant those were the rewards, right? That those were the most important things to me because I'm doing this for my fans. You know what I'm saying? Not. Not. Not for a Grammy or a Soul Train Award or, you know, if I get It.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Are you appreciative of it?

[Big Daddy Kane]

But. Yeah, yeah, I'm appreciative, but that's not what I, you know, what I set out to do. That's not why I made music.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, your catalog. You own your catalog?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Not yet, but you gonna get it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's will.

[Big Daddy Kane]

I mean, Allah willing. I hope so, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, Prince, he really. He never let anybody sample his songs. But you got one how?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I don't know. Somebody told me. Somebody told me that Prince liked me, you know, I mean, musically.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Somebody told me that because we met and, you know, he was cool. And when I wanted to use pop, life, you know, he was with it. You know, even other than that, when he did the Batman soundtrack, he did a song called Bat Dance, and he asked Benny Medina, you know, to have me, you know, rap on it, and I put a verse on it. And with us both being Warner Brothers, you know, we thought everything was cool because Batman was coming out on Warner Film. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, even though. In 1989, wasn't it?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I can't. I can't remember. Yeah, but even though Warner Brothers Records had rap artists, Warner's film didn't want nothing to do with hip hop. So they took my verse off, but Princess had me on the song, you know? Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow. Where are you on sampling? You let people say. Cause I asked Ll, I ask a lot of people, a lot of people say, yeah, I'm not really big on sampling to talk to Bobby Brown had him on. He's like, ah, I don't really want to mess it up. But, you know, what? If it's the right person and I hear it first, Somebody comes to Kane and says, you know, they want to sample something, do you need to hear it before you let them put it out or you just sign off on it?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I'm gonna be honest with you. I think I would probably rather not hear it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I would rather not hear it. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cause if you hear it, don't like it. You ain't gonna let him put it up.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, I wouldn't want to not like it and then be like, nah, don't, don't, don't. You know, it's like, if this is an opportunity for you to shine and, you know, become successful, I'd rather, you know, you just do you. Because I'm from that era. That's all we did. You know, because you have to understand, Shannon, you know, when hip hop started, you know, you can't say, so what's the origin of hip hop music? People can ask that about country. People can ask that about rock, people can ask that about jazz. You can't ask that about hip hop because the origin of hip hop music is a DJ cutting up somebody else's music. See what I'm saying? So there is no origin like Grandmaster Kaz. He said it best. Hip hop didn't invent anything. It reinvented everything. Those are the words of Grandmaster Kaz.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know, so musically, you know, that's all we did was rhyme over other people. The break part of other people's songs. So somebody young, that's what they want to do. Yo, that's hip hop to me, you know. Do you it's Mama Wildy Music Publishing. But do you, you know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Studio Stop.

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[Shannon Sharpe]

When you go. When you going in there, like, okay, I'm just trying to figure out how Kane got himself. Because, like, before a game, I'm getting myself. I'm getting in a train of thought, okay, I'm gonna play and go play in these. They call this play and this down in distance, we get this defense. I need to be ready, blah, blah, blah. What's going through when you go into the studio? What is Kane thinking?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, it depends on what, what I'm trying to do musically. Okay. Because I'll sit and listen to a beat, come up with a concept meaning what I want to talk about, and then I shut the beat off and go somewhere else with it. Like, if something I want to talk about, something sad, I turn the beat off and throw some Otis Redding on or some David Ruffin and zone out. Zone out. Like, you know, how can I, you know, interpret this in today's slang? Like what Otis saying, what David Ruffin is saying. How can I, you know, say that in today's slang? I want to say something sexy. I turn it off. Throw some Marvin Gaye on, throw some Isley Brothers on, you know? Mm, yeah, it's smooth, you know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Are you a writer? Because, you know, I listen to people say, like, hov and Lil Wayne and there are guys that don't write down Anything. And they tell the great story. Like hov hear a beat and he bobbing his head up in the corner. And then he'll go in there and he'll just lay his track. Are you a writer? Do you like?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. I love to think of myself as an artist. When I say artists, I don't mean musical artists. I mean artists. Like, I'm painting, so it's like I like to take my time and paint a portrait just right. Even if I have to walk away from it for a couple of days and come back and finished in. I like to take my time so I can paint it just right. Because from that first line to the very last one, I want it all to make sense and connect.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Tied up.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Everything ties together. It has to have a meaning.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You've been in the studio with Teddy Riley, Patti LaBelle, Barry White, Cube Hammer, Busta Rhyme, UGK, Three 6 Mafia, the Game. Like, when you go in the studio, is there a different Kane? Is there a different mindset according to who you're going in studio with?

