Consumer Guide Album

Big Daddy Kane: The Very Best of Big Daddy Kane [Rhino, 2001]
The Volvo-driving rhymer who wrote "Pickin' Boogers" for Biz Markie and "Skeezer" for Roxanne Shanté kept his own image as immaculate as his yellow suit, and for this historical record he plays up the conscious race man--the conscious race man with hooks. No "Pimpin' Ain't Easy," thank the Gods--that bit of street wisdom is reduced to an "I was just kiddin'" for Spinderella, who had reason to wonder. Not much mack daddy either, which isn't to say "Cause I Can Do It Right" and "I Get the Job Done" won't inspire hubbies to get it on home. As steely and articulate as Marley Marl's beats, he makes even "It's Hard Being the Kane" sound like butter. But hard it is--note the live "Wrath of Kane," where intakes of breath turn him into his own human beatbox. A−