It's always great to see the old guard compliment the new, especially these days when hip-hop seems more splintered than ever. However, rappers like the legendary Big Daddy Kane are here to remind us that there are still traditions and skills that have endured throughout the years. During an interview with AllHipHop on Saturday (June 10), the Juice Crew MC spoke on the evolution of lyricism. Specifically, he spoke on Paragraphs I Manifest, his upcoming Netflix documentary that will apparently center around similar topics. His breakdown included shoutouts to not just Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, but also to the Griselda camp and Lady London.
"When you look at the era of the Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz and Kool Moe Dee and then you see how it evolved and became Rakim and KRS-One, and then you see how it evolved again in the era of Nas, Biggie and Jay-Z, from a lyrical standpoint, you want to see it keep evolving,” Big Daddy Kane shared. “By the time the ’90s came around, hip-hop had become so commercial, that it was more important about having commercial songs and something more simplistic.
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"A lot of the artists that came after that, their mindset wasn’t really on being lyrical, it was on writing catchy songs," he continued. "That’s really where their mindset was. So when you see people like J. Cole, Benny The Butcher, Conway The Machine, Kendrick Lamar and Lady London, I have a special respect for that because they’re true to lyricism." Of course, this is far from the first time that Big Daddy Kane praised these MCs in particular for their talents.
"J. Cole is my hero,” he expressed earlier this year. “That’s my dude right there. J. Cole is my hero. I love Kendrick as well. Rhapsody, Lady London. Lady London is a monster. She is incredible.” What's more is that rappers like Cole are able to bring that sensibility to even the most mainstream of rap trends and sounds of the moment. His recent Lil Durk collab, "All My Life," has been one of the most praised rap tracks of the year so far. Meanwhile, Kendrick keeps wowing audiences of every fandom with every huge festival he headlines. For the latest news and updates on Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Big Daddy Kane, stay up to date on HNHH.