Big Daddy Kane is an American rapper who gained his fame through working with Juice Crew and through acting.
He is a very respectable MC and the winner of a Grammy award and is considered as one of the revolutionists in the hip hop world.
King is respected in the world of hip hop and is named as one of the legends who contributed to the Golden Age of the Hip Hop which was from 1986 to 1997.
Some of the biggest artist in this music genre call him the biggest lyricist of all time.
Early years
He was born as Antonio Hardy on September 10, 1968, in the town of New York in the United States. He spent his childhood in Brooklyn. His father was a truck driver and his mother was a nurse. He has a brother with whom he is still close.
He was 16 years old when he met Biz Markie and they started making lyrics together. He has written a lot of songs for BZ Markie and they even became close friends.
Both Buz and Kane became members of Juice crew, a Queens hip hop collective run by Marley Marl. They all got along really well and the group had made great hits together.
Bi Daddy Kane states many times that it was a truly remarkable experience to make music with these men.
Career development
In 1987, Big Daddy Kane signed to Cold Chillin’ Records which released his single “Raw” the same year. Although Kane had asthma it was no problem for him to make fast hip hop beats and rhyming. His stage name Kane stands for “King Asiatic Nobody’s Equal”, but he was also known as B.D.K., Dark Gable and Blackanova.
He was and still is a huge fan of movies, and his name Big Daddy is based on one movie character from the film “Beach Party”, named price.
In 1988 he has released his first album titled “Long Live the Kane” which was released by Cold Chillin’ Records. It raised his first hit “Ain’t No Hald Steppin”.
In 1989 he has released another album which emerged a new hit. This single became his biggest hit ever and it was called “It’s a Big Daddy Thing”. This song was a big hit back in the days and he was very happy about the fact that his fanbase was spreading quickly.
He was also featured on “The Symphony” by Marley Marl. In 1999 he was featured on a single for Patti LaBelle called “Burnin'”. It was a great single and many people enjoyed it. He got many opportunities to work with other people later as well!
His song “Nuff Respect” was featured on a soundtrack of an American crime movie “Juice” with Omar Epps and Tupac Shakur.
In 1991 he made a collaboration with Quincy Jones on a single “Back on the Block” which brought him a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
Although he was respected as a prominent rapper in the golden age of hip hop he experimented with R&B beats a lot. He was also connected to The Five-Percent Nation, a movement from Harlem which taught that Black people are the first original people on Earth and that Asiatic Blackman is really a god. This brought controversy which reflected on his work.
Big Daddy Kane went on tours and worked on his other albums like “Looks Like a Job For”.
In 1993 he entered the world of movies with his debut role in Mario Van Peebles’ western named “Posse” where he acted alongside Stephen Baldwin and Blair Underwood.
The same year he appeared in “The Meteor Man”, a comedy made by Robert Townsend starred by James Earl Jones and Bill Cosby amongst others.
In 1996 he made a collaboration with 2Pac on a hit single “Where Ever U R”. This was an epic collaboration many people waited for a long time since 2Pac had a huge fanbase and therefore many people were very excited to see this.
Big Daddy Kane helped another modern star with his early career: Jay-Z. Jay-Z toured with Kane a lot and was featured on his single “Show & Prove” from 1994. He also appeared on the video for the same song. In 1995, Big Daddy Kane made a collaboration with 2Pac and MC Hammer on “Too Late Playa”.
In 1996 he signed a contract with Death Row East record label. He loved to work with them and it was a great opportunity as well.
One year later he released his last album named “Veteran’s Day” which didn’t gain good reviews.
In 2000, he appeared on “The Piece Maker” by Tony Touch. He made several collaborations with artists such as DJ Babu and A Tribe Called Quest.
He released two singles in 2000: “The Man, The Icon” and “Any Type of Way”.
In 2003 he made an appearance on “What’s Your Name” from Morcheeba, a known trip hop group.
In 2004 his name appeared on a very popular video game titled “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas”.
In 2005, he was invited to the VH1 Hip Hop Honors where he performed “Warm it Up, Kane”.
In 2006 he made his guest appearance as an MC on “Get Wild Off This” by the Stanton Warriors.
He appeared on the 2006 Summer Jam concert. It was a huge event and he was very thrilled to be there.
In 2007 he released another mixtape named “Official Joints”. In 2008 he appeared in The Game’s video for “Game’s Pain”.
In 2009 he appeared in a hip hop drama named “Just Another Day” with Wood Harris and Jamie Hector.
He also appeared on “MA Doom: Son of Yvonne” by Masta Ace. This was a really fun project to work on, he said later.
In 2013 he joined a group “Lifted Crew” and Showtime and they formed a band “Las Supper” and they released an album “Back to the Future” in 2013. He always mentions this album as one of his favorites because he combined soul music from the 60s and 70s with the hip hop from the 80s and it worked together better than he ever hoped it will.
When asked which album would he change if he had an opportunity for it he responds “Taste of Chocolate”. He said that he did it a bit quicker than the rest and therefore he wished that he had a bit more time to think about it properly.
In 2014 he appeared in Dr. Zoe Today show. He also appeared in a documentary movie “Hip Hop Evolution” and in “Get it Baby” by Tito Jackson. He entered the MTV list of Greatest MCs of All Time in the 7th place.
His younger brother also wanted to become a rapper and Big Daddy featured him on his songs like “Brother, Brother”. His name is Lil’ Daddy Shane.
He teamed up with B Walker, and English footwear manufacturer to design a limited edition of shoes.
He has almost 600 thousand followers on his Instagram channel.
In 2017 he had a big tour through America and it was named Back to the 80s tour.
As for his success in the music field, he gained several awards for it. He was listed into the list of the 50 greatest Hip-Hop songs of all time with “Ain,t No Half-Steppin”, and he entered The Greatest MC’S of All Time list as No.7.
The book “Rap-Up: The Ultimate Guide To Hip-Hop and R&B”, which speaks about all the important things in the world of hip hop has mentioned Big daddy several times and praised his contribution and skills to this music genre.
When asked in an interview who are artists he likes to listen today and who he appreciates, he stated that he respects J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Logic in their work.
He has endorsed Puma while being on the top. This was a huge deal and everyone saw this.
Personal life
He is married to Shawnette Hardy. They got married in 2010 and today they live in their home in Raleigh in North Carolina. He has a son with Shawnette and he adores him. His name is Lamel Hardy.
He also has an older son from his previous relationship. He loves him very much and is sorry he can’t spend more time with him.
He was in a relationship with Dee Dee Rapper before. She is a female rapper and DJ from Brooklyn but they never shared a lot about their relationship.
He appeared in Madonna’s Sex book gaining status as a sex symbol which was confirmed when he was posed for “Playgirl”.
He suffers from asthma from an early age but he never let his disease break his dreams of becoming a great rapper and achieving the status of icon in hip-hop.
He was one of the fastest rappers in rhyming which took a lot of practice and focus due to his asthma condition.
Quick summary
Full name: Antonio Hardy
Date of birth: September 10, 1968
Birthplace: New York, United States
Age: 51
Profession: Rapper, record producer, songwriter
Height: 1,83 m
Weight: 80 kgs
Net Worth: $500,00