CLASS OF ’88: Rakim VS Big Daddy Kane
You can’t know where you are going if you don’t know where you have been. Overused cliché or not; this statement holds insurmountable weight in regards to Rap music. Think not? Think again. You have the batch of your new school artists that swear they are bringing something new to the table but it’s all been said and done before. The being heavily draped in chains a la Mr. T game, talk to Slick Rick. Selling millions on your debut album as a teenager is peace but LL Cool J did that when the money wasn’t even there like that. Your record is number one on the video countdown show? Try being number one when the networks werent even featuring any people of color. Look no further than the throwback gear everyone is wearing now. We say all of that to say this: the past will always dictate Hip-Hops future. And there is no better time than to pay tribute to the old school than on this twentieth anniversary of 1988. 1988 was an incredible time for Hip-Hop. As fans, we were spoiled with classic after classic. In the last eleven months, AllHipHop.com revisited these seminal albums with our Class Of 88 series. We took a track by track look at It Takes A Nation Of Millions, Paid In Full, Strictly Business, Tougher Than Leather, Power, Lyte As A Rock, In Control Volume 1, took it to the R&B side with Guy and had KRS-ONE speak on those times socially. But with those impeccable LPs came impeccable MCs. At the top you had Big Daddy Kane and Rakim. The Brooklyn Knight of rappers had the flair and overlapping rhyme schemes that begot Jay-Z. Representing The Nation Of The Gods And The Earths, Rakim singlehandedly changed way Hip-Hop rapped and gave birth to Nas. To say who the better rapper through their entire careers was would be futile, as both artists had too many triumphs to count. But as a closer to the Class Of 88 series, we asked all those involved with the aforementioned classic albums who was iller during 1988, Kane or Rakim. We could have asked any jamoke but those that were asked were rocking alongside both of them, so who better to give an on site analysis? Yeah we know; you dont have thank us. Chuck D.: Rakim and KRS-ONE changed the game of rhyme, with their phrasing. They introduced a style of rhyme that changed Rap forever. Ra is truly the God rapper and KRS-ONE is the most feared rapper of all time. The most skilled rapper of all time, I think is Big Daddy Kane. Thats only because Big Daddy Kane could deliver on speeds. Its one thing to rap fast but its another thing is to rap on something fast and Kane can do it fast, slow, powerful and dance. Sh*t, he can do it all [laughs]. With choosing Rakim or Big Daddy Kane, there is a difference between being evolutionary and being revolutionary. Rakim is revolutionary; he invented something that wasnt there before, same thing with KRS-ONE. Kane took what was there and did it better, same thing with Jay-Z. Big Daddy Kane and Jay-Z are evolutionary. Rakim, Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, KRS-ONE; they are revolutionary. They did something that wasnt done before. Ice T.: Im going to say this because Im really split. Kane and I became really close friends out the gate and I never really heard anyone rap like Kane as fast as he did. But when I made my first record all I heard in Harlem was Rakim. Every car was playing Rakim and I looked at these n****s like who the f*** is Eric B.? So damn, s**t, I think actually Rakim. I think Rakim to me but at the same I think Kanes power came later. I think Rakim was earlier. I think they have an equal amount of power, I just think to me coming from L.A. and walking through Harlem making an album, and hearing his record blasting I was hearing I came in the door out of every single car, it blew my mind. Like okay, I can dig it. DMC: Big Daddy Kane; the reason why I say Big Daddy Kane was Rakim had good records. But everything that Kane said was dope. He was a more of a reflection of everyone while Rakim was the God. Rakim was the great know it all that you climb the mountain you go speak to get specific knowledge. Kane was sexy. Kane was street. Kane was funny. Kane was Rap. Rakim was the epitome. Rakim was The Bible but Daddy Kane was the word; the gospel. Rakim was specific, while Daddy Kane was everything. Lyrically Kane was better. Rakim wasnt funny. I got to give it to Daddy Kane man. But you know whos better than both of them? Chuck D., he had the voice and the flows! MC Lyte: Its all according to how you look at it in terms lyrical content they were both monsters. However in 88 a new regime had come in and Kane was part of that new regime. If you are talking about that year it would be Kane. If you are talking about overall, I dont think a decision can made between the two. Both are grand at what they do however I remember being moved in the crowd, and clapping to this with Rakim much earlier. If you are going to talk about that moment in time, Kane was killing it. He was more real to me than anything else. Erick Sermon: Im biased on that. Throughout all my interviews Ive always said the reason why I rap is because of Rakim. I cant answer that question even though Kane immaculately dope on the microphone but Rakim is why I rap. Parrish Smith: Thats impossible to choose [laughs]. Im not one of these artists […]
