Is ice cube gay? - Answers

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• HOW HOMOPHOBIA DTROYED A RAP LEGEND’S CAREERLONG LIVE THE KANEIN HONOR OF THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS STUNNG BUT ‘LONG LIVE THE KANE,’ STEREO WILLIAMS LOOKS BACK AT THE PHOTO SHOOT AND NASTY MORS THAT RAILED BIG DADDY KANE’S ASCENT.STEREO WILLIAMSUPDATED JUL. 01, 2018 6:06AM EDT / PUBLISHED JUL. 01, 2018 6:00AM EDT PL HAWTHORNE/GETTYBIG DADDY KANE’S PLACE RAP’S UPPER ECHELON IS IRREFUTABLE. HE’S AMONG THE MOST FLUID RHYMERS TO EVER HOLD A MIC—CLEVER WORDPLAY AND XTERO FLOW, HE HAS THOSE RAPID-FIRE BARS THAT SOUND LIKE FLURRI OF VERBIAGE UNLOAD AT THE LISTENER, AND THOSE SLOWER, QUOTABLE L THAT PEPPER SO MANY RAD HS THAT FED HIP-HOP’S GOLN AGE AND THE VIBRANCY BLACK RAD OF THE DO THE RIGHT THG ERA. HIS BUT ALBUM, LONG LIVE THE KANE, DROPPED JUNE 1988, AND SHOWSED EVERYTHG THE MAN BORN ANTON HARDY DO WELL ON RERD: FEROC RHYME SHOWS, HOOKY RAD RAP AND CHEY LOVER E-ONS. HE ARRIV FULLY FORMED ON HIS FIRST ALBUM. KANE HAS ONE OF HIP-HOP’S MORE ENVIABLE LEGACI. HIS FIRST TWO ALBUMS ARE A DIZZYG ONE-TWO PUNCH SHOWSG THE LYRICIST AT HIS MOST NFINT AND SPIRED, AS KANE GO OM JAW-DROPPG RHYME SPRE LIKE “SET IT OFF” TO MORE TOPIL TRACKS LIKE “YOUNG GIFTED & BLACK.” HIS WORK WH MARLEY MARL ON LONG LIVE THE KANE IS AMONG BOTH MEN’S BT—WH MARLEY LIVERG HIS FIRST TLY CLASSIC ALBUM AND KANE ANNOUNCG HIMSELF AS AN EMCEE PAR EXCELLENCE, ALONGSI NTEMPORARI LIKE RAKIM, KRS-ONE AND SLICK RICK. PRODUCTN ON IT’S A BIG DADDY THG, THE 1989 FOLLOW-UP, WOULD BE MORE VARIED (PRCE PL, TEDDY RILEY, EASY MOE BEE AND KANE HIMSELF HELMED THE ALBUM, ALONG WH MARLEY) AND KANE WOULD LVE EPER TO HIS BAG OF TRICKS, REVEALG A RAPPER AT THE HEIGHT OF ARTISTRY AND FULL MAND OF HIS MIL VOICE. BUT KANE’S MERCIAL AND CREATIVE CLE WAS SWIFT AND STEEP. TASTE OF CHOLATE, RELEASED 1990, WAS LS SPIRED THAN S PRECSOR, WH KANE LEANG MORE HEAVILY TO BOTH HIS LOVERMAN PERSONA AND TENNCY TO TETHER HIS IMAGE TO THE KSCHIER ASPECTS OF THE PREV GENERATN’S AVATARS OF PIMPED-OUT OL (BARRY WHE AND RUDY RAY MOORE ARE AMONG THE ALBUM’S GUT STARS). THE SONGS WEREN’T AS STRONG, THE PRENTATN WASN’T AS H, AND BY THE TIME KANE RELEASED 1991’S NEW JACK SWG-LACED PRCE OF DARKNS, SEEMED OBV THAT HE’D LOST A STEP CREATIVELY. PEERS LIKE ERIC B. & RAKIM, LL COOL J AND KOOL G RAP OPENED THE 1990S WH SOME OF THEIR MOST SPIRED WORK, AND A NEWLY-SOLO ICE CUBE HAD JOED THEM NEAR THE TOP OF HIP-HOP’S HIERARCHY; PUBLIC ENEMY WAS ON THE BACK END OF WHAT WAS STILL A POTENT ALBUM N; KRS-ONE SUCCSFULLY NAVIGATED THE TRANSN OM THE BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTNS MONIKER AND ERA TO WHAT WOULD BE A STRONG SOLO REER; AND EPMD WAS LIVERG THEIR MOST ERA-FG MATERIAL THE YEARS LEADG UP TO THEIR FAMO 1992 BREAKUP. BY THE TIME KANE RELEASED LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR… 1993, LOOKED LIKE HE HADN’T BEEN THAT GUY A WHILE. “WHAT N I SAY? I LIKE BREAKG GROUND AND EXPLORG NEW THGS.”