#TBT: Big L

Like Notorious B.I.G., Big L was gunned down a few months before his 25th birthday and released his second and final album posthumously. Like Biggie, he was a paragon of '90s hip hop who was a riveting storyteller (shoutout "The Heist" and "Casualties of a Dice Game," which are not included in this list), a lyrical technician, and a cold-blood gangster.

In 1999, Big L was shot nine times in Harlem by a man with a grudge against his brother. His death simultaneously stunted his career and canonized him in rap lore. This list explores his career in reverse chronological order, from 2000 The Big Picture back to 1995's Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous. 

The "Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito" radio show featured freestyles from numerous rappers who were unsigned/unknown at the time and would go on to make their mark on the rap landscape. "'98 Freestyle" was not Big L's first appearance on the program (more on that in a bit). Like a photo taken on film rather than a digital camera, these gritty radio freestyles often reveal more about a rapper's character than any song they recorded in a proper studio.

"Ask Beavis, I get nothing but head."  - Big L

Big L was the founder and CEO of the independent record label Flamboyant Entertainment. It's unofficial anthem,"Flamboyant," peaked at #1 on the hip hop charts in 2000. It was Big L's best-performing commercial single by far.

Big L was surprisingly rigid in his song concepts and did not typically stray outside self-imposed borders. On "Ebonics" he goes three whole verses reciting his dictionary of slang. Listening to this as a 15-year-old white person, this song was very educational for me.

Shortly after releasing his debut Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, L recorded "95 Freestyle" with Jay Z on the "Stretch & Bobbito" show. In 2012, Bobbito Garcia recalled the freestyle to Vibe:

"Jay and L had something brewing. They did their verses and L was straight fire, Jay was a cocky bastard back then. I remember Jay came up like maybe three or four times, never really said that much, always sort of had a chip on his shoulder. The way he carried himself was so extra, like the nastiest motherfucker on the planet. In my head I was like, you’re nice, B, but dude, you haven’t sold any records. But I guess he proved his point years later—he always had a vision for his ability to rhyme, even early when he had no album deal and was coming up doing shows."

"Da Graveyard" is comprised of six 16s by Big L and his peers, but L goes first and it's effectively over after that. He rattles off one venomous punchline after another in a verse that forged his reputation as a savage MC with no compassion in his heart.

"Filling niggas with so much lead they can use they dick for a pencil." - Big L

Quite frankly, Big L's beats were often subpar compared to his otherwordly rapping talent. One exception is "No Endz No Skinz," which begins with a *very rare* jazz sample before launching into a minimalist, funky beat that provides the foundation for L's confession that his desire to have sex with fine women fuels his quest to get rich: "if you broke you'll get a whack slut, if you got dough you get a ho with a fat butt."

Usually unapologetic about his various illicit endeavors, Big L uses "Street Struck" to warn younger listeners that the street life is way less glamorous than it appears.

The "MVP" beat combines the same sample used in Biggie's "One More Chance" and Ashanti's "Foolish" with a shaker sound that evokes Santa flying around on his reindeer-propelled sleigh. 

Like great novels ("Call me Ishmael"), great songs must have memorable opening lines. "Ayo, you better flee, hops, or get your head flown three blocks," L begins "Put It On" -- the subtext being that the listener should actually stay, not flee.

An 18-year-old Big L recorded "Devil's Son" in 1993. It was his first promotional single and he intended for it to appear on Lifestylez but it was scrapped at the last minute. Probably for lines like this:

"I'm a stone villain, known for killing and raping nuns
I even kill handicapped and crippled bitches
Look at my scalp real close and you'll see triple sixes"