Big Daddy Kane is getting older in age and, judging by these album pictures, plumper in size. His vocals are also starting to sound more labored. When he goes into hardcore battle mode; the Raw vocal delivery he’s been known for since “88”; there’s an audible gasp between almost every phrase. The Sex song suggests he’s still a multi-ladies man in the bedroom, but his voice is starting to sound more like a veteran church preacher.

As far as rap skills go, he’s still sonning the competition with a stockpile of funny lyrics. Lyrical Gymnastics, featuring a clever Whitney Houston nod, ranks among his best. He’s generally fallen off a little though since the last album. Impressive similes and metaphors have become harder to find among all the corny or awkwardly constructed fillers. “You think that I be shaving my rhymes,” he says on the title track, “Cause they be so smooth.”

my rating : 3 of 5

1994