NPR has had a number of hip-hop artists step foot in its offices for the Tiny Desk Concert series, but it hasn't had a rapper as legendary as Big Daddy Kane.

Backed by a drummer, saxophonist, keyboard player and bass player, Big Daddy Kane kicked off his short set with a jazzy rendition of "Raw" before moving into "Smooth Operator" on Monday (Feb. 19). While performing the latter, Dark Gable let his band shine as he let a few of the members perform solos on their respective instruments.

Following some jamming, Big Daddy Kane then performed the classic track "Ain't No Half Steppin'" with some help from the small audience and finished off his set with a freestyle.

Taking a break during his set, the veteran rapper also offered a few words of praise for hip-hop, detailing his love for the genre and even sticking up for the newer generation of rappers. "I love to see [hip-hop] grow and I love to see it continue on," he said.

"I see now, like a lot of bias stuff going on, about 'this is not hip-hop' and 'this is real hip-hop,' but I mean... You never know what floats somebody boat," Big Daddy Kane said. "What ever form of hip-hop you like, man, love it."

Last year, Big Daddy Kane's Long Live the Kane album received a limited edition vinyl release courtesy of Fat Beats. Only 300 copies of the record were made available, which came with all of the original artwork and a purple vinyl.

Check out Big Daddy Kane's Tiny Desk Concert below.

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