The full story behind Big Daddy Kane’s ‘Show and Prove’
The 1980s and 1990s were two integral decades in the development of hip-hop. While the South was developing its own sound and the Midwest was finding its feet, Los Angeles and New York were two cities bursting with creativity and young talent.
That said, Brooklyn icon Big Daddy Kane was helping many New York acts get exposure in the 1990s and was yearning to collaborate with new, exciting artists. One of his cult classics from this era was ‘Show & prove’, which was a fan favourite. It introduced some exciting lyricists to the culture, many of whom would later become massive artists in their own right, such as Jay-Z and Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
The 1994 track featured on his LP Daddy’s Home and featured an unusual amount of MCs — six in total. All the acts featured on the track had different styles, and it was a quintessential underground posse cut. The track is representative of the many different styles that existed in the ‘90s. Whether it’s the kooky flow of Ol’ Dirty Bastard or the laidback mafioso style of Jay-Z, it now serves as a cross-section of the exceptional variety hip-hop had at the time. Still, the story of how it came together is undoubtedly intriguing.
The story of ‘Show & Prove’ really begins with The Juice Crew. Big Daddy Kane was a battle rap lyricist who entered the rap world alongside his close friend, Biz Markie. Big Daddy Kane appeared in several legendary posse cuts as part of the Juice Crew between 1988 and 1994.
The Marcy native featured on Marley Marl’s ‘The Symphony’ alongside Masta Ace, Kool G Rap, and Craig G, but also laid down verses for Heavy D’s 1991 smash ‘Don’t Curse’ featuring Kool G Rap, Grand Puba, CL Smooth, Pete Rock and Q-Tip. The Long Live The Kane creator mastered the art of rapping back-to-back in competition with his peers, and many of the songs he featured on came to define the song structure of the posse cut. As such, by 1994, he was ready for his own legendary cut.
As well as Marley Marl, the ‘Ain’t No Half Steppin’ emcee, worked extensively with DJ Premier, who produced ‘Show and Prove’ the Houston-born producer as one half of the legendary duo Gang Starr, but his beats have become synonymous with 1990s New York. From Nas and Talib Kweli to KRS-One and Mobb Deep, he has worked with the best.
However, in 1994, Preemo was just wrapping up his work with Guru and part of Gang Starr and wasn’t a solo act. Still, he delivered with ‘Show and Prove’. The instrumental is a classic boom-bap cut with a range of interesting samples. In a 2011 interview with Complex, DJ Premier explained the story of ‘Show and Prove’, unveiling, “I didn’t know who [Kane] was going to bring. I thought it was just going to be Kane and me. And that’s what I really wanted.”
He continued, “Then [Kane] just started calling everybody. ‘Yo, ODB, come up here. Yo, Jay-Z, come up here. Shyheim…’ Everybody just started coming up, and they all started spitting. And I was like, ‘Damn, how many people are we going to put on this thing?’ But it’s Kane, and he was paying me for it, so I just said, ‘Whatever you want.’ ODB ended the cut, but I like Sauce Money’s verse. Sauce kept changing his verse. He had other verses that were way better, but you know everybody wanted to outdo everybody.”