[Big Daddy Kane]

No, no, no, no.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Are you trying. Let's just say I'm one of the dope rappers. I'm one of the top five rappers out right now. And I say, kane, I want to get you on this track. You coming in, you trying to destroy me. You trying to say, hey, the man invited me on the track. Let me do my thing and get up out of here. You trying to not shine me?

[Big Daddy Kane]

It depends on, you know, how you address me. You know, if you. You ask me to do the song with you and spread love, then I, I, I, I, I want you to shine.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I'm gonna do something to make my presence felt, but I'm not gonna overdo it. I want you to shine.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay?

[Big Daddy Kane]

If you like. All right. You know, Kane, I need you to be spitting hard. You know what I'm saying? Don't come up in here. None of that sexy shit, man. I need you to a word. Okay. Got you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's what you own.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Got you. No problem. Yeah. Now I'm gonna eat you up.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, but when we were talking about to go back, when we talked about the lyricist and you mentioned like some of the lyricists now, Kane, bro, it's like every other artist was a lyricist in your time. I mean, they were tremendous with words. Yeah, they did not play. I mean, you look at KRS1, you look at Cool Modi, you look at you like yourself. You look at Molly Ma. I mean, you got shit, bro.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Back then, it was very, very you know, important. And I feel like people that were getting an understanding of hip hop, that's what they were looking for, right? You know, they were looking for lyrical MC. And then especially after, like, 86, when. When. When. When Rakim came out. Yeah. I think that, like, a lot of labels were really starting to look for lyrical MCs.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because prior to that, were they looking for that?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I think that during the Run DMC on up to the Salt and Pepper era, they were looking for people that could have party songs. Okay. You know. Yeah, party songs. You know, songs that bang in the club and, you know, you could, you know, dance to. I think that they were looking more for that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know, but then 86, you know, you had Rakim, you had KRS1, and I think they started really looking for more lyrical stuff.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Big Daddy Kane]

And then 87, you have myself, Coogee Rap, you know, and that was just pretty much, yeah, you gotta be like this to get a deal.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But did you. Did you guys come from battling backgrounds? Is that where the lyricist, the real.

[Big Daddy Kane]

The true.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They have a little bit of it now, but not like, then. Cause you guys had, like, groups, and you guys would go and you guys would battle. And I was doing research with this thing. Kane, man, y' all beefed all the time. It wasn't. Everything was a beef. Here I am thinking, like, man, these guys beefing out. No, no. Juice Crew and the Boogie and the Boogie down production. I'm like, damn.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, there was, you know, there was. Yeah. MC Shan and KS1, you know, they had, you know, the Juice Crew.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Boogie Down Productions. Beef MC Light and Antoinette. Yeah. LL Cool J and Kumo D. Yep. You know. Yeah. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It was so this thing, people look at it now and think, okay, and obviously, the big one, Drake and Kendrick Lamar. But then, you know, people forgot then, like, okay, well, Biggie and Tupac had a thing going. And then NWA Ice Cube, when he left, and he came out with no Vaseline.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And they were going back and forth.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Jay Z and Nas.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Jay Z and Nas, even. Even though LL&Kumo. LL&Kumo diva, he had one with Fab. When you go back and look, say, like, from 85 to, like, 90, bro, y' all stayed into it. Yeah, y' all stay K. Y' all stayed into it.

[Big Daddy Kane]

I mean, well, you gotta keep in mind, we were all very, very competitive.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Very, very competitive.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know, I mean, like, I've had, like. I've had Run Reverend Run.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Come to me in my dressing room and tell me how Dope of an emcee I am, how much he loved me. I go on stage, do my thing, rip it down, run dmc, Come on after me and run. Be like, you know, like, you know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So Kane came up here and did.

[Big Daddy Kane]

His thing, you know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, we had a lot of superstars in this house tonight, but I want you to know, this is my Eminem.

