On Sep.t 19, 1989, Big Daddy Kane returned with his sophomore album, It's a Big Daddy Thing.

The album followed the Brooklyn rapper's classic 1988 debut, Long Live the Kane, which had production credited entirely to Marley Marl. But on this project, though Marley Marl did contribute three songs ("Young, Gifted, and Black," "Wrath of Kane," "Rap Summary (Lean on Me) Remix") Big Daddy Kane branched out, producing much of the album himself, with additional contributions from legendary producers including Easy Mo Bee, Teddy Riley, Prince Paul, and Mister Cee.

"It’s a Big Daddy Thing was always my favorite, ”Kane explained to Okayplayer. “I’ve always liked Big Daddy Thingbetter than Long Live the Kane. I feel like on Long Live the Kane, I hadn’t really seen much. I could only talk about what I had seen in the hood. On It’s a Big Daddy Thing I had a broader spectrum. I had seen a whole lot more at that time, so I could relate to so many more people.”

Kane's most commercially successful album, It's a Big Daddy Thing veers musically where the cover suggests, with the rapper tapping into his lover persona as he attempts to woo a female audience without forsaking his lyrical Hip-Hop roots, as evidenced by the popular track, The Mary Jane Girls-sampling "Smooth Operator."

The theme continues on the Teddy Riley-produced, New Jack Swing heavy, "I Get the Job Done" where he simply declares on the hook, "I get the job done/I work..."

On "Young, Gifted, and Black," a track that showcases exactly why Kane is considered one of the best, and most influential rappers of all time, he's at his peak rhyming over the Marly Marl track (which was originally intended for MC Shan): “Rappers I replace, rub out, and erase / Competition? You must be on freebase / Smoking or choking, bound to be broken / Man, get your damn hands off the mic that I’m choking!” He also gets pretty vicious as he targets artists filing lawsuits against rappers for sample clearance issues, noting, “We sample beats, you sue and try to fight us / Maaaan, you’d still be home with arthritis! / If we didn't revive ’em, bring back alive / Old beats that we appreciated? You wouldn't survive / You’d be another memory to us / Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.”

Considered a definitive album of the time and of Kane's long, impactful career, It's A Big Daddy Thing is a vivid glimpse into one of Hip-Hop's pivotal talents.