— BIG DADDY KANE “WELL, THE STRG OF RELEAS SENTIALLY END AFTER THE FIRST FOUR ALBUMS. WE DID LONG LIVE THE KANE AND I UGHT THE BUG,” KANE TOLD HUFFPOST 2016. “I REALIZED PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHG I DID WRONG WH LONG LIVE THE KANE AND WENT RIGHT BACK AND DID IT’S A BIG DADDY THG, BEE NOW I HAD A MORE UNIVERSAL APPROACH. I THK LONG LIVE THE KANE WAS PRETTY MUCH A REAL BOXED- MDSET WH ME JT DOG WHAT I REPRENTED THE HOOD.” IN THAT TERVIEW, KANE SAID THAT THE DROP-OFF HIS MATERIAL WAS THE RULT OF HIS OWN TRATN AND DIFFERENCE WH COLD CHILL’/WARNER BROTHERS. FOLLOWG HIS FIRST TWO ALBUMS, HE SENTIALLY SHED THROUGH RELEAS. “AFTER THAT, I WAS UNHAPPY WH THE LABEL, SO I DROPPED TWO TRASH ALBUMS TO TRY TO HURRY UP AND FISH UP MY 5-ALBUM AL SO THAT’S WHY THEY WERE G SO FAST AFTER THAT,” HE ADD. “I WAS TRYG TO HURRY UP AND GET OUT OF THE AL. I GUS WARNER BROTHERS UGHT ON AFTER PRCE OF DARKNS AND THEY JT STOPPED ME AND MA ME EEZE FOR A YEAR.”EVEN AS KANE’S MIC BEGAN TO SUFFER, HIS STAT AS A RAP GAME SEX SYMBOL WAS ONLY RIVALED BY LL COOL J. HE’D DROPPED “SMOOTH OPERATOR” AND “I GET THE JOB DONE” ON IT’S A BIG DADDY THG AND SUBSEQUENTLY EVOLVED TO A SILK-ROBE-WEARG LOTHAR BY THE EARLY ‘90S. IN AN ERA WHEN HIP-HOP WAS BEG EVER-MORE HARDRE, KANE PRENTED A VERSN OF B-BOY SEXUALY THAT WAS MACHO WHOUT BEG HYPER-AGGRSIVE OR DOMEERG, AND HE URTED THE PUBLIC’S SEXUAL GAZE A WAY THAT WAS BOLDLY OUT OF STEP WH OTHER REVERED RAPPERS OF THE TIME.  AND HE PAID A PRICE FOR . KANE’S 1991 PLAYGIRL SPREAD IS ONE OF HIP-HOP’S MOST NOTOR MOMENTS. DPE NCERN OM HIS LABEL, KANE AGREED TO DO THE SPREAD AND SAID HE’D WANTED TO DO FOR HIS FEMALE FANS. “THERE’S NO SHAME,” HE TOLD THE ASSOCIATED PRS 1992. “FIRST OF ALL, I WASN’T BORN WH ANY CLOTHG. SHAME IS SOMETHG THAT’S MAN-MA. I JT WANTED TO DO SOMETHG DIFFERENT, AND I’M NOT SRED TO TAKE OFF MY CLOTH.” HE REFLECTED ON THE PLAYGIRL SHOOT 2013. “IT ME ABOUT BY JOKG WH MY PUBLICIST AT THE TIME, GENE SHELTON,” KANE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “HE SAID, ‘WE DID EVERYTHG OM RIGHT ON TO ESSENCE. WHAT’S LEFT?’ I SAID, ‘PLAYGIRL?’ SO WE PURSUED AND THE SHOOT WAS WONRFUL. A FIRST FOR HIP-HOP. A LOT OF MY MALE FANS THOUGHT WASN’T A GOOD LOOK FOR ME. BUT AS FOR THE FEMALE FANS, I THK THAT MONTH WAS THE MAGAZE’S HIGHT SAL FOR BLACK WOMEN BETWEEN THE AG OF 18 AND 25. WHAT N I SAY? I LIKE BREAKG GROUND AND EXPLORG NEW THGS.” THE PLAYGIRL SHOOT WAS A STEP BEYOND ANYTHG EVEN LL COOL J HAD DONE BEFORE, AND KANE FOLLOWED WH ANOTHER MOMENT OF NOTORIETY: HIS APPEARANCE MADONNA’S 1992 BOOK SEX. POSG SEXUAL PHOTOS WH MADONNA AND SUPERMOL NAOMI CAMPBELL, KANE HAD REACHED A VERY RARE SPACE POP CULTURE—BUT WAS ONE THAT LEFT FANS NFED AND CRIL. AND THOSE TWO MOMENTS HAD OCCURRED WH A PARTICULARLY UGLY MOR LGERG THE BACKGROUND OF BIG DADDY KANE’S REER THE EARLY ‘90S. THERE WERE THOSE OUT-OF-NOWHERE WHISPERS THAT KANE WAS HIV POSIVE. THE GOSSIP STARTED NEW YORK CY AND SPREAD AMONGST RAP FANS AROUND THE U.S.“AIDS H RAP BACK ’89/’90 WHEN A MOR GAED MOMENTUM,” DREAM HAMPTON WROTE BACK 1996. “THE STREETS OF NEW YORK CY WERE ABUZZ WH NEWS THAT BIG DADDY KANE WAS DYG OF AIDS. THAT HE’D BEEN A CLOSETED BISEXUAL PLAYG STRAIGHT PLAYBOY ALL ALONG. THE MOR PROVED TO BE UNTE BUT FATAL TO KANE’S REER. IN A MOMENT THAT WAS EMBARRASSG FOR ALL, KANE STOOD ONSTAGE AT A EE NCERT ANIZED TO REGISTER VOTERS HARLEM AND CLARED HIS NEGATIVE STAT AND HIS HETEROSEXUALY. HIS REER NEVER QUE REVERED OM THAT MOMENT.”IN A 2009 ARTICLE LLED “SRED STRAIGHT: HIP-HOP, OUTG AND THE PEDAGOGY OF QUEERNS,” MARC LAMONT HILL REVISED THE BACKLASH THAT OCCURRED ONCE THOSE KANE AIDS MORS BEGAN CIRCULATG. “GIVEN THE DOMANT BELIEF THAT HIV/AIDS WAS A GAY DISEASE, PUBLIC ATTENTN QUICKLY SHIFTED OM KANE’S HEALTH TO HIS SEXUALY: DID HIP-HOP HAVE S FIRST GAY MC? WAS HE GAY OR BISEXUAL? DID HE TCH THE DISEASE OM ANOTHER RAPPER?” THE AND OTHER QUTNS CHASED THE MOR THROUGHOUT THE CY’S BOROUGHS AND TO URBAN SPAC THROUGHOUT THE UNTRY. FURTHER ENHANCG AND PLITG THE MOR WAS S APPARENT IRONY. IN ADDN TO BEG A LYRIL GIANT, BIG DADDY KANE WAS HIP-HOP’S PLAYBOY EXTRAORDAIRE. WH GOOD LOOKS, BRAGGADOCS LYRICS, A FLASHY PERSONA, AND EVEN A PIMP-LIKE NAME, KANE’S VERY INTY SIGNIFIED A REFULLY CRAFTED AND EXTRAVAGANTLY PERFORMED MASCULY. AFTER THE MORS BEGAN TO CIRCLE HOWEVER, KANE’S IMAGE WAS PLACED SER PERIL.” KANE’S UNIQUELY BOLD APPROACH TO RAP-SEX-GOD STAT WASN’T ENTIRELY WHOUT NCSN TO THE MOST REGRETTABLE POSTURG OF HIS ERA. HE DIDN’T SEEM TO WANT TO BUCK THE SEX-RAP STAT QUO TERMS OF TEARG DOWN BIGOTED MACHO-ISM. LIKE SO MANY RAPPERS, KANE WALLOWED STANDARD-ISSUE HOMOPHOBIA AND MISOGYNY ON TRACKS LIKE “PIMP’ A’T EASY,” BUT SEEMS CLEAR THAT KANE REPRENTED SOMETHG THAT WAS THREATENG TERMS OF BLACK MANHOOD, SEX AND SEXUALY. HE BROACHED TABOOS A WAY THE GAME WASN’T READY FOR. BUT HE DID WHILE HIS MIC WAS AT A LULL THE EARLY ‘90S. WHAT MAY HAVE BEEN CELEBRATED AS BOLDLY PROVOTIVE WAS READ BY SOME AS SPERATE.     