[Big Daddy Kane]

F in the house, you know, like, whoa, whoa, bro. Like, you know, I mean, this is stuff I've seen, you know, Stuff where, like, Eric B is at my house on a Thursday night, right? We sitting there laughing at our fathers. He brought his pops over, and we sitting there laughing at our fathers, trying to look at Luke Skywalker videos and what. I mean, Eric sitting there like, look at him play. Dirty old asses, man. We laughing. Friday night, we got a show together. Erica walked right past me like, you don't know me, you know? Cause I mean, we were very competitive.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Like that, you know, it's time to lock in now.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, yeah. You know, but it was love. It was love. It wasn't no real beef, right? It was like, I got to have it tonight, right? That's all. I got to have it tonight.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You won the Grammy with Quincy Jones, who was the greatest producer of all time. What made Quincy so special?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Quincy, man. Like, Quincy is one hell of a producer. Quincy has an amazing vision.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That ear, man, you know, Ray Charles to Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson to.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. Nah, I mean, with me knowing this dude don't really know hip hop like that, I'm like, yeah, you made the dude. But, you know, okay, you know, but, you know, I'm. I'm in the studio, and he's like, what you know about Sarah Vaughn? Nothing. You know, what you know about Ella Fitzgerald? She be scatting, you know? You know, he's asking. He has someone bring. I didn't even know this existed. Did you know that back in the 90s, they had black encyclopedias?

[Shannon Sharpe]

No.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Neither did I. They brought, like, about 20. I own 20, 30 books in black encyclopedias. And we going through and looking up Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald. And as I'm looking, he's like, oh, you know, me and Miles Davis, we used to call each other such and such, you know, Ella. And he's telling me all these here stories. And he's like that real fast. Then can you keep it going? Because, like, it reminds me of Ella Fitzgerald when she does her scatting, when you do that real fast rapping. And I think it'll really complement the track. Like this Is Quincy talking to me? Right? And I'm like, yeah, all right, whatever you want. And so, I mean, it's like he's giving me direction as a hip hop artist, how to rhyme on a jazz record. That's how bad he was. Wow. Yeah. Do we appreciate him properly, Quincy? Yeah, I think that real music fans. Do. Real music fans know the importance of him, you know, know the impact that he's had, what he's done for people, you know, like myself. I'll be sure. Barry White, you know, what he's done for Michael Jackson, what he's done for Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and so many others, so many soundtracks. I think that, you know, people that really appreciate music, they. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I mean, he. I think he did the thing for Sanford and Son. So many of these jingles for these sitcoms. Yeah, he wrote those.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Oh, yeah. No. Amazing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Have you ever been starstruck and for. In your 30s, 37 years. I said 40. In your 37 years, have you ever been starstruck by someone? Maybe in the earlier days. I mean, now you. You came. Everybody know who. You know what? You're one of the greatest lyricists ever.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. I think the first time I met Barry White, first time I met Barry White, it caught me off guard. I was like, oh, you know. You know. Yeah, Barry White. Yeah. Yeah, that. That. That one, you know, really had caught me off guard. And that was at Quincy Jones house.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Really?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. A cookout. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

How do you determine who you're gonna collab with? People come in, they call you, like, okay, we, you know, we wanna write.

[Big Daddy Kane]

We wanna.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We wanna jump on something with you, want you to jump on something with us. How do you determine? Have you ever said no? Would you say no?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I've said no. I've said no to a lot of people. Sometimes it's like, I don't like the direction of the song.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

And there's been times where it's like, I don't really see how I can sit in this.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know, And I mean, that happens with. With stuff that I do. I. I'll attract. That I'm trying to do just by myself. I write something to it, then once I say it, it ain't sitting right. Nah, this ain't, you know, so, you know, there's been situations like that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Is it hard?

[Big Daddy Kane]

It's. What?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hard. Is it hard for you to turn somebody down?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Nah, nah. Cause, I mean, in the end, you want it to be right. Right. And even though, you know, in your mind you may think that it's Gonna be right just because I'm on it. I'm telling you, this ain't gonna be right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

This ain't it. Yeah, yeah. You know, you did a song with Tito Jackson. How did you. How does Kane do a song with Tito Jackson?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, that came through my management, you know, like, my manager, Saquon had told me about it. You know, I was like, you know, I'm grew up listening to Jackson 5. I'd love to. So then they sent the song, and I heard the singing, and I called my manager back, and I'm like, man, this ain't no goddamn Tito Jackson, man. They trying to get us, see if we can get Tito on the phone. And then he set up a call, and Tito got on the phone. He was like, hey, hey, hey. What's happening, baby? What's happening, man? I said, oh, yeah, that's him. I was like, yeah, what you want, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because if you didn't know. Cause the only really voice you ever heard was Michaels.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, now I've heard Tito sing, right? And he has more of a blues feel. So, like, when I heard this with the whole. It had that popish, just Timberlake feel. So I'm like, this ain't no damn Tito Jackson, right? This is somebody trying to use his name, you know, this ain't Tito Jackson. But then when I talked to him on the phone, I'm like, nah, that's definitely Tito, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