CLASS OF ’88: Ice-T and Power
Perception seems to be everything in Rap music. Many rappers flaunt a gangster image but have rarely have lived a minute in the criminal life. You know the deal; I sold this, I shot him, and I ran this town. Entertainment or not, the role playing through rhyme has become a standard practice in our culture. But throughout the years there have been certain rappers who really ran the streets as they say on their records; add Ice-T to that list. Born Tracy Marrow, Ice was a gangster in real life and would also pioneer Gangster Rap. The West Coast icon gave listeners a raw look into dope dealing, pimping, gang banging; all with a Los Angeles flair. While his debut Rhyme Pays was an ill introduction, his sophomore follow up would capture the streets in a way never done before. Originally released September 13, 1988, Power would be groundbreaking to say the least. Joints like the Im Your Pusher and High Rollers depicted the ups and downs of getting fast money; sounding like nothing else on the radio at the time. Now twenty years later we pay tribute to this classic the right way. We get none other than Ice himself to kick game on each track, discuss the LL beef, and the infamous album cover. Intro Produced By Afrika Islam Ice-T: The intro to the album was based around somebody listening to my last album Rhyme Pays. This cat has the new Ice T album and I act like they were fighting over it and my man ended up jacking dude and knocked him out to listen to the album. That was back in the days when the skits were a big part in music. I loved making an album where you felt like you were sitting through something really happening. Power Produced By Afrika Islam Ice-T: Well Power was my first record where I really realized I had some juice. Coming off Rhyme Pays it was so early in Rap that I didnt expect to have a gold record on my first record. I didnt expect people to like me that much. When you do get all those fans, youre like wow this is a powerful format. Now I had a million people listening to me and I was taking advantage of that. Me and my crew came into Rap totally different from everybody else. We never thought this music should be danced to. Because most of us real gangsters and real players dont dance anyway; it was more like grab a glass of wine and sit back and listen to Ice pop it. To us gangsters and players it had to be true; it had to be extremely honest. I couldnt lie about cars and things I never had or things I never did. That wasnt really allowed in my circle. I thought those were rules. Drama Produced By Afrika Islam Ice-T: With Drama is what I called faction. I created style of Rap which I called faction. A factual situation put to a fictional scenario. So all the things happened but they didnt happen in that order or that night. But you know driving around dirty in the car and seeing those blue lights, I think any n**** has been through that. Its one of those classic Ice-T stories where I end up dying in the end. So its kind of a story of a cat in the street all the way to death row in four verses [laughing]. Heartbeat Produced By Afrika Islam Ice-T: Heartbeat is a record I got sued for by War. It was in the early sampling days and I always dug that record. To me that break, I mean to me that was kind of Hip-Hop; the way he was scatting over it. We just took the record itself and looped it. I just freestyled over it; it wasnt a message in there though. But War came and got me for that record. I had to pay them a lot of money for that track, thats when I learned about the sample laws. They came to get me years later. What happens is sometimes the groups sell their publishing and whoever handles their publishing goes on a mad hunt on anyone using their music. I cant even say it was War, but whoever their publisher was, they came after me for forty thousand dollars which was a lot of money at the time. The Syndicate Produced By Afrika Islam Ice-T: That was really a rap where I let the homies go. I had Donald D. on it. I had Henry G on it; who was really Evils brother who was more of a DJ than a rapper but he happened to be in the studio that day. We went and took a little poke at LL on that record because he was kind of like my nemesis back in the day. I started the beef with LL. Los Angeles was in a position where we were trying to get out there and at the time L was the hottest rapper. And a lot of New York rappers would come to LA and diss LA; you know being very arrogant. So for me to be the number one rapper from LA at the time, I had to challenge him. When I heard Break Of Dawn, I made this record called Open Contract. At the time LL was one tour with my boy Busy Bee, so I had a lot of personal information on L. But my style was a little different. Because LA n****s go straight for the guns, people kind of saw something coming, so we ended up squashing it thanks to Afrika Bambaattaa. Radio Suckers Produced By Afrika Islam Ice-T: I need put that record out right now. If theres any bitter part of Ice-T, is that radio would never play my music. I never […]