REGALD DENNIS OF THE SOURCE SAID AT THE TIME THAT KANE HAD LOST THE PEOPLE. “IT WOULD ALMOST BE FUNNY IF HE DIDN’T TAKE HIMSELF SO SERLY,” DENNIS SAID. “HE ALREADY HAD A REPUTATN WH THE LADI AS BEG A SEX SYMBOL, BUT HE DIDN’T HAVE TO CROSS THE BRIDGE TO BEG A LUTHER VANDROSS WHERE HE’S TURNG HIS BACK ON THE STREET.” WHEN THEY OCCURRED, KANE’S FORAYS TO MOLG WEREN’T GENERALLY HAILED AS ANYTHG REMBLG GROUNDBREAKG—NOT BY THE HIP-HOP MEDIA THAT WAS NOW SNIPG AT HIM OR BY ANY MASTREAM PLATFORMS THAT HAD ONLY BARELY ACKNOWLEDGED HIM EVEN AT HIS BT. BUT KANE HEARD THE “STREETS” CHATTER, AND THERE WAS A SENSE THAT HE WAS ABOUT TO LOSE HIS DIENCE PLETELY. HIS LABEL FORCED HIM TO SLOW DOWN BEFORE RELEASG …JOB FOR 1993. “I WAS GLAD THEY DID BEE AT THAT POT TIME I STARTED REALIZG THAT THE STREETS WERE SAYG, ‘YO, THEY SAY YOU FELL OFF. YOU WACK.’ I HAD TIME TO REALLY REGROUP AND GET ALL THE RIGHT PRODUCERS LIKE TRACK MASTERS, EASY MO BEE, LARGE PROFSOR AND REALLY DO A GOOD KANE ALBUM,” HE TOLD HUFFPO.  THAT ALBUM ULD HAVE RTORED SOME OF KANE’S REER LTER—MUCH THE WAY LL’S MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT RURRECTED HIS CREDIBILY 1990—BUT HAPPENED A LTLE TOO LATE.“AFTER THE ALBUM ME OUT I THK I MSED UP. I DON’T BLAME ON WARNER BROTHERS. I DON’T BLAME ON THE PRODUCERS, I THK WAS MY FLT,” KANE SAID 2016. “LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR... I THK IS A GREAT ALBUM PRODUCTN-WISE AND STCTURE-WISE. I THK THAT WAS ME WHO MA THE MISTAKE BEE I WAS SPTG A LOT OF DOPE RHYM, BUT I DIDN’T REALIZE THAT WH ARTISTS LIKE METHOD MAN AND BIGGIE AND NAS, THE FLOW HAD CHANGED. CATS WERE BEHD THE BEAT MORE, THEY WEREN’T THAT RAPID-FIRE LIKE I WAS ACCTOMED TO DOG SO I THK MY STYLE WAS OUTDATED.” KANE WOULD RELEASE DADDY’S HOME 1994 AND VETERANZ DAY 1997, BUT SO MANY YEARS REMOVED OM HIS ‘89/‘90 PNACLE AND WH THOSE LEWARM RELEAS AND CHANGG TIM, KANE SAW HIS STATURE SLIP. EVEN AS LL COOL J, KRS-ONE, HEAVY D, SALT-N-PEPA AND THE BEASTIE BOYS ENJOYED ONGOG SUCCS AND VISIBILY, KANE FAD TO HIP-HOP’S G. OVER 20 YEARS LATER, HE HASN’T RELEASED A NEW ALBUM. BUT KANE’S LEGEND HAS REMAED TACT. A SHOW-STOPPG PERFORMANCE AT THE 2004 VH1 HIP-HOP HONORS REMAS ONE OF THE HIGH POTS OF THAT SEMI-ANNUAL EVENT, HE’S BEE ONE OF THE GAME’S MOST RAVED-ABOUT LIVE ACTS, AND HIS FEBARY APPEARANCE ON NPR’S TY DK SERI WAS MASTERFUL—WH KANE AND HIS BAND GROOVG THROUGH CLASSICS LIKE “A’T NO HALF-STEPP” AND “RAW.”“I LOVE TO SEE GROW AND TO SEE NTUE ON,” KANE TOLD THE DIENCE. “I HOPE EVERYBODY OUT HERE IS SUPPORTG HIP-HOP AND TRYG TO MAKE NTUE ON. I’VE SEEN A LOT OF BIASED STUFF GOG ON ABOUT HOW, ‘THIS IS NOT HIP-HOP,’ AND ‘THIS IS REAL HIP-HOP.’ BUT I MEAN, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT FLOATS SOMEBODY’S BOAT. WHATEVER FORM OF HIP-HOP YOU LIKE, MAN, LOVE AND KEEP GOG. KEEP STRONG, MAKE SURE STAYS POWERFUL—BEE THERE’S ALWAYS GONNA BE DIFFERENT WAYS OF PRENTG SOMETHG AND EXPRSG YOURSELF.” STEREO WILLIAMS