You've culminated a lot of relationships in this business. You odb. How did you guys. How did you guys meet?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I had a show with Wu Tang at Newark. At Newark Symphony hall in New Jersey.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

And that's my first time ever seeing him. So I, you know, I stood up in the balcony and watched them. And then I told my road manager, yo, do me a favor. Get the old dirty bastard dude and get the girl with half her hair braided and bring them upstairs. I want to meet them. And then he brought them up and. Cause I couldn't really cc, because I was way, way up. So when he brought them up, he was like, yo, yeah, yeah. But he's like, that's not a girl. That's a little kid dude named Shaheen. I'm like, oh, okay, my bad. And they came in and I told them how dope they was. And from that moment, we clicked. And Old Dirty and Shaheem hung out with me that night, right? We went to a party in Queens, and we hung out, and we was tight ever since then.

[Shannon Sharpe]

How soon can you tell somebody's really good?

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know, Sometimes you can Meet someone and it just, you know, it just feel that way, you know, like off the cuff, you meet them and it's like, you know, like, I love this person. Energy. Sometimes you can meet someone and you can't really figure them out. You have to really get to know each other. Because it's like you seen them on tv. That image that, you know, you created.

[Shannon Sharpe]

A perception, but that's not a great representation. You need to see somebody in their natural element to get a real sense or a true feel of who and what they really are.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you figure you, hey, let's go break bread. You come to my house, I come to your house, we get into the studio and to get a sense of who you are as an individual.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, like, I've done that with a lot of people, you know, because, you know, sometimes people trying to read me. So, you know, it's like, let me talk, you know, let me. Let me vibe with you first. Let's see where we at. Right. You know, and, you know, I mean, I think that's important. I mean, I felt like Quincy Jones did that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

We worked together. I felt like he did that when we worked together. Cause it was like, me, Melly Mel, Kumo D and Ice T, we all in the studio. And then he like, what you doing tomorrow? Can you come by? Like, yeah, I come by and we just talking. We just sitting there talking. Then we went in and he was doing something to the Secret Gardens track.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. James Ingram and DeBarge.

[Big Daddy Kane]

But he was. It was just. I didn't hear nobody vocals. It was just the beat playing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

He was messing with some eqs or something to that. And then we talking about this and that, and he was feeling me out. And then that's when he asked me, what do I know about, you know, Sarah Vaughn. You know, next thing you know, he has all these black encyclopedias and we chopping it up. Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You mentioned something earlier about Bobby Brown. Did you a solid. And there was really, at that point in time, there was not a whole lot of mixing. I mean, he was an R and B. And he brought a rap artist on and gave you 5, 10, 15 minutes to do your thing.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, like 10 minutes. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did you realize how impactful that was and how that was gonna change your life?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, I mean. I mean, I dreamed of playing the Garden. And, you know, it was like, if I never get to.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I did it that one time.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. You know. Yeah. And, you know, Bobby, Bobby, Bobby was my boy. Like, that was my dude. Like, I never forget Back in, I want to say maybe early 2000s, I was hanging out in St. Louis with Bobby Womack, okay? And he was telling me these stories about what him and Wilson Pickett used to do. And, you know, I'm taking it in, absorbing it, and I'm laughing, but the whole time I'm listening to the stories, saying to myself, yo, he's sitting here describing me and Bobby, right? Like, everything he's saying is the crazy shit me and Bobby done did together. You know, I'm like, wow, this is amazing, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Another. Another lyricist was Slick Rick. But you all didn't always have the best relationship. How does beef develop between artists? If we were to take women out of the equation, because we know women can, you know, he was dating her and blah, blah, whatever the case may be. But how do beef develop between artists?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Sometimes beef can develop, you know, over, you know, you know, status, ranking.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm better than you, you better than me.

