June 21 -- Long Live the Kane
Yes, the album...
Fuck what you thought, this is another on my top-10 all time albums.
To frame this conversation…
The year was 1988, I was 8 years old, 9 days short of my birthday and school was just released for the summer session.
As described last week, we did the park thing, then a sports camp at A&T that the 31 year-old me cannot remember the name of, then it was to the task of having a summer. In the in-between, “Ain’t No Half Steppin’” and “Raw” had penetrated the radio down here and my older sister had the tape. Well, my interest in music has never waned, so first I copied her tape, and damn if I didn’t use the money my brother and I hustled to buy a copy of the tape for myself. At 8, I am inclined to think that this was one of the first times I did that.
I would go on to play that tape and play that tape and play that tape until 2 things happened…
After high school, I had a job at a menswear store in the mall, and as some of you may know, Big Daddy Kane lives in Durham NC now, about 40ish minutes from here. One Wednesday, guess who walked in the damned store? Riiiiight. Of all the famous people who came in the store that I suited (Bobby Jackson of the Sacramento Kings was a regular customer of mine, as was Dres of Black Sheep – who also has ties to Durham), this was the ONLY time I was ever starstruck. “ahh--... um, uh… what do I call you?” as it would just weird referring to a dude as “Big Daddy,” even if that IS the only thing I’d known him as for 10 years at that point.
Ultimately the decent dude, “just call me Tony,” short for his real first name was his retort. I ducked out of the store for a minute, leaving him with the assistant manager, SPRINTED down the back hallway to the record store and bought another copy of Long Live the Kane and he signed it for me. I later had it re-wrapped, and it is STILL in that plastic to this day (albeit in storage, of course).
While it is not my #1 favorite album (I stopped that years ago, now it is non-specific top 10), it is ABSOLUTELY my favorite from one of my favorite rappers, and a legend/cornerstone in hip hop music. Given these facts, and that these posts are as things relate to my opinion of him, it is valid to be discussed today.
The year was 1988, I was 8 years old, 9 days short of my birthday and school was just released for the summer session.
As described last week, we did the park thing, then a sports camp at A&T that the 31 year-old me cannot remember the name of, then it was to the task of having a summer. In the in-between, “Ain’t No Half Steppin’” and “Raw” had penetrated the radio down here and my older sister had the tape. Well, my interest in music has never waned, so first I copied her tape, and damn if I didn’t use the money my brother and I hustled to buy a copy of the tape for myself. At 8, I am inclined to think that this was one of the first times I did that.
I would go on to play that tape and play that tape and play that tape until 2 things happened…
- I knew EVERY word on the damned album.
- And…
I broke that damned tape and had to buy 2 more before buying it on CD summer 1997.
After high school, I had a job at a menswear store in the mall, and as some of you may know, Big Daddy Kane lives in Durham NC now, about 40ish minutes from here. One Wednesday, guess who walked in the damned store? Riiiiight. Of all the famous people who came in the store that I suited (Bobby Jackson of the Sacramento Kings was a regular customer of mine, as was Dres of Black Sheep – who also has ties to Durham), this was the ONLY time I was ever starstruck. “ahh--... um, uh… what do I call you?” as it would just weird referring to a dude as “Big Daddy,” even if that IS the only thing I’d known him as for 10 years at that point.
Ultimately the decent dude, “just call me Tony,” short for his real first name was his retort. I ducked out of the store for a minute, leaving him with the assistant manager, SPRINTED down the back hallway to the record store and bought another copy of Long Live the Kane and he signed it for me. I later had it re-wrapped, and it is STILL in that plastic to this day (albeit in storage, of course).
While it is not my #1 favorite album (I stopped that years ago, now it is non-specific top 10), it is ABSOLUTELY my favorite from one of my favorite rappers, and a legend/cornerstone in hip hop music. Given these facts, and that these posts are as things relate to my opinion of him, it is valid to be discussed today.
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