Photos
- Big Daddy Kane performing
- Jannus Marquee
- Me with Big Daddy Kane
- Me with Dynasty aka The Femcee
I'll admit that throughout the years I have sort of neglected the work of Big Daddy Kane. I've never listened to any of his albums and couldn't really recite word for word any of his big singles.
It's nothing personal, just never got around to it.
Strangest thing is that Big Daddy Kanes verse on Public Enemy's "Burn Hollywood Burn" is one of my all time favorites. The line at the end of the song where he says, "aye yo I got Black Caesar back at the crib, ya'll wanna go check that out" kills me everytime.
Feeling as though I had been missing out, catching his show last Friday night at Jannus Landing seemed like a good place to start catching up.
Doors opened at 7 but the show technically didn't start til about 9:30. Which is fine by me, when I finally rolled in around 9 on a sugar high from Starbucks I found a spot in the back and chilled out to the wide variety of classic hip hop records being spun from the stage by DJ Sandman. Which to me is the best part of these old school shows. Sandman can always be counted on to set up the perfect vibe when waiting for a show to start.
The opening act was a local talent transplanted from New York (like everyone else here) named Dynasty who I had been hearing an awful lot about lately. Initially I had blown her off as another local backpack rapper yuppy trying to re-live the golden era artist that are a dime a dozen around here.
But a few things are different about Dynasty that peaked my interest, one is her DJ is Sandman, whose taste is good enough that I trust he wouldn't stand behind anything thats whack. And two, she has been garnering support by the likes of DJ Premier by getting spins on his radio show. A major accomplishment.
When I heard her rhyme I was actually sort of blown away by how raw her style was. This chick
could flat out rap. In fact, I will go so far as to say she is exactly what the mainstream hip hop scene is in desperate need of. Not only does she have the abilities to make it, she is naturally likable in a way that other female emcee's aren't. Almost like a Lauren Hill but meaner on the microphone.
Following the highly enjoyable set by Dynasty, the crowd was left in a state of confusion by the performance of Loyal. I have no idea of who Loyal is or where they came from or who they paid for the stage time, but they were worth seeing just for the experience of witnessing the akwardness of their performance.
They basically spent twenty minutes not rapping or rapping other peoples hit songs, then dancing provocatively on their male dancers. None of whom looked over 16 years old. The crowd was left looking confused and nobody really knew what to make of it.
Eventually around 11-ish Big Daddy Kane arrived and immediatly launched into a furious performance. I found it amazing that here is a man probably in his mid to late fourties rhyming three times faster and harder then guys half his age. Incredible!
Thankfully ticket prices for the show were only $15 because after about 25minutes Big Daddy Kane through down a couple of dance moves (which were quite impressive I must say) and abruptly ended his set before coming back out for a brief encore. Needless to say there were more then a handful of disappointed fans in the audience.
Ok, so normally this is were a person would end a concert review. But those of you that know me know how I like to take shit to the next level when I hit up a hip hop show.
Rather then go chase skirts on the streets of downtown St. Pete like a normal 26 yr old guy on a Friday night after a concert, I chose instead to wait for the security guard to turn his head and sneak backstage for photos.
What I got was something a little bit more special. After a few minutes of standing around outside of a door waiting for Kane to walk out, I was approached by none other then DJ Sandman who graciously introduced himself and invited me into the dressing room.
Inside the room standing around a table were Big Daddy Kane and none other then DJ Charlie Chase co-founder of the pioneering hip hop group The Cold Crush Brothers (Havn't ya'll ever seen Wild Style?!?). I basically just stood to the back, discussed hip hop fandom with a kid who's name unfortunatly escapes me at the moment and chilled out listening to the stories being told by Kane and Charlie Chase. It was crazy.
Just when I thought that things had died down, the kid who I was having the conversation with asked Kane to spit 16 bars for him. Kane obliged, spitting a mesmorizing politically tinged rhyme that wow'd the room. He then challenged the kid to spit 16, he accepted and laid down a nice verse. It was a little bit over 16 bars, prompting Kane to make a joke comparing the kid to Kool G Rap (what an honor to even be mentioned in the same sentence). Then Dynasty laid down some rhymes and I guess it must have been contagious because next thing I knew it seemed like the whole room was going in. Quite the experience to witness.
After that everybody said there goodbyes, I snapped some pics (unfortunatly not with Charlie Chase, but I'm sure there will be other chances) and escaped into the downtown night life.
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