[Big Daddy Kane]

So quartz old. Yeah. Sometimes it can. You know, it can be because of that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, my claim, look, if you got something that I want and I need to get it, I need to get at you, then. Have you ever done that? Like, okay, he on top of the mountain, so let me go at him, and then even if I don't get him, at least I'll get his audience's ear. And now they know about me because I tell people that all the time. A lot of time in this industry, in the podcasting industry, sometimes when you're higher up, people that are a little lower on the podcast, as far as subscription views, whatever the case may be, they might take a shot at you. Just so if you respond, your. Your listener's ear, now they got it.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. No, that's what a lot of people do. A lot of people do that. I mean, me, it was never that type of situation. Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, so you ain't have no be with Slick.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Me and Slickwick, we had a issue during the LL Tour, but we resolved it, you know? Right. Yeah, we resolved it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Y' all was on tour together.

[Big Daddy Kane]

It was the LL Nitro tour.

[Shannon Sharpe]

How the hell that go? Y' all got to get along. Cause y' all gonna be on that thing every night.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Exactly. So like I said, we resolved it. We resolved it and continued to finish the tour and make money. Man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cohen, I mean, he was a big prominent during that time. He was. I'm trying to think, who's the equivalent of him now in today's industry? Lauren who? Laura Coyne, Leora Cohen. Yeah. Who is the equivalent of him right now?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I don't know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I don't know because in the 80s and 90s that's the only name that you really heard.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Maybe this maybe the Steve style cat. But you know he's I think that he do it he move more quietly.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes, yes you have.

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

Mike Tyson. Story of, of you and Mike was cool.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Oh yeah, I love Mike, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cuz, how long, how long have you known Mike?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I knew Mike, you know, since, you know, the late 80s when I came out. We met, we know we just bonded and we was cool. So it was like anytime we see each other, we pretty much hanging the rest of the night. Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, Mike tell the story that, you know, you good with these things though.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That what Mike said.

[Big Daddy Kane]

I mean, I'm 56 years old, man. I ain't fighting nobody.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Nah, he ain't talking about now. He talking about back then.

[Big Daddy Kane]

I mean, you know, people.

[Shannon Sharpe]

People tried the young Kane.

[Big Daddy Kane]

People try everybody. Shannon.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They do.

[Big Daddy Kane]

People try everybody, you know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, I try to stay out that way. Kane.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the best thing to do, you know. Yeah, man, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cause you done move somewhere nice and quiet. Ain't no rumblings. I mean, you hear the birds chirping, the crickets and the wind rustling. That's all you hear now.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. I mean, but you know, in all actuality, it's like I don't think that even when I was younger, that's what I wanted, you know. Cause I mean, I'm from the hood and through my career, you never really heard me glorifying it or talking much about it, right. I talk about the come up, you know, so it was type of thing where I wanted a better life, right. And when I became successful, I went back to the hood, grabbed cats from, you know, from off of Lewis Avenue, from where I live, grabbed Cats from, you know, Brookline Projects, Brevoir Projects, LG Projects. Took them on the road with me, you know, not to show off, but so they can see what I'm doing to be inspired.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right, right, right.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You understand what I'm saying? I want to try to help them, try to figure out a way to get out the hood, what you think about, what you feeling, what you want to do.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But, you know, sometimes when you do that, Kane, people be thinking you be trying to show. You be trying to help somebody, and people think you trying to show out, you trying to shine on them.

[Big Daddy Kane]

That's the motherfucker that you left on the block. That's who say that. You know what I mean? The one that you took. He get it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He appreciate it.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What do you think the dopest song you ever wrote?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I would say the dopest rhyme I ever wrote was on a song called Mortal Kombat, where I said, none of are in front of. Cause every one of my adversaries lack your little son of obituary columns of region name if you ever try to step to the big deck. I think that was my dopest line, right? My dopest song, I believe, was a song on I Forget the album. I think it might have been Taste of chocolate called Mr. Pitiful. Because it was heartfelt, right? It was me talking about personal stuff that I was going through at the time. You know what I'm saying? And I'm not used to doing that. I'm not comfortable doing that. So I think that's the dopest song I ever wrote. But my most motivational song is for my first album, Set It Off.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Big Daddy Kane]

I normally perform it first or second in my stage show because, you know, it could be nights where, you know, ankle hurting. You know, I have arthritis in my back. My back, you know, messed up.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Soon as I hear that.

[Big Daddy Kane]

All the pain goes away. You know, I'm 20 years old again. I'm 19 years old again. You know, everything is back to normal, Right? That song just motivates me. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Do you still write today?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Absolutely.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You writing for you or you writing for someone else?

[Big Daddy Kane]

For me, mainly. For me mainly, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You looking to put something. You looking to put something out you're gonna do, or you just like.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, I let LL Cool J and Q Tip convince me to do new music. So, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Excuse me. I had LL on about a year ago, LL Say he gonna be on the stage like milk, Jagger. El said he gonna be out there like 70, 80.

