THE 4TH QUARTER

Its been more than 20 years since he released his debut album, Long Live the Kane, and today, Antonio Marshall aka Big Daddy Kane is a legend in rap circles, a God if you will. To this day his name still arises in serious discussions of the best to ever pic up a microphone, and for good reason. Kane’s unique style and influence is evident when you look at many credible artists in the rap game today, both mainstream and underground. Many trends that are nothing more than an afterthought in the industry today, Kane was among the first to do, such as rappers being featured on R&B tracks as well as in major motion pictures.

One of the most important aspects to being a good rapper is being able to be a good storyteller, which is evident with Kane even when he’s not rapping. Kane’s abilities are second to none as eveb a simple conversation with Kane can make one feel as if they are back in the streets of Brooklyn circa 1980s.

Just minutes before the Scion sponsored West Coast premier of the short documentary about the man himself, Big Daddy Kane is sitting on a couch, capturing the attention of those listening with the tales of life growing up in New York in a simpler time, where gold chains reigned supreme over the platinum and diamonds that rule the rap videos nowadays. Kane even went on to explain how he would prefer for people that feel the need to buy jewelry, to buy a $500 gold chain, instead of breaking the bank to buy a $10,000 diamond and platinum chain. The simple things that he reminiced about could to boggle the minds of anyone that hadn’t seen it firsthand, such as how a young Kane and his friends used to go down to the corner store to cop a pair of leather PF Flyers for $5.99 and be the freshest kid on the block. He also humorously noted that the less costly option was the canvas versions for the more affordable price of $1.99, which is unthinkable today considering the amount of materialism and focus on money in society, specifically with the latest generation of hip hop artists.

While Kane is undoubtedly one of the most influential figures in the history of hip hop, the people that influenced him as an artist lie inside as well as outside of hip hop. “Grandmaster Caz was a big inspiration,” Kane tells The4thQuarter.net “as well as Marvin Gaye.”
Not one to give cliche responses, when asked who impresses him in hip hop from today’s selection of artists Kane tells us, “Ludacris is one of my favorite rappers. He’s like a dirty south version of Redman.”
He also names some of the usual suspects for people who enjoy what many consider to be conscious hip hop “Talib, Mos Def, Common.” However, when asked if he is a fan on conscious hip hop Kane tells us, “To me there’s no such thing as conscious hip hop. To me conscious hip hop is hip hop.” A powerful statement, which carries even more merit considering who it is coming from.

According to Big Daddy Kane, he and co-founder of MTV’s Lyricist Lounge Show, Anthony Marshall are good friends. That friendship made it easier for the two to be paired together on the BDK project. BDK, the opening film in the Scion Easy 10 film series is a short documentary on Kane that focuses on him looking back at growing up in New York, his influence in fashion, as well as the influence his lyrical ability holds. The film is short on time, but has as powerful of an effect in 15 minutes as most documentaries would fail to accomplish in films with 5 times the length. In BDK, Big Daddy Kane is trailed through the streets of Brooklyn as he returns to his old stomping grounds to chop it up with everyone from his elders who saw him ascend to the top from the very beginning, to young children with large aspirations of using a microphone as a method to escape the inner city streets. Perhaps the most visually entertaining point in the documentary is when Kane gets a chance to meet the Retro Kidz, a rap group that is more influenced by the 80s culture than any you’ll ever see, all the way down to the high-top fades and gold chains that were Kane’s signature style back in the day. In the film, hip hop fans also get to see another familiar face when Kane pays a visit to DJ Mister Cee, who served as his DJ during his late 80s and early 90s.

Kane is not one to shy away from the camera as he’s had roles in several projects in the early 90s directed by notable black filmmakers Mario Van Peebles and Robert Townsend respectively.
When asked if he hope’s that the BDK project can be a possible springboard towards future film projects, Kane responds with semi-sincere laughter, “Shit it better. That’s why I’m here.”
As if being one of the greatest rappers of all time wasn’t enough, Kane has a desire to become a more serious actor.
“The roles that I played [in Posse and Meteor Man] I wouldn’t consider calling that acting, because I was basically playing myself. It’s easy to get pigeonholed into the gangster roles, and not be able to showcase your acting ability.”
Whether Kane can use BDK as a springboard to his takeover of the big screen is yet to be seen. What is known, however, is his place in hip hop history is etched in stone.

Words by: Joshua White
Interview done by: Justin Moland
Special thanks to: Angela Lapre & Scion