Res. No. 622

Resolution designating September 10 annually as Big Daddy Kane Day in the City of New York and celebrating his influence on generations of Hip Hop MCs.

By Council Members Ossé, Cabán, Riley, Louis, Farías, Rivera and Williams

Whereas, Antonio Hardy was born on September 10, 1968, in Brooklyn and became one of Hip Hop’s most skilled and influential MCs (master of ceremonies) and lyricists, known to his many fans as Big Daddy Kane or Kane; and

Whereas, Kane is celebrated for his baritone vocal brilliance, with its quick flow and impressive rhymes, as well as his fashion trendsetting and command of the stage; and

Whereas, Although Kane grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, he became a member of the Juice Crew in 1986, a collective of acclaimed rappers hailing mostly from the Queensbridge housing projects in Long Island City, Queens; and

Whereas, “The Symphony,” produced by Juice Crew’s renowned Marley Marl and featuring Kane, Kool G Rap, Craig G, and Masta Ace, was released in 1988; and

Whereas, Rolling Stone magazine ranked “The Symphony” as 48 on its list of the 100 greatest Hip Hop songs and praised it for its “ferocious drum break and a snatch of Otis Redding piano,” resulting in “a truly great late-Eighties posse cut,” with the “smoothest flow” in the song attributed to Kane; and

Whereas, In 1988, Kane released his first solo album Long Live the Kane, ranked as 42 by Rolling Stone on its top 200 Hip Hop albums list, with Rolling Stone supporting the popular notion that Kane was “every MC’s favorite MC”; and

Whereas, Kane’s hit single from that album, “Ain’t No Half-Steppin’,” was ranked by Rolling Stone as 25 on its top 100 Hip Hop songs list, with Kane praised as “the killer wordsmith of hip-hop’s golden age,” with “tightly coiled, extended metaphors” like this one: “Rappers, you better be/Ready to die because you’re petty/You’re just a butter knife, I’m a machete”; and

Whereas, Kane’s second album It’s a Big Daddy Thing, his personal favorite album, followed just a year later and resulted in his nomination for best rap solo performance for “I Get the Job Done”; and

Whereas, At the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards, Kane-along with Ice-T, Kool Moe Dee, and Melle Mel-won a Grammy for best rap performance by a duo or group for “Back On The Block,” a track from Quincy Jones’s 1990 album of the year of the same name; and

Whereas, “Show & Prove,” the celebrated posse cut from Kane’s 1994 album Daddy’s Home, memorably showcased Kane trading verses with Scoob, Sauce Money, Shyheim, JAY-Z, and Ol’Dirty Bastard; and

Whereas, Kane’s long list of acclaimed songs also includes “Raw,” “Smooth Operator,” “Wrath of Kane,” “Something Funky,” “Young, Gifted and Black,” “Mortal Combat,” “Long Live the Kane,” “Another Victory,” “It’s Hard Being the Kane,” and “Warm It Up Kane”; and

Whereas, Kane was honored as the sole guest star for JAY-Z’s eight-show opening of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in 2012; and

Whereas, Kane continues to light up stages decades later, performing his choreography and his songs, including “Set It Off,” the one that he says “gives me energy, gives me drive”; and

\Whereas, The innovators of Hip Hop, now in its 50th anniversary year, can look back on their many contributions to NYC’s culture and economy; and

Whereas, It is appropriate to dedicate a day to honor Kane’s influence as one of those innovators on the generations of MCs that have followed him; now, therefore, be it

                     Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York designates September 10 annually as Big Daddy Kane Day in the City of New York and celebrates his influence on generations of Hip Hop MCs.

LS #12677

4/12/2023

RHP