[Big Daddy Kane]

I mean, I think he can do it. You know, that title. That title, the Goat, I think he deserves it. And he wears it well, you know, because, I mean, I don't. I don't. I don't see nobody else that can actually say that, you know, they've charted for. What is it, like, four different decades?

[Shannon Sharpe]

80S, 90s, 2000, he three. He had three and five.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Five. Yeah. Charted for five decades. You know, nobody else in hip hop can say that. His longevity is like. Yeah, he is.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He is appreciated. Is he as respected as he needs to be? Because ll really. Ll brought the women. Because he was the first one to start rapping about women. When I'm alone in my room.

[Big Daddy Kane]

I think that, you know, I think that true hip hop fans understand and respect Elle. It's just that he's become such a big movie star outside of music. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's kind of like hov. Hov got his start in music, but hov ain't really doing anything. He's a mogul. He doing.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, but I think they still respect Jay Z as a lyricist, as an emcee. You know what I'm saying?

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's like he's recent.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Cause it's like everything that he does outside of music is business.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Elle, Queen Latifah, what they do is film. Hollywood.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

So they're seen more as movie stars than MCs.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

But, you know, you can sleep if you want to. LL Cool J and Queen Latifah will drop a Hot 16 on you and murder the mic any given night.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Latifah definitely don't get what she deserves.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because when they start talking about women in rap and they go to all these. And that's not to minimize anybody name that they mention, but y' all forget about the Queen.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. And it's like, you can't do that because she did so much for the culture.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

And for female MCs.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Big Daddy Kane]

She broke down so many doors.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Your song Raw, did you take? Cause Eddie Murphy had a tour raw. Is that where you got the title from? Or you just did that on your.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Nah, just. Just on my own. Just on my own, you know? You know, it was just really. Just slang, you know? You know, like, you know, oh, nah, this gonna be raw.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Big Daddy Kane]

We gonna write. Nah, this gonna be something raw. Cause it was. When we did that song, it was like I had been feigning for months to put a song out by myself.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

My very first song was me and Biz, or just rhyming with Biz. And it was getting airplay the Problem was no one was booking me for shows because all the promoters thought it was a new biz song.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Big Daddy Kane]

So even though I have a song out and it's playing on the radio, I'm not making no money. I'm sitting at home broke. You know what I'm saying? Right. Like, we had to walk to the. Walk to the corner bodega and steal canned shrimp and Mrs. Paul's fish sticks for dinner while my song is playing on the radio, you know, we stealing food to eat for the night. So I'm going to the person that owned the label, fly Ty Williams. Like, yo, can I please put something out with just me? And he's like, yo, we still got life in this song. We need to let it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. But I ain't got no food in my stomach.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. You know what I'm saying?

[Shannon Sharpe]

No money in my pocket.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. Then finally, I guess he got tired of me ass. And then, you know, he was like, you know. You know. Yeah, go ahead and record something. We'll see. That's why the very first thing I say on the song is here I am R A W. Because I felt like, okay, finally I get to be me. I get to do me.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When you get that opportunity, you know, you got to come with it. Kane, you know, you got to murder this. Cause this is your opportunity because like you said, you got a song on there, but they think it's an ODB song and not you. And so now this is your opportunity. And like em said, hey, if you had one chance, one opportunity, would you capture it? Did you know this is my. This was my opportunity and I got to do this with raw.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Absolutely. Like I said, I was home broke with a song playing on the radio. So I knew that, okay, this is. This is it, right? This is it. This is do or die.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, was that common Cain to have guys had songs on the radio and they still ain't really got no money in their pocket?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

How's that possible?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, I mean, I want to say that my first show I ever did was probably for $750.

[Shannon Sharpe]

$750.