• IS ICE CUBE GAY

HOW HOMOPHOBIA DTROYED A RAP LEGEND’S CAREERLONG LIVE THE KANEIN HONOR OF THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS STUNNG BUT ‘LONG LIVE THE KANE,’ STEREO WILLIAMS LOOKS BACK AT THE PHOTO SHOOT AND NASTY MORS THAT RAILED BIG DADDY KANE’S ASCENT.STEREO WILLIAMSUPDATED JUL. 01, 2018 6:06AM EDT / PUBLISHED JUL. 01, 2018 6:00AM EDT PL HAWTHORNE/GETTYBIG DADDY KANE’S PLACE RAP’S UPPER ECHELON IS IRREFUTABLE. HE’S AMONG THE MOST FLUID RHYMERS TO EVER HOLD A MIC—CLEVER WORDPLAY AND XTERO FLOW, HE HAS THOSE RAPID-FIRE BARS THAT SOUND LIKE FLURRI OF VERBIAGE UNLOAD AT THE LISTENER, AND THOSE SLOWER, QUOTABLE L THAT PEPPER SO MANY RAD HS THAT FED HIP-HOP’S GOLN AGE AND THE VIBRANCY BLACK RAD OF THE DO THE RIGHT THG ERA. HIS BUT ALBUM, LONG LIVE THE KANE, DROPPED JUNE 1988, AND SHOWSED EVERYTHG THE MAN BORN ANTON HARDY DO WELL ON RERD: FEROC RHYME SHOWS, HOOKY RAD RAP AND CHEY LOVER E-ONS. HE ARRIV FULLY FORMED ON HIS FIRST ALBUM. KANE HAS ONE OF HIP-HOP’S MORE ENVIABLE LEGACI. HIS FIRST TWO ALBUMS ARE A DIZZYG ONE-TWO PUNCH SHOWSG THE LYRICIST AT HIS MOST NFINT AND SPIRED, AS KANE GO OM JAW-DROPPG RHYME SPRE LIKE “SET IT OFF” TO MORE TOPIL TRACKS LIKE “YOUNG GIFTED & BLACK.” HIS WORK WH MARLEY MARL ON LONG LIVE THE KANE IS AMONG BOTH MEN’S BT—WH MARLEY LIVERG HIS FIRST TLY CLASSIC ALBUM AND KANE ANNOUNCG HIMSELF AS AN EMCEE PAR EXCELLENCE, ALONGSI NTEMPORARI LIKE RAKIM, KRS-ONE AND SLICK RICK. PRODUCTN ON IT’S A BIG DADDY THG, THE 1989 FOLLOW-UP, WOULD BE MORE VARIED (PRCE PL, TEDDY RILEY, EASY MOE BEE AND KANE HIMSELF HELMED THE ALBUM, ALONG WH MARLEY) AND KANE WOULD LVE EPER TO HIS BAG OF TRICKS, REVEALG A RAPPER AT THE HEIGHT OF ARTISTRY AND FULL MAND OF HIS MIL VOICE. BUT KANE’S MERCIAL AND CREATIVE CLE WAS SWIFT AND STEEP. TASTE OF CHOLATE, RELEASED 1990, WAS LS SPIRED THAN S PRECSOR, WH KANE LEANG MORE HEAVILY TO BOTH HIS LOVERMAN PERSONA AND TENNCY TO TETHER HIS IMAGE TO THE KSCHIER ASPECTS OF THE PREV GENERATN’S AVATARS OF PIMPED-OUT OL (BARRY WHE AND RUDY RAY MOORE ARE AMONG THE ALBUM’S GUT STARS). THE SONGS WEREN’T AS STRONG, THE PRENTATN WASN’T AS H, AND BY THE TIME KANE RELEASED 1991’S NEW JACK SWG-LACED PRCE OF DARKNS, SEEMED OBV THAT HE’D LOST A STEP CREATIVELY. PEERS LIKE ERIC B. & RAKIM, LL COOL J AND KOOL G RAP OPENED THE 1990S WH SOME OF THEIR MOST SPIRED WORK, AND A NEWLY-SOLO ICE CUBE HAD JOED THEM NEAR THE TOP OF HIP-HOP’S HIERARCHY; PUBLIC ENEMY WAS ON THE BACK END OF WHAT WAS STILL A POTENT ALBUM N; KRS-ONE SUCCSFULLY NAVIGATED THE TRANSN OM THE BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTNS MONIKER AND ERA TO WHAT WOULD BE A STRONG SOLO REER; AND EPMD WAS LIVERG THEIR MOST ERA-FG MATERIAL THE YEARS LEADG UP TO THEIR FAMO 1992 BREAKUP. BY THE TIME KANE RELEASED LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR… 1993, LOOKED LIKE HE HADN’T BEEN THAT GUY A WHILE. “WHAT N I SAY? I LIKE BREAKG GROUND AND EXPLORG NEW THGS.”