3. The Neptunes feat. Super Cat and Jadakiss – “The Don of All Dons (Put De Ting Pon Dem)” (2003)
The Neptunes Present… Clones was a pivotal moment for Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams. Not only did it serve as the appetizer for Pharrell’s solo career after its lead single, “Frontin,” was an instant smash, it offered an introduction to their then-new label, Star Trak Entertainment. The music industry was in flux, though. As their parent label Arista closed up shop, Star Trak suffered, and so did the potential for Super Cat to potentially write a new chapter in his legendary career. “The Don of All Dons” was a proper re-introduction for Cat to declare himself as a veteran to the dancehall community and even hip-hop—he namechecks the Notorious B.I.G., who got one of his earliest looks on Super Cat’s “Dolly My Baby” remix. Maybe around that time, if Jada and Super Cat had crossed paths, they shared stories about B.I.G.
As the story to “Don of All Dons” goes, the beat was originally given to Foxy Brown for her album, Ill Nana 2: The Fever. Like the Neptunes and their label woes, Foxy Brown also didn’t get to see the fruits of her labor because Def Jam didn’t release the album. For the title of Foxy’s record to be called “The Original,” (be sure and listen to that one, too—the patois-slangin’ Foxy deserves a big honorebel mention for it), it’s almost as if the universe intended it for the original don dada—Super Cat.