On Oct. 17, Brooklyn’s best, Big Daddy Kane, will square off against the Bronx’s KRS-One in the newest Verzuz fight. The event, which will take place at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, will begin at 7 p.m. ET and will include a fight between two MCs who helped define the genre in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Kane gained popularity in the 1980s as a member of Queens’ Juice Crew, which also included Marley Marl, and distinguished himself with his double-time flow, distinctive high-top fade, and casual cool attitude on early songs like “Ain’t No Half-Steppin” and “Smooth Operator.”
KRS-One rose to prominence around the same time as Kane, but he took a different route, focusing on conscious lyrics and social criticism, first as part of the Boogie Down Productions group with late DJ Scott La Rock and later as a solo artist. KRS delivered an in-your-face, rapid-fire onslaught on tracks like the screeching “Sound of Da Police,” BDP’s “My Philosophy,” and “The Bridge Is Over.”
The latter earned KRS the moniker “the Blastmaster,” since it was the last blow in a long-running rap conflict known as The Bridge Wars, which pitted BDP against Marl’s Juice Crew for the claim of rap’s origin.
Kane and KRS have just conducted their first battle since Fat Joe and Ja Rule battled it out at Verzuz.