[Big Daddy Kane]

$750. I think my first. Very first performance was for $750.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did you have to pay to get to the show?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I don't remember. No, we probably use. Well, we probably use the limo. Yeah, we probably used a limo and I had to pay the limo driver. Yeah. So, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, damn.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So, you guys, I think the thing is, because a lot of people do this, you look at and you look at the athletes back in the 40s and 50s, 60s, 70s, and they're like, damn, they made good money by standard. But now they look at athletes in today's time, and they see guys got 60 million, 70 million, $80 million contracts. They're making 30, 40, 50 million off. You looking at right? Like, man, I did my first show, $750, and you see Kendrick making 13, $14 million a show.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Like, damn. I used to tell my mom said, mom, you couldn't wait 10 years? That's all you gotta do. You wait 10 years. You and dad wait 10 years, and.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Your boy in the money, you know, I mean, I'm gonna be honest with you, man. It's like, had it happened that way, financially, I would probably be so much more better. But would the legacy be the same? You know what I'm saying? Would the legacy be the same? Like, I believe that the Big Daddy Kane legacy will be here when I'm long gone, you know?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yep. And you. What you rapped about then versus what they rap about now. I think what you rapped about then has staying power. Because it wasn't girls or getting the bed or X, Y and Z.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, I rapped a little about the girl.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But I'm looking, I'm thinking Kane. I'm like, well, damn. How did you come up with the name Big Daddy Kane? Where did that come from?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, it was really just MC Kane.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Like, yeah, it was just MC Kane. And I used the name Kane from the Kung Fu. Yeah, David Carradine Kung Fu. You know, we outside, you know, we playing tag or Coco Levio. Red light, green light. You know, three o' clock on Saturday, I'm gone, right? Game over. I gotta go watch, you know, Kung Fu Theater. Right, Mouth. So they'd be like, all right, we just lost Bruce Lee. We just lost Young Grasshopper. We just lost Kane. So when I decided to change my. My rap name, I was like, yeah, I like Kane better than Young Grasshopper, you know, So I just MC Kane. But I would use the term Big Daddy a lot in the rhyme, right? And Biz was the one that told me, now you need to just put that all together. Put that together and be Big Daddy came. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Not MC Kane.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cause there were a lot of MCs back then, too, though.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Oh, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So you. And now Big Daddy Kane stands apart.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's like. It's funny to me because, like, to see that a name like that could actually have stay power because there's very few names that really have that right. Big Daddy Kane, Dougie Fresh, you know. You know, Scarface. You know, because, like, there's some names like. Like if your rap name would have been Shannon D. You know what I'm saying?

[Shannon Sharpe]

That thing ain't nobody any.

[Big Daddy Kane]

It's like certain names.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Remember that?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. You know, in certain names that, you know, didn't have that stay power, you know? So, I mean, that's definitely a blessing that, you know. It don't sound corny today.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You riding around in your car today. Who you listening to?

[Big Daddy Kane]

Same person I always been listening to. Willie Hutch or David Ruffin.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, so you don't listen to. You listen to. You listen to old school.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, but I mean, as far as the new artists, when I do listen, I listen to new artists mainly in the house, right. Lady London. Lady London, Conway, the Machine. Those are probably the main two new artists. I love the new Tyler, the creator. My son turned me on.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Tyler new album is Fire.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When you listen, I'll give you an example. When I watch a football game or I'm watching a sporting event, I'm critiquing, I'm analyzing. Okay, man, they're in this coverage or they're in this formation. It's just down in distance, this area of the field. This is what I think they should be doing. This is what I think the defense should be doing. When you listen to a new artist, when you listen to rap, are you dissecting it like that, or you just enjoy it?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I've always done that. I've always done that. And not only have I always done that, sometimes I linger around the artists hoping, you know, that they ask me for my point of view, you know, Like, I hear something that could have took it to the next level, you know, while everybody else zoning out, like, yeah, that's fire.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's fire.

[Big Daddy Kane]

I'd be up close to the artists like this here, like, just waiting, you know, Just patiently waiting. Like, just ask me. Just. Yeah, just ask me, you know? Cause, I mean, you know, I want to see everybody shine, man. I want to see everybody shine, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

If you could jump on the track with somebody today, give me four or five artists you'd like to jump on the track with today.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Right now. Today. J. Cole, of course. J. Cole, Lady London, CeeLo Green, Anthony Hamilton.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'd have never put you. I'd never put you in Anthony Hamilton and In ceelo together. I'd have thought you'd have, like, you know, okay, obviously, J. Cole, because you say he's. He's your Favorite today because he's a, you know, he's a lyricist. I would have think, thought you to say maybe somebody like Wayne or. Or, you know, whoever, you know, I would. I would. I would have never put you with CeeLo and Anthony Hamilton.

[Big Daddy Kane]

CeeLo a slick talker, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He is.

[Big Daddy Kane]

He a slick talker, man. Yeah. The Dungeon. Yeah. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He.

[Big Daddy Kane]

He. He a slick talker. You know, what you want to do? You want me to run through with my gun?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Drew, this nigga done did something that he can't undo.