— BIG DADDY KANE “WELL, THE STRG OF RELEAS SENTIALLY END AFTER THE FIRST FOUR ALBUMS. WE DID LONG LIVE THE KANE AND I UGHT THE BUG,” KANE TOLD HUFFPOST 2016. “I REALIZED PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHG I DID WRONG WH LONG LIVE THE KANE AND WENT RIGHT BACK AND DID IT’S A BIG DADDY THG, BEE NOW I HAD A MORE UNIVERSAL APPROACH. I THK LONG LIVE THE KANE WAS PRETTY MUCH A REAL BOXED- MDSET WH ME JT DOG WHAT I REPRENTED THE HOOD.” IN THAT TERVIEW, KANE SAID THAT THE DROP-OFF HIS MATERIAL WAS THE RULT OF HIS OWN TRATN AND DIFFERENCE WH COLD CHILL’/WARNER BROTHERS. FOLLOWG HIS FIRST TWO ALBUMS, HE SENTIALLY SHED THROUGH RELEAS. “AFTER THAT, I WAS UNHAPPY WH THE LABEL, SO I DROPPED TWO TRASH ALBUMS TO TRY TO HURRY UP AND FISH UP MY 5-ALBUM AL SO THAT’S WHY THEY WERE G SO FAST AFTER THAT,” HE ADD. “I WAS TRYG TO HURRY UP AND GET OUT OF THE AL. I GUS WARNER BROTHERS UGHT ON AFTER PRCE OF DARKNS AND THEY JT STOPPED ME AND MA ME EEZE FOR A YEAR.”EVEN AS KANE’S MIC BEGAN TO SUFFER, HIS STAT AS A RAP GAME SEX SYMBOL WAS ONLY RIVALED BY LL COOL J. HE’D DROPPED “SMOOTH OPERATOR” AND “I GET THE JOB DONE” ON IT’S A BIG DADDY THG AND SUBSEQUENTLY EVOLVED TO A SILK-ROBE-WEARG LOTHAR BY THE EARLY ‘90S. IN AN ERA WHEN HIP-HOP WAS BEG EVER-MORE HARDRE, KANE PRENTED A VERSN OF B-BOY SEXUALY THAT WAS MACHO WHOUT BEG HYPER-AGGRSIVE OR DOMEERG, AND HE URTED THE PUBLIC’S SEXUAL GAZE A WAY THAT WAS BOLDLY OUT OF STEP WH OTHER REVERED RAPPERS OF THE TIME.  AND HE PAID A PRICE FOR . KANE’S 1991 PLAYGIRL SPREAD IS ONE OF HIP-HOP’S MOST NOTOR MOMENTS. DPE NCERN OM HIS LABEL, KANE AGREED TO DO THE SPREAD AND SAID HE’D WANTED TO DO FOR HIS FEMALE FANS. “THERE’S NO SHAME,” HE TOLD THE ASSOCIATED PRS 1992. “FIRST OF ALL, I WASN’T BORN WH ANY CLOTHG. SHAME IS SOMETHG THAT’S MAN-MA. I JT WANTED TO DO SOMETHG DIFFERENT, AND I’M NOT SRED TO TAKE OFF MY CLOTH.” HE REFLECTED ON THE PLAYGIRL SHOOT 2013. “IT ME ABOUT BY JOKG WH MY PUBLICIST AT THE TIME, GENE SHELTON,” KANE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “HE SAID, ‘WE DID EVERYTHG OM RIGHT ON TO ESSENCE. WHAT’S LEFT?’ I SAID, ‘PLAYGIRL?’ SO WE PURSUED AND THE SHOOT WAS WONRFUL. A FIRST FOR HIP-HOP. A LOT OF MY MALE FANS THOUGHT WASN’T A GOOD LOOK FOR ME. BUT AS FOR THE FEMALE FANS, I THK THAT MONTH WAS THE MAGAZE’S HIGHT SAL FOR BLACK WOMEN BETWEEN THE AG OF 18 AND 25. WHAT N I SAY? I LIKE BREAKG GROUND AND EXPLORG NEW THGS.” THE PLAYGIRL SHOOT WAS A STEP BEYOND ANYTHG EVEN LL COOL J HAD DONE BEFORE, AND KANE FOLLOWED WH ANOTHER MOMENT OF NOTORIETY: HIS APPEARANCE MADONNA’S 1992 BOOK SEX. POSG SEXUAL PHOTOS WH MADONNA AND SUPERMOL NAOMI CAMPBELL, KANE HAD REACHED A VERY RARE SPACE POP CULTURE—BUT WAS ONE THAT LEFT FANS NFED AND CRIL. AND THOSE TWO MOMENTS HAD OCCURRED WH A PARTICULARLY UGLY MOR LGERG THE BACKGROUND OF BIG DADDY KANE’S REER THE EARLY ‘90S. THERE WERE THOSE OUT-OF-NOWHERE WHISPERS THAT KANE WAS HIV POSIVE. THE GOSSIP STARTED NEW YORK CY AND SPREAD AMONGST RAP FANS AROUND THE U.S.“AIDS H RAP BACK ’89/’90 WHEN A MOR GAED MOMENTUM,” DREAM HAMPTON WROTE BACK 1996. “THE STREETS OF NEW YORK CY WERE ABUZZ WH NEWS THAT BIG DADDY KANE WAS DYG OF AIDS. THAT HE’D BEEN A CLOSETED BISEXUAL PLAYG STRAIGHT PLAYBOY ALL ALONG. THE MOR PROVED TO BE UNTE BUT FATAL TO KANE’S REER. IN A MOMENT THAT WAS EMBARRASSG FOR ALL, KANE STOOD ONSTAGE AT A EE NCERT ANIZED TO REGISTER VOTERS HARLEM AND CLARED HIS NEGATIVE STAT AND HIS HETEROSEXUALY. HIS REER NEVER QUE REVERED OM THAT MOMENT.”IN A 2009 ARTICLE LLED “SRED STRAIGHT: HIP-HOP, OUTG AND THE PEDAGOGY OF QUEERNS,” MARC LAMONT HILL REVISED THE BACKLASH THAT OCCURRED ONCE THOSE KANE AIDS MORS BEGAN CIRCULATG. “GIVEN THE DOMANT BELIEF THAT HIV/AIDS WAS A GAY DISEASE, PUBLIC ATTENTN QUICKLY SHIFTED OM KANE’S HEALTH TO HIS SEXUALY: DID HIP-HOP HAVE S FIRST GAY MC? WAS HE GAY OR BISEXUAL? DID HE TCH THE DISEASE OM ANOTHER RAPPER?” THE AND OTHER QUTNS CHASED THE MOR THROUGHOUT THE CY’S BOROUGHS AND TO URBAN SPAC THROUGHOUT THE UNTRY. FURTHER ENHANCG AND PLITG THE MOR WAS S APPARENT IRONY. IN ADDN TO BEG A LYRIL GIANT, BIG DADDY KANE WAS HIP-HOP’S PLAYBOY EXTRAORDAIRE. WH GOOD LOOKS, BRAGGADOCS LYRICS, A FLASHY PERSONA, AND EVEN A PIMP-LIKE NAME, KANE’S VERY INTY SIGNIFIED A REFULLY CRAFTED AND EXTRAVAGANTLY PERFORMED MASCULY. AFTER THE MORS BEGAN TO CIRCLE HOWEVER, KANE’S IMAGE WAS PLACED SER PERIL.” KANE’S UNIQUELY BOLD APPROACH TO RAP-SEX-GOD STAT WASN’T ENTIRELY WHOUT NCSN TO THE MOST REGRETTABLE POSTURG OF HIS ERA. HE DIDN’T SEEM TO WANT TO BUCK THE SEX-RAP STAT QUO TERMS OF TEARG DOWN BIGOTED MACHO-ISM. LIKE SO MANY RAPPERS, KANE WALLOWED STANDARD-ISSUE HOMOPHOBIA AND MISOGYNY ON TRACKS LIKE “PIMP’ A’T EASY,” BUT SEEMS CLEAR THAT KANE REPRENTED SOMETHG THAT WAS THREATENG TERMS OF BLACK MANHOOD, SEX AND SEXUALY. HE BROACHED TABOOS A WAY THE GAME WASN’T READY FOR. BUT HE DID WHILE HIS MIC WAS AT A LULL THE EARLY ‘90S. WHAT MAY HAVE BEEN CELEBRATED AS BOLDLY PROVOTIVE WAS READ BY SOME AS SPERATE.     