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>how was Daddys Home and Veterenz Day? I never heard either of
>them
Here's a review I did of Veteranz Day back when it came out on the Usenet group rec.music.hip-hop
On Tuesday I picked up a couple albums, my first purchases since
Aquemini. I got Big Daddy Kane's Veteranz Day and Xzibit's 40 Dayz
& 40 Nightz. I usually get albums on the first day of release but
Xzibit wasn't released on cassette in Canada until recently, I refuse
to buy CD's when they are just a ploy by the record companies to make
more profit.
I want to say that BDK's album is very nice. I've been a fan of
his since the beginning, one of my first hip hop albums was "It's
A Big Daddy Thing" and I have all 7 of his albums. This one is
getting next to no publicity, so I wanted to post this up. It's
actually funny that I got BDK and Xzibit on the same day since X
to the Z had that line about "before Kane f**ked Madonna" on his
last one. I like Xzibit's new one but it doesn't stack up to "At
the Speed of Life", I liked the introspective, personal touches of
that one. This one's a little short with not as many thought
provoking rhymes.
But back to Kane, the album's produced mostly by Kane himself
with a few joints by Easy Mo Bee and his brother LG. I thought it
was odd that he couldn't hook up some big name producers since he
has the contacts. Trackmasters used to do his stuff and I imagine
with Primo's love for hip-hop he would have jumped at the chance
to do another BDK track. With that said, the beats are surprisingly
good, Kane has a good ear.
The lyrics are where things really shine though, he hits on a lot
of topics & surprisingly swears very little, if at all for the entire
album. It still has an Explicit Content sticker for the sex rhymes
but in the vein of Rakim and KRS to an extent he stays away from the
uncreative scapegoat of cursing to get his points across. For those
afraid of an album filled with R&B tendencies you'll be happy to hear
that there's only 2 joints with singing on the chorus, no "All of
Me's" here. There's the obvious battle raps with some really clever
punchlines, but also a lot of veteran old school knowledge, as the
title eludes to. He talks about Rule 4080 on "Shame" and gives
respect to his favourite MC's on "Entaprizin'". Ala Pete Rock
there's some instrumental segues btw a few of the tracks and a small
presence of scratching on the album. Not a lot but at least more
than usual for 98. There's no Mr. Cee joint though which is a
disappointment.
The gem on the album has got to be "Do U Really Know?" It's
a beautiful storytelling rhyme where Kane breaks down what could
happen to an MC if he just follows trends. What I love about Kane
is that he has always had conscious rhymes even when it wasn't
trendy. I'm of the Edutainment ilk, where I like my music to say
something, and in a fresh way. For all that I like Aquemini I
don't think Dre and Big Boi really said anything deep on the album,
it surprises me that everyone is describing it that way when there
is really nothing to wrap your mind around like there was on ATLiens.
People are so starved for consciousness, be it political or social
that mole hills look like mountains. I'm digressing, but back to
this song, check out some of the lines:
"That's when this stray cat walked up to me,
Now I was sure he would be,
but you woulda thought he'd know me,
tellin' his life story to me,
he said 'Yo Kane' since way back in his life,
days of Rappers Delight, yo he was after the hype,
he rocked the Kangols, Adidas when Run and them had that spot,
when I came out he had a flat-top,
and when Naughty came out a couple years ago,
he even tried the braids up in his hair, but they ain't hear him tho,
vexed and down, you know next he found,
Heavy D was blowin up so then he tried to gain extra pounds,
no thanks to that, they ranked him wack,
only thing that's left to do, was go gangsta rap,
so now he rhymin' bout the keys being sold,
the G's being fold, the trees being rolled,
now sure he should, he started actin like he's from the hood,
talking thug game and had his record sales doing good,
and so now you on the road to riches,
referring to the womankind as hoes and bitches,
you the man now because you rap is for ?????,
but you got your 7 year old daughter listenin',
the twist begin,
when that the image you projectin',
it starts reflectin' on your shorty cause she checkin',
Do you really know,
what's the path that you really need to go,
and what example you really need to show,
the good rep or the hood rep,
while she's walking in her father's footsteps...
and now you're rappin came back to haunt you,
because you want to,
be in her face,
puffin' li with your crew,
you even let her take a sip or two upon your brew,
instead of tryin to shed light to keep her head right,
so that she wouldn't do the things that the next kid might,
oh now you never did consider tho,
your kid could go,
trying to do the things she saw you do up in your video,
you went upstairs thinkin that she wasn't able,
slippin, left your glock sittin pon the coffee table,
so as you hang, with your gang, doin your thang,
BLOWE, unexpectedly to your ears the shot rang,
came down, never thinkin that you'd see what you saw,
right there, layin in blood across your livin room floor,
so now, as you sit in grief, total disbelief,
cause everything that ever mattered,
to you is all shattered,
instead of concentratin' heavily on what your rep be,
you should have been thankful for your child like Cheryl Pepsi,
cause if you would have stayed aware,
to whose in your care,
she wouldn't be no casualty to your career"
That is one of the best rhymes I've heard in awhile, and it's
really complemented by his flow. Unfortunately I imagine this
album will lounge in obscurity, similar to other old skoolers
who are ignored like Nice N' Smooth. I swear, if someone else
had freaked the sample they did on "Let It Go" it would have
been huge. With no support from the print media or video channels
these legends who still have a lot to say will continue to be
ignored. The guy beside me at the record store said to me "Big
Daddy Kane has a new album???" with a puzzled look on his face,
yes he does and I think you should check it out.
Patrick
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