It's a Big Daddy Thing (1989)

01 It's a Big Daddy Thing Lyrics Sample
02 Another Victory Lyrics Sample
03 Mortal Combat Lyrics Sample
04 Children R the Future Lyrics Sample
05 Young, Gifted and Black Lyrics Sample
06 Smooth Operator Lyrics Sample
07 Calling Mr. Welfare Lyrics Sample
08 Wrath of Kane (Live) Lyrics Sample
09 I Get the Job Done Lyrics Sample
10 Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now Lyrics Sample
11 Pimpin' Ain't Easy Lyrics Sample
12 Big Daddy's Theme Sample
13 To Be Your Man Lyrics Sample
14 House That Cee Built (f. Nice & Smooth) Lyrics Sample
15 On the Move Lyrics Sample
16 Warm It Up, Kane Lyrics Sample
17 Rap Summary (Lean on Me Remix) Lyrics Sample

If Big Daddy Kane's debut album painted him as an enormously talented battle MC, his follow-up, It's a Big Daddy Thing, finds him aggressively expanding into new territory and gunning for a wider audience outside the hip-hop faithful. Unlike later efforts, most of it is rousingly successful, making for an album that's arguably just as strong as his near-classic debut. This is where Kane starts to take his place as one of hip-hop's first sex symbols, thanks to the gliding "Smooth Operator," the somewhat dated ballad "To Be Your Man," and the Teddy Riley-produced new jack swing track "I Get the Job Done." If the latter is a blatant attempt at crossing over, with a vastly different sound than anything else on the album, it's also a player's statement of purpose. Elsewhere, Kane plays the anti-drug, pro-education social commentator, bringing his Nation of Islam beliefs further into the spotlight on tracks like "Another Victory," "Children R the Future," "Calling Mr. Welfare," and "Rap Summary (Lean on Me)." "Pimpin' Ain't Easy" sits a little uneasily alongside that progressive-minded material, not just for its obvious subject matter but for the line where Kane declares himself "anti-faggot"; nonetheless, it remains something of a favorite among fans who look past that slip. And of course, there are plenty of showcases for Kane's near-peerless technique, including "Mortal Combat," a live version of the rare B-side "Wrath of Kane," and "Warm It Up, Kane." There's some filler in the second half, like the amusing, blaxploitation-styled "Big Daddy's Theme," but overall, It's a Big Daddy Thing is a strong, varied album that captures every important side of one of rap's major talents.

Original Release Date: September 19, 1989
Label: Warner Brothers (Cold Chillin')
Time: 75 Minutes
Amazon.com Sales Rank in Music: #70,229

Altersreality Review.
Samples Used.

Long Live the Kane (1988)

01 Long Live the Kane Lyrics Sample
02 Raw (Remix) Lyrics
03 Set it Off Lyrics Sample
04 The Day You're Mine Lyrics Sample
05 On the Bugged Tip (f. Scoob Lover) Lyrics Sample
06 Ain't No Half-Steppin' Lyrics Sample
07 I'll Take You There Lyrics Sample
08 Just Rhymin' with Biz (f. Biz Markie) Lyrics Sample
09 Mister Cee's Master Plan Lyrics Sample
10 Word to the Mother (Land) Lyrics Sample

Even though he spends a good 90% 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 his debut album, Long Live the Kane, 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. There are 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. Although his next album would be nearly the artistic equal of the debut — and, in many ways, even bettered it — Big Daddy Kane would never sound as compelling or as fresh as on this first effort.

Audio CD: (October 25, 1990)
Original Release Date: June 21, 1988
Label: Warner Brothers (Cold Chillin')
Time: 46:40
Source Rating: 5 Mics
Amazon.com Sales Rank in Music: #40,562

Big D Review.
Samples Used.