The Greatest 50 Hip-hop Albums Ever - #11...

[Twentytwofifty]

Big Daddy Kane - Long Live The Kane (1988) 

   
Back when fresh was the word, and “Raw” was on prism
Marley on the boards, plus Kane was long livin’
G rap and Ace spittin murderous
Bought Long Live The Kane sat down and learned every word of it
Sneakin' my walkman in the homeroom playin it
Listen for punchlines delivery and cadences
          Phonte (of Little Brother) on “The Listening”

    That’s what happens when you’re an MC as dope as Big Daddy Kane.  Other (aspiring) rappers take notice and study your game.  What we have here is the debut of one of the most influencial MCs ever to grace the microphone.  When a pompous Big Daddy Kane debuted with 1988’s Long Live The Kane, he could care less about playing his position.  Much like the Kangol-endorsing teenager from Hollis, Queens, did years earlier, he came, saw and conquered-with much emphasis on conquered.  Even though he spends a good 80% of the album boasting about his skills and abilities on the microphone, and cutting those of other MCs, Big Daddy Kane consistently proves himself a thrilling artist on this debut album, one of the most appealing creations from the original new school of rap.  This debut captures the Big Daddy Kane who rocked the house at hip-hop clubs and verbally cut up any and all comers in the late '80s with his articulate precision and locomotive power — the Big Daddy Kane who became an underground legend, the Big Daddy Kane who had the sheer verbal facility and razor-clean dexterity to ambush any MC and exhilarate anyone who witnessed or heard him perform.  The production is end to end brilliant, with Juice Crew guru Marley Marl soundtracking Kane through ten furious.  Marley Marl’s production has rarely sounded finer, a gritty chorus of drums and funk-soul samples that have since been immortalized.   There are also plenty of legitimate early hip-hop classics, none of which have lost an ounce of their power, and all of which serve as reminders of a time and era when hip-hop felt immediate, exciting, fresh, and a little bit dangerous (in the figurative, rather than literal, sense), and when hip-hop spawned commercial tastes of the moment rather than surrendering to them.  "Raw (Remix)" "Just Rhymin' With Biz", and "Ain't No Half-Steppin'" are among them, but they're not the only highlights.  Check the furious "Long Live The Kane" and "Set It Off" for Kane's up-tempo odes to himself.  "I'll Take You There" and "Word to the Mother(Land)" showed some of his social awareness.  "Raw (Remix)" and "Ain't No Half Steppin'" are simply two of the greatest hip-hop songs ever and eventhough every verse on those songs are spectacular he really went off on "Just Rhymin' With Biz":

Cause I’m the prosecutor taking a stand
And, I’m cross-examining you my man
The judge and jury, releasing my fury
The verdict that I reach for you is rather blurry
You see, the name Kane is superior to many people
It means King Asiatic Nobody’s Equal
I hate to brag, but damn I’m good
And if mics were a gun, I’d be Clint Eastwood
And if rap was a game, I’d be MVP
Most Valuable Poet on the M-I-C
Or if rap was a school, I’d be the principal
Aw fuck it, the Kane is invincible
To be specific, I may die one day
But my rhymes will remain like a hieroglyphic
It’s a certain special skill that takes much practice
I got it good, apparently you lack this
So in turn, sit back and learn
Listen close, this is for your own concern
Let me show you exactly how it’s properly done
Lights, camera, action!

    His eloquent flow, metaphor manipulation and superslick fashion sense is evident from MCs such as Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and Biggie.  Though he's hasn't been putting out much music in the last decade the memory of Big Daddy Kane as one of hip-hop's supreme lyrical rulers lives long on this masterpiece.


50. Dr. Dre – 2001 (1999)
49. Outkast – Southernplayalisticaddicmuzik (1994)
48. Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt (1996)
47. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo – Wanted: Dead Or Alive (1990)
46. Redman – Whut? Thee Album (1992)
45. De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead (1991)
44. Fugees – The Score (1996)
43. The D.O.C. – No One Can Do It Better (1989)
42. Common Sense - Resurrection (1994)
41. Makaveli - The Don Kiluminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996)
40. Public Enemy – Fear Of A Black Planet (1990)
39. Ice Cube – Death Certificate (1992)
38. Gza/Genius - Liquid Swords (1995)
37. N.W.A – Efil4zaggin (1991)
36. Main Source – Breaking Atoms (1991)
35. Geto Boys – Grip It! On That Other Level (1989)
34. Brand Nubian – One For All (1990)
33. Scarface – The Diary (1994)
32. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo – Road To The Riches (1989)
31. Beastie Boys – Licensed To Ill (1986)
30. Ultramagnetic MC's – Critical Beatdown (1988)
29. LL Cool J – Radio (1985)
28. 2Pac – All Eyez On Me (1996)
27. Mobb Deep – The Infamous… (1995)
26. Eric B. & Rakim – Follow The Leader (1988)
25. Big Daddy Kane – It’s A Big Daddy (1989)
24. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth – Mecca And The Soul Brother (1992)
23. Black Moon – Enta Da Stage (1993)
22. Outkast – Aquemini (1998)
21. A Tribe Called Quest – People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm (1990)
20. Run-D.M.C. – Run-D.M.C. (1984)
19. Boogie Down Productions – By All Means Necessary (1988)
18. Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… (1995)
17. De La Soul – 3 Feet High And Rising (1989)
16. Snoop Doggy Dogg – Doggystyle (1993)
15. Ice Cube – AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted (1990)
14. The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready To Die (1994)
13. Run-D.M.C. – Raising Hell (1986)
12. EPMD – Strictly Business (1988)
11. Big Daddy Kane – Long Live The Kane (1988)

[Denial! Is Actively Joinin The Revolution]

good choice!

Top ten time this is then moment everyone has been waitin for!

[eS El Duque]

Long Live The Kane 

[Lincoln]

I would have put this and #12 higher.

[Larrabee]

We're about to get into the Top 10. Incredible list so far, I can't wait to see what's #1.

[Young Dan Iza]

18, 16, 14 are way better than this choice

[Twentytwofifty]

18, 16, 14 are way better than this choice

"way" better is quite an overstatement.  This album deserves to be in atleast the top 15.

[Elevz]

Maybe it's just me, but it seems to me like the list has been perfectly tweaked. Yet another album I think Knuckles put exactly where it belongs. Then again, I can understand some of the westcoast heads here not really digging this album; it's so much of that oldschool eastcoast sound. I love it tho.

[Bramsterdam (see ya)]

love this album props