Big Daddy Kane at The Sugar Club | Review

Big Daddy Kane at The Sugar Club, Saturday May 3rd 2014

Big Daddy Kane isn’t just an MC or a rapper, he’s a damn entertainer. Like rap, like hip-hop? Like pop, like metal? Be a kid, like The Wiggles? Big Daddy Kane will show you a good time.

The hip-hop revolutionary hits the Sugar Club seemingly straight outta the ’80s, minus the hi-top fade and floppy suits. Nothing much else has changed. Well, maybe a few of his fans have since been born, judging by the looks of the crowd.

While the Sugar Club is the perfect venue to sit and watch a performance over a cocktail, that’s the opposite of what this crowd want to do. BDK is a magnetic presence. Bodies fling themselves from the bar until they’re close enough to press against him. But nobody touches Big Daddy, except maybe to accept to grab his hand as it’s offered liberally.

You could list this guy’s accolades, Grammys and pioneering touches, but that was then. What about now? It would be easy to say he’s a has-been. With a Best Of… album in progress, surely he’s throwing up all warning signs? Well, the setlist tonight isn’t going to rock any worlds, being the Best Of Live, but that’s all you could expect and, frankly, want.

Fresh new hip-hop support acts The Animators and Haresquade, are fitting in showing us that new and old fit perfectly together, almost snug.

As for BDK, he’s more than able to hold his own. He’s as polished as ever, lyrics flow out of him on tap. The faucet won’t twist off so prepare for a flood. His lyrics are clever and witty, and he delivers them as such, his timing, flow and tone haven’t suffered the wear of time. Daddy’s hitting 45 a smack, but isn’t letting his performance suffer from it.

Only the biggest and best are coming out to play. It’s shamelessly ‘shut up and play the hits’ with Set It Off, Smooth Operator and Nuff Respect suitably cranking up the room to peak freak-out. Ain’t No Half Steppin’ set the place alight while Warm It Up Kane was greeted home like an old friend you used to constantly go on the rag with but they pissed off to Australia for a decade.

Just Rhymin’ With Biz dropped in from the constant bed of beats like it wasn’t nothin’, a slow and steady “It’s like thata-the-that it’s like that y’all” controlled by Kane like it wasn’t just one of the most recognised chant in popular hip-hop.

Then there are the highlights. Not a track, but the amped up hype-man within him. “WHEN I SAY this, Y’ALL SAY that,” pepper the little intervals that are all about the crowd, interaction hits a peak. You came to see him perform but dammit, you’re gonna work for it.

BDK’s hip-hop is infectious. Like, rapidly infectious. A constant flow of beats are dropped, a bread trail with Kane stepping all over them, rubbing his foot in the dirt for good measure. You’re left kind of catching your breath, he never breaks in his rhyming and it’s almost an uncomfortable watch. You could sum it up as awe, but that’s probably not giving enough credit.

Kanye can keep trying to be God, let BDK continue to deliver that proper good old-school relentless rap with not a give in sight. Word to his mother, she made a good one.