Big Daddy Kane

“Premo is one of those producers that I've always had a lot of respect for. I've always thought that he's just extremely talented. More importantly, he's one of those dudes that just sticks to his formula, like if it ain't broke, don't fix it.”

“Rap songs don't always have to have a message. They can be done for pure entertainment or just to get a laugh.”

“It's the type of thing where, if you gonna battle somebody to prove your greatness, you wanna go to somebody that shares that same seat with you.”

“I just wanted to be the best MC. I wasn't about owning a Bentley. I wanted to be recognized as the illest MC.”

“I think 'Long Live the Kane' was pretty much a real boxed-in mindset with me just doing what I represented in the hood.”

“I always thought that was very important, to be able to deliver great lyrics and also put on a great performance, to have that type of visual where people would take to it, where they'd want to dress like you or have pictures of you hanging up on the wall.”

“A kid will be like, 'Yo, you're Big Daddy Kane. My father listens to you!' It kind of makes you feel like one of the Platters or Temptations or something. You feel like you're super-old. But then again on the flipside it's cool to see like someone that's two or three generations after you excited.”

“Me and Rakim were always clear that we were rivals.”

“Ol' Dirty used to come out to Queens and spend the night at my crib a whole lot.”

“People were taking off $5,000 gold chains to wear little $10 leather medallions that represented peace because that's what Public Enemy was about.”

“If you call 'Rapper's Delight' an old-school record, I agree with you. If you call Sugar Hill Gang old school, I agree with you. Not because they came out in '79 or '80, but because in 2002, that's still the way Hank and Mike rhyme.”

“I think that a lot of battle rappers have a difficult time making songs because they don't know how to do a song format. They're so stuck in that whole battle rap mentality that really all they want to do is just kick rhymes.”

“There's so many different styles, but with me I just chose battle rap because I mean, I felt like that was the way to get people to really respect me.”

“I'm used to being respected for what I do, and I've watched as my peers - Doug E. Fresh, MC Lyte - do the same thing and I remember the ones before me - LL, Run-DMC - how it was for them. I think we were able to achieve what we achieved because we watched the generation before us.”

“I have my views, and I'm always willing to share them.”

“Whatever form of hip-hop you like, man, love it and keep it going. Keep it strong. Make sure it stays powerful.”

“When hip-hop was new and raw, it was all about being an MC. You wanted to be respected as a lyricist. But as the years passed and hip-hop became big business, hip-hop became like country, rock and pop. And so you now have people who write the songs for rappers.”

“I went to this club in North Carolina and saw Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings perform. Just looking at the demographics of the audience, I thought it was interesting. A few weeks later, I was at the same spot to see Talib Kweli perform. And 60-70 percent of the crowd were the same people.”

“Rakim is a great rapper, but, you know, he's not a battle rapper.”

“I hope everybody out here is supporting hip-hop and trying to make it continue on.”