1980s In high school, Kane met
Mister Cee, who later played an integral role in Kane's career as his DJ. In 1984, Kane became friends with
Biz Markie, and he co-wrote some of Biz's best-known lyrics. Both became members of the
Queens-based Juice Crew, a collective headed by producer
Marley Marl. Kane signed with Tyrone Williams's and Len Fichtelberg's
Cold Chillin' Records label in 1987 and debuted the same year with the 12" single "Raw". The name Big Daddy Kane came from a variation on
Caine,
David Carradine's character on the TV show
Kung Fu, and the character Big Daddy played by
Vincent Price in the 1963 film
Beach Party. Kane is known for his ability to syncopate over fast beats. Despite his asthma, he is a pioneer of fast rhyming. His sense of style is renowned and set a number of late-1980s and early-1990s hip hop trends (
high-top fades hairstyles, velour suits, and four-finger rings). The
backronym "King Asiatic Nobody's Equal" is often applied to his moniker. In 1988, Kane released his debut album,
Long Live the Kane, which featured the hit "
Ain't No Half Steppin". In 1989, he released his second album and biggest hit to date, ''
It's a Big Daddy Thing'', which included 1970s sample throwbacks like "
Smooth Operator" and the
Teddy Riley-produced track "I Get the Job Done". He also had a verse on the
Marley Marl-produced track "
The Symphony" (1988), which included Juice Crew members Craig G,
Masta Ace, and
Kool G Rap.
1990s In 1990, Big Daddy Kane was featured as a guest rapper on Public Enemy's
Fear of a Black Planet, on the song "Burn Hollywood Burn", in which he discussed the depiction of African-American characters particularly in the Jim Crow Era. Big Daddy Kane also referenced Aunt Jemima as an example of how Black women were characterized and given low-status roles, with the lyrics "And Black women in this profession / As for playing a lawyer, out of the question / For what they play Aunt Jemima is the perfect term". Big Daddy Kane appeared on
Patti LaBelle's 1991 effort "Burnin. He provided the rap chorus to the single "Feels Like Another One". He also appeared on the video release "Live in New York". He contributed the song "'Nuff Respect" to
the soundtrack of
Ernest Dickerson's feature film debut
Juice, which starred
Omar Epps and
Tupac Shakur, further demonstrating his fast lyrical delivery. In 1991, Kane won the
Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for his performance on the
Quincy Jones collaborative track "Back on the Block" from the
album of the same name. As an actor, he debuted in
Mario Van Peebles's 1993 western
Posse, and appeared in
Robert Townsend's 1993 film
The Meteor Man. He also posed for
Playgirl and
Madonna's book
Sex during the 1990s. During the early 1990s, a then-unknown
Jay-Z toured with Kane, and Kane helped him early in his career. Ice-T said: "I actually met Jay-Z with Kane. Kane brought Jay-Z over to my house." Kane has said that Jay-Z "wasn't a hypeman, he basically made cameo appearances on stage. When I would leave the stage to go change outfits, I would bring out Jay-Z and Positive K and let them freestyle until I came back to the stage." Jay-Z was also featured on Big Daddy Kane's track "Show & Prove" from ''Daddy's Home'' (1994) and in the video. In 1996, Kane recorded with
MC Hammer and Tupac Shakur on the song "Too Late Playa" (along with
Danny Boy) originally meant for Hammer's unreleased album
Too Tight, as well as recording with Shakur on the unreleased song "Wherever U R (Sho' Shot)". He was said to be close to signing with
Death Row East that year, but decided not to after Shakur was killed in September. In 1997, Kane teamed up with
Frankie Cutlass on his single "The Cypher Part 3" and some of
Marley Marl Juice Crew veterans. In 1998, he released his final solo album to date, ''
Veteranz' Day''. It received mixed reviews and did not sell well, but Kane did not give up rapping.
2000s In 2000, Big Daddy Kane appeared on Tony Touch's "
The Piece Maker" mixtape alongside
Kool G Rap and
KRS-One. A rejuvenated Kane occasionally collaborated with a variety of hip-hop artists, including
A Tribe Called Quest,
Jurassic 5,
Little Brother, and
DJ Babu of the
Beat Junkies. He released two singles, the
Alchemist-produced "The Man, The Icon", and the
DJ Premier-produced "Any Type of Way" (on which he discusses urban collapse in post-
9/11 New York City ("
Giuliani got New York lookin' like it's
Amistad") and the erosion of the
middle class. Big Daddy Kane appeared on the
trip hop group
Morcheeba's 2003 single "What's Your Name". In 2005, Big Daddy Kane was honored during the
VH1 Hip-Hop Honors. After a
medley of hits performed by
T.I.,
Black Thought, and
Common, he came out to perform "Warm It Up, Kane" with his old dancers, Scoob and Scrap. Kane and Kool G Rap can both be seen briefly in ''
Dave Chappelle's Block Party''. In 2006, he appeared as a guest MC on the track "Get Wild Off This", produced by the
Stanton Warriors for their
Stanton Sessions Vol. 2 breaks mix. He also appeared alongside the
Wu-Tang Clan,
Rakim,
Busta Rhymes, and
Q-Tip in a segment of the 2006
Summer Jam concert (June 7, 2006), as part of an initiative by Busta Rhymes to honor the legacy of New York City hip-hop. In 2007, a new track, "BK Mentality", was released on the mixtape compilation
Official Joints. Kane also appeared on
Joell Ortiz's
The Brick: Bodega Chronicles mixtape. Big Daddy Kane made a cameo in the 2008 video for "
Game's Pain" by
The Game. The video also featured
Raekwon,
Three 6 Mafia and
Ice Cube. Kane also appeared on the remix of "
Don't Touch Me" by Busta Rhymes. Also in 2009, Kane played the role of Clay in the film
Just Another Day. The film follows two rappers, one poor and young, one older and successful, through a day in their lives.
2010s Big Daddy Kane appears on one track on
MA Doom: Son of Yvonne—the collaboration between
MF Doom and former Juice Crew member
Masta Ace. As of 2013, Kane was recruited by New York City power group Lifted Crew and R&B singer Showtyme to form a band called "Las Supper". Its album
Back to the Future was released on March 26, 2013. On November 24, 2014, Big Daddy Kane discussed his upbringing, childhood influences, relationships, sexual experiences, and
Madonna's 1992 book
Sex in an interview on the
Dr. Zoe Today show. In 2016, he was featured on
Tito Jackson's single "Get It Baby" and appeared in the documentary
Hip-Hop Evolution.
2020s In June 2020, Kane released the single "Enough", about police brutality. ==Legacy==