[Big Daddy Kane]

And anybody's with him, they deserve one, too. I love CeeLo, man.

[Shannon Sharpe]

People don't realize, but he has a tremendous voice also.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Anthony Hamilton, you know, it's like. It's like, I love soul music.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

And we don't have too many, you know, soul singers left.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Nope.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know. You know, I mean, we. We have, you know, we still got al Green, the OJs, Ronald Isley, but I mean, like, from the younger. Yeah, well, I mean, from our generation, you know, you know, Anthony Hamilton, Casey Haley, Dave Hollister, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know, you know, not too many soul singers, you know, left.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's a different time, and I don't know if it's ever going to be like what it once was with the soul singers. When you mention, you mentioned you had Barry White and you had Marvin Gaye and you had Hathaway and you had Freddie Jackson and you had Teddy Pendergrass and you had Marvin Gaye, and you had this one. You had 10, 15, 20.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Oh, yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And you had 10, 15, 20 women.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because. And a lot of times I've asked artists that I been fortunate enough to sit down and. Is hip hop. Is hip hop dead? It was R and B dead. Maybe in that format. Maybe as we saw it when we were growing up.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Kane, I think that it doesn't have a strong presence in mainstream.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Big Daddy Kane]

But it's still there. It's still there because you got to think, even when we had artists like the OJs, Isley Brothers, Teddy Pendergrass, Patti LaBelle in Mainstream.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Stephanie.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Stephanie Mills, and we had all them in mainstream.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

We still was able to find artists like Lenny Williams.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know what I'm saying? We still was able to, you know, find artists like, you know, Sam and Dave, like, there was artists that wasn't, you know, like, in the mainstream like that, you know, but soulful artists.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know what I'm saying? That we had to search for.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You know, and that's what it is today. You just have to search for them, you know? Only thing is just that there's not any in the mainstream like there was then.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Are we ever gonna get another Sam Cooke? Are we ever gonna get another Marvin Gaye? Are we gonna ever get another, you know, Barry White? Are we gonna ever gonna get another Aretha?

[Big Daddy Kane]

I hope not, Whitney. I hope not.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Damn. Come on, Kane, don't you.

[Big Daddy Kane]

No, no. I want them to be in the class by themselves. I don't want another Sam Cooke. I want to hear someone that might remind me of Sam Cooke, but got their own lane, right? Got their own style, okay? You know what I'm saying? Cause. Nah. Cause I don't want nobody trying to replace Sam Cooke legacy or Marvin Gaye legacy, you know? I mean, like, I. I like October London, okay? You know, what he does in the Marvin flavor. But, you know, he got his own thing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Got his own thing.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So, I mean, let me J. Cole, there was. I guess it started out as folder. And Kendrick said they talking about the big three is just big. Me and Cole started on this journey, like, nah, I'm off. And I've talked to a lot of people that said, look, if somebody call you out, you got to jump off the porch. I know Kane would have jumped off the porch.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You goddamn right. I'm gonna tell you something. I remember talking to Papoose about it, and then Cole pulled the song back and said that he not there. And I was mad. Really, I was mad.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm like, no, come on, brother man called you out. You got to come back.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Yeah, I was mad. But then as I watched the Drake and Kendrick battle unfold, I had so much respect for Cole decision. I respected his decision so much more because it was like, I don't feel like the fans were enjoying the battle. I think the fans were taking too much time trying to fact check what they're saying, Right? You know, it's like it's a battle, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

So whether it's true or not.

[Big Daddy Kane]

Well, I mean, if you dissing someone, it's a 50 to 75% chance that you gonna lie about some shit. You know what I'm saying? I mean, when ll win at Hammer. Yeah, my old gym teacher ain't supposed to rap. When was Hammer ever ll's gym teacher? You know, it ain't true, but the line was funny as hell.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Exactly.

[Big Daddy Kane]

You see what I'm saying?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Big Daddy Kane]

So, I mean, it's like, you know, just enjoy the battle. And I don't. I just feel like I don't think. I don't think the fans would have really appreciated it. I don't think that it would have had the impact that the Jay Z and Nas battle had. That the Tupac, Biggie, yeah, Shan and krs. I don't think it would have had the type of impact, you know. Yeah, right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

This concludes the first half of my conversation. Part two is also posted and you can access it to whichever podcast platform you just listened to part one on. Just simply go back to Club Shay Shay profile and I'll see you there.

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