When Big Daddy Kane released “Just Rhymin’ With Biz” in 1987, the song was well received throughout the Tri-State area on radio stations like WBLS and KISS FM.

As it turned out, Kane’s aggressive — yet smooth — lyrical delivery paired up effortlessly with Biz Markie’s more humorous, self-deprecating style of Hip-Hop. The only problem: Promoters, as well as the general public, assumed it was Biz’s record because his name was in the title, he had the first verse, and Kane didn’t come on until the 1:45 mark. As a result, Kane found himself well known on the streets but a complete stranger to the dead presidents he needed to survive.

“I’m flat broke at home at the time,” Kane recalls. “I’m walking 15 blocks to the store — stealing Mrs. Paul’s Fish Sticks and stuff like that. It was wrong, but I had no money.”

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