‘Ain’t No Half Steppin’: the greatest Big Daddy Kane verse of all time
The 1980s were an exciting decade for rap music. Hip-hop’s first full decade of existence saw an abundance of innovation and experimentation, which helped the genre grow and evolve into what it is today. One artist who was an integral part of rap’s growth in New York during the ’80s was Brooklyn legend Big Daddy Kane.
During this period, the New York hip-hop scene gave birth to some legendary artists and collectives, including Juice Crew, Run-DMC, De La Soul and Public Enemy. Not only was the era full of diverse, eclectic MCs but exciting new producers such as Larry Smith, Rick Rubin, Marley Marl and Pete Rock.
However, Big Daddy Kane was undoubtedly one of the most impactful and his debut album, Long Live The Kane, was groundbreaking. In an interview with Rock The Bells, the Brooklyn emcee spoke about the creation of the song and reflected on his amazing lyrics.
Recalling the track’s beat, Kane told the online magazine, “That was a sample by the Emotions called ‘Blind Alley’ that I got from Biz Markie. It was the same day that Biz found the ‘Get Out My Life Woman’ record. He had been lookin’ for it for two years, and he called his DJ Cutmaster Cool V because he was so excited. I said ‘That means that you don’t care about this Emotions record’, and he told me that I could have it.”
The lyricist explained that his verses were inspired by the sample which contains the lyrics “Ain’t No Half Steppin”. It was a phrase that he and his friends used as young kids in New York, recounting, “I grabbed it, and I always wanted to use that ‘Ain’t No Half Steppin’’ hook because that was street slang that we used. I took it all to Marley’s crib and he hooked it up and I laid vocals. It became a masterpiece.”
It was a masterpiece, and his opening verse was exciting, to say the least. After he rapped, “Rappers stepping to me, they want to get some / but I’m the Kane, so yo, you know the outcome / another victory, they can’t get with me / So pick a BC date ’cause you’re history!” listeners knew that Big daddy Kane was bringing some serious lyricism and was abandoning the nursery rhyme style of the MCs that had preceded him.
With metaphors such as, “You’re just a butter knife, I’m a machete” and “I just devour like a pitbull and you a Chihuahua”, people knew the ‘Set It Off’ act wasn’t a gimmick. Long Live The Kane included other iconic tracks such as ‘Just Rhymin’ With Biz’ and ‘Raw’ but ‘Ain’t No Half Steppin’ was undoubtedly the star’s breakout single and boasted his best verse of all time.