REGALD DENNIS OF THE SOURCE SAID AT THE TIME THAT KANE HAD LOST THE PEOPLE. “IT WOULD ALMOST BE FUNNY IF HE DIDN’T TAKE HIMSELF SO SERLY,” DENNIS SAID. “HE ALREADY HAD A REPUTATN WH THE LADI AS BEG A SEX SYMBOL, BUT HE DIDN’T HAVE TO CROSS THE BRIDGE TO BEG A LUTHER VANDROSS WHERE HE’S TURNG HIS BACK ON THE STREET.” WHEN THEY OCCURRED, KANE’S FORAYS TO MOLG WEREN’T GENERALLY HAILED AS ANYTHG REMBLG GROUNDBREAKG—NOT BY THE HIP-HOP MEDIA THAT WAS NOW SNIPG AT HIM OR BY ANY MASTREAM PLATFORMS THAT HAD ONLY BARELY ACKNOWLEDGED HIM EVEN AT HIS BT. BUT KANE HEARD THE “STREETS” CHATTER, AND THERE WAS A SENSE THAT HE WAS ABOUT TO LOSE HIS DIENCE PLETELY. HIS LABEL FORCED HIM TO SLOW DOWN BEFORE RELEASG …JOB FOR 1993. “I WAS GLAD THEY DID BEE AT THAT POT TIME I STARTED REALIZG THAT THE STREETS WERE SAYG, ‘YO, THEY SAY YOU FELL OFF. YOU WACK.’ I HAD TIME TO REALLY REGROUP AND GET ALL THE RIGHT PRODUCERS LIKE TRACK MASTERS, EASY MO BEE, LARGE PROFSOR AND REALLY DO A GOOD KANE ALBUM,” HE TOLD HUFFPO.  THAT ALBUM ULD HAVE RTORED SOME OF KANE’S REER LTER—MUCH THE WAY LL’S MAMA SAID KNOCK YOU OUT RURRECTED HIS CREDIBILY 1990—BUT HAPPENED A LTLE TOO LATE.“AFTER THE ALBUM ME OUT I THK I MSED UP. I DON’T BLAME ON WARNER BROTHERS. I DON’T BLAME ON THE PRODUCERS, I THK WAS MY FLT,” KANE SAID 2016. “LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR... I THK IS A GREAT ALBUM PRODUCTN-WISE AND STCTURE-WISE. I THK THAT WAS ME WHO MA THE MISTAKE BEE I WAS SPTG A LOT OF DOPE RHYM, BUT I DIDN’T REALIZE THAT WH ARTISTS LIKE METHOD MAN AND BIGGIE AND NAS, THE FLOW HAD CHANGED. CATS WERE BEHD THE BEAT MORE, THEY WEREN’T THAT RAPID-FIRE LIKE I WAS ACCTOMED TO DOG SO I THK MY STYLE WAS OUTDATED.” KANE WOULD RELEASE DADDY’S HOME 1994 AND VETERANZ DAY 1997, BUT SO MANY YEARS REMOVED OM HIS ‘89/‘90 PNACLE AND WH THOSE LEWARM RELEAS AND CHANGG TIM, KANE SAW HIS STATURE SLIP. EVEN AS LL COOL J, KRS-ONE, HEAVY D, SALT-N-PEPA AND THE BEASTIE BOYS ENJOYED ONGOG SUCCS AND VISIBILY, KANE FAD TO HIP-HOP’S G. OVER 20 YEARS LATER, HE HASN’T RELEASED A NEW ALBUM. BUT KANE’S LEGEND HAS REMAED TACT. A SHOW-STOPPG PERFORMANCE AT THE 2004 VH1 HIP-HOP HONORS REMAS ONE OF THE HIGH POTS OF THAT SEMI-ANNUAL EVENT, HE’S BEE ONE OF THE GAME’S MOST RAVED-ABOUT LIVE ACTS, AND HIS FEBARY APPEARANCE ON NPR’S TY DK SERI WAS MASTERFUL—WH KANE AND HIS BAND GROOVG THROUGH CLASSICS LIKE “A’T NO HALF-STEPP” AND “RAW.”“I LOVE TO SEE GROW AND TO SEE NTUE ON,” KANE TOLD THE DIENCE. “I HOPE EVERYBODY OUT HERE IS SUPPORTG HIP-HOP AND TRYG TO MAKE NTUE ON. I’VE SEEN A LOT OF BIASED STUFF GOG ON ABOUT HOW, ‘THIS IS NOT HIP-HOP,’ AND ‘THIS IS REAL HIP-HOP.’ BUT I MEAN, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT FLOATS SOMEBODY’S BOAT. WHATEVER FORM OF HIP-HOP YOU LIKE, MAN, LOVE AND KEEP GOG. KEEP STRONG, MAKE SURE STAYS POWERFUL—BEE THERE’S ALWAYS GONNA BE DIFFERENT WAYS OF PRENTG SOMETHG AND EXPRSG YOURSELF.” STEREO WILLIAMS

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