Big Daddy Kane has been hailed as a legend in hip-hop, and rightfully so. Ever since his debut album Long Live the Kane, Big Daddy Kane has inspired a plethora of hip-hop's past and present to be just as charismatic, laid-back and loaded with punchlines. A lot of people have bit his style, so don't pretend it hasn't happened. Is his discography perfect? Far from it. Kane's got a lot of great albums, but he's also got a couple of weaker efforts. In my opinion, Kane's weakest album even to this day is Prince of Darkness. It's a shame that it's not even his fault.


Track List & Rating

1. Prince Of Darkness (*****)
2. The Lover In You (***)
3. Git Bizzy (***)
4. Ooh, Aah, Nah-Nah-Nah (***)
5. Brother, Brother f/ Little Daddy Shane (***)
6. Groove With It (***)
7. I'm Not Ashamed f/ Alyson Williams (**)
8. Troubled Man (***)
9. T. L. C. (***)
10. Float (**)
11. Come On Down f/ Q-Tip & Busta Rhymes (**)
12. Death Sentence (****)
13. Get Down (***)
14. Raw '91 (****)
15. D.J.s Get No Credit f/ Mister Cee (***)


Surprisingly, the title track "Prince of Darkness" is perhaps the only track that really shows Kane's brilliance on this album. Immediately, the production will grab you. This song uses the exact same lighthearted whistle sample and melody that would be later used for 2pac's classic "Keep Ya Head Up". You already know the beat is ill, and Kane is as potent as ever, somewhat fooling the listener that this album would wind up being yet another excellent effort, when in fact it isn't. The soulful production on this track is great, but I can't help but feel that it's a tad bit unfitting since Kane basically brags on the track. Either way, Kane's charismatic cadence and energetic flow easily make this the most addicting track on the album... but then again that's not saying much.

"The Lover In You" is where the album begins a decline that it would never recover from. The first turn off is the production. The contemporary R&B sound with Kane does work a lot of the times (see "Very Special"), but it doesn't fit here. Kane's usual attempts at love songs are at least listenable, but this one doesn't work at all. Kane's uninspired flow and off-beat flow doesn't match at all with the lyrics. This makes the track sound jumbled and just annoying most of the time. "Git Bizzy" easily appeals to the old-school hip-hop head, but probably won't the more contemporary fans of the genre. The production is simply put: weak. The sound effects sound mumbled and distorted as if the producer had no idea what he was doing. Kane's bragging is as charismatic as ever, but it is still not enough to keep me listening. "Ooh, Aah, Nah-Nah-Nah" is hungry Kane at his best... unfortunately it's far too fast. Kane is relentless, and the production doesn't fit at all. However, as usual with this album, Kane saves the track:

"Cause it still comes out tastin like chocolate
With the finesse emcees never got with
Cause none of them want me to touch the mic first
They know that it only takes Kane one verse
So here's the microphone, show me what you can do
And uhh... ... ...wake me up when you're through"

In my opinion, the lowpoint of Prince of Darkness comes with the Barry White biting "I'm Not Ashamed". Even with me being somewhat of a fan of soul and old-school R&B, the production is still a big turn off. The beat is a blatant low-class rip-off of every slow jam ever. Listening to Big Daddy Kane talk during the song about giving his love sounds incredible contrived and false. Alyson Williams' R&B vocals are laughably unfitting, making the song sound like a big joke. Kane doesn't rap on it, and instead wants to play the "seductive lover", a role in which his charisma simply cannot shine. This song sounds so ridiculous that I can't help but feel a bad taste in my mouth after listening to it. If Kane has any low-points in his career, this definitely has to be one of them.

"Float" doesn't get much better. The difference between this and "I'm Not Ashamed" that makes this slightly better is Kane's utter excellent microphone work: "But I'm knockin imitators out the box, Because you couldn't copy Kane if your name was Xerox, I'm like the God in light, some of my writing might, be too much for your mind to explode like dynamite, and if it sounds good to you then get on it doggone it, capture this like a Kodak moment as I float". The production on the album is laughable, and I honestly can't take this seriously. With a bunch of disjointed guitar flicks and trumpets, backed by an awful hook ("float onnnnn, float onnnnnnnn"), there's no way I can take this seriously. The only thing worth listening to here is Kane's punchlines, and even then, with a terrible beat behind it, you'd have to struggle to get through it. No thanks.

Despite all of this filler, Kane brings back the goodness on tracks like "Death Sentence" and "Raw 91". Kane retreads back to being the incredibly hungry artist we remember from Long Live the Kane, specially with the remake of "Raw". On "Death Sentence", simple guitar flicks and a hammering drum clap, with Kane hammering us with punchline after punchline of sickness: "and any MC that tries to test me, I'm swellin' up his jaws more than Dizzy Gillespie...". On "Raw 91", as I said, Kane pays a tribute to his breakthrough underground hit from the late 80s. The production, of course, is the same as the original. I don't even need to say that Kane's lyrics are great: "I'm sure to score adored for more without a flaw cause I get RAW!". If the album had hungrier raps like this and more focused soul tracks, maybe it'd be better.

Prince of Darkness is actually one of Kane's bad albums. Kane hasn't really fallen off lyrically, but his subject matter on here is in dire need of inspiration and creativity. Far too often, Kane sounds uninterested, although his flow is still as sick as ever. What really kills the album is the production. It does nothing for me. Beat after beat, I am bored. Either the production is annoying, or it just doesn't fit. I cannot reccommend this album at all, even the more die-hard Kane fans. That is, unless you like to be bored...

2.5 Stars... Rounded down to 2





SIMILAR ALBUMS:

Big Daddy Kane - Long Live the Kane

Big Daddy Kane - Looks Like a Job For...

Big L - Lifestylez ov da Poor and Dangerous

Big L - The Big Picture




Recommended: No