This has always been my favourite Big Daddy Kane album. Revisiting it after going through his other albums, I think I slightly overrated it—but only slightly. That said, I’ve also gained a new appreciation for tracks like 'Sex According to the Prince of Darkness', which might be BDK’s best slow jam rap. The instrumentation is fantastic. Dolemite opens the song with his answer to what the definition of sex is: "Baby, sex is just like puttin’ money in the bank. Once you take it out, the interest is all gone."
The album is structured in two halves—'Homicide' and 'Suicide'. The first half leans slightly heavier, while the second half kicks off with the aforementioned track, shifting the tone slightly.
'Brooklyn Style...Laid Out' features an excellent beat switch at the end that had a lot of potential—it’s a shame it wasn’t expanded into something more. Scoob Lover/Big Scoob appears on a few tracks, but his high-pitched voice doesn’t quite work. At times, he almost sounds like Eminem in his early days, and I’m not sure why he decided to rap like this. He was a contributor on Kane's earlier albums and he doesn't sound like this.
'Somebody’s Been Sleeping in My Bed' is a fun, bluesy track, adding to the album’s overall playful energy.
Like Kane’s previous work, this is straight-up boom bap with sharp lyricism, but this time, it feels like he’s having a bit more fun. Where this album falls short compared to other classics from the era—and arguably Kane’s discography in general—is in its content. The themes don’t go much deeper than battle rhymes and braggadocio. The highlight, though, is 'That’s How I Did ’Em', a fiery diss to bootleggers.
Beats: ★★★★
Rapping/Bars: ★★★★
Hooks: ★★★★
Best Tracks: Brooklyn Style... Laid Out, Lyrical Gymnastics, That's How I Did 'Em, Sex According to the Prince of Darkness, Somebody's Been Sleeping In My Bed
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Old Review: I really like this album and it's my pick from Big Daddy Kane's discography. I feel the mid '90s Golden Age production throughout the whole album (some of which BDK produced himself), and with his brilliant flow BDK rides them well as usual. Lyrically maybe it ain't near the plethora of great '94 material in the genre, but for me as I can't love the early BDK material because I'm not a huge fan of the production, this release gives me a chance to enjoy his brilliant style and skill over beats more to my liking, and that's the kind of people who I'd recommend this to.
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