Big Daddy Kane
b. Antonio M. Hardy, 10 September 1969, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Self-styled 'black gentleman vampire' whose KANE moniker is an acronym for King Asiatic Nobody's Equal. Kane followed his cousin in to hip hop by rapping in front of a beatbox for his first shows on Long Island, New York. Aided by his DJ Mr Cee, he has released several albums of laconic, fully realised songs pitched halfway between soul and rap. His tough but sensual work is best sampled on the hit singles Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now and Smooth Operator. The production skills of Marley Marl and the deep groove worked up by Mr Cee play no small part in the refined ambience of his better work. Despite being an obvious ladies' man, his appeal is enhanced by his ability to also handle tough street raps, of the nature of the debut album's Raw, his contribution to Public Enemy's Burn Hollywood Burn, or his own Afrocentric, Muslim tracts. He also joined with Ice-T on a speaking tour of black high schools in Detroit in the late '80s. A huge fan of soul, obvious similarities to Barry White are given further credence by the duet he shares with that artist on TASTE OF CHOCOLATE. On the same set he also produced a comedic duet with Rudy Ray Moore. He can, however, be guilty of the rap genre's unfortunate ability to insult women, the fantasy world of songs like Pimpin' Ain't Easy springing easily to mind. He has straddled the rap and mainstream R&B markets with his more recent, decidedly mellow albums, and also worked widely as a freelance lyricist for Cold Chillin', writing with Roxanne Shante and Biz Markie among others.