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Who favorited?Big L: Flamboyant For Life
by on February 16th, 2008
Editors Note: Brought this back to celebrate the life and times of Big L, yesterday marked the 9 year anniversary of his death..so enjoy Flamboyant For Life and keep the comments respectful.
Big L: Flamboyant For Life Celebrating the Life and Times of L. Coleman.
Take a seat for a minute, you’re about to hear a story told all too often, except..if you’re young enough, you’ve never heard it.. Born, raised, lived, and died in Harlem, New York Big L left an unimaginable mark in Hip Hop and was one of the first MC’s to truly put Harlem on the map.
Making his first appearance in 1992 on Lord Finesse’s “Yes You May remix” Big L is mostly remembered for his freestyles, punchlines, and story telling ability.
In 1993 he released a controversial single under Columbia Records entitled “Devil’s Son.” Due to its violent and vulgar lyrics which at that time weren’t very common, the song was promptly banned from airplay across radio stations.
He then released his debut album 3 years later entitled Lifestyles ov Da Poor & Dangerous featuring rappers such as Jay-Z and Cam’ron , though barely promoted and a commercial failure, L received praise and respect from the rap community and earned Four out of Five mics from The Source Magazine.
After being dropped from Columbia due to lack of sales, L linked up with Mase, Cam’ron (then known as Murda Mase and Killa Cam respectively), Bloodshed, and McGruff to form a group called Children of The Corn. They released a compilation album entitled The Collector’s Edition however never got the chance to sign a deal due to the death of Bloodshed and Mase & Cam’ron quitting the rap game.
In 1999, With minimal success, Big L went back to the lab to record his second and LP, The Big Picture. He was murdered on the eve of February 15, 1999 blocks away from his Harlem home. L was shot multiple times in the head and chest in what many speculate to be a case of mistaken identity. Some say the shooter mistook L for his brother, Leroy Phinazee, on the night he was shot. Phinazee was later murdered on the same street as L while trying to find out who shot him. Both murders remain unsolved.
Big L never got to see the release of his second LP, The Big Picture. The critically acclaimed album, which featured appearances from rappers such as Fat Joe, Kool Moe Dee,and Big Daddy Kane went platinum in 2001 and featured the hit singles “Ebonics” and “Flamboyant.” He would’ve turned 34 today.
Some Freestyles:
Big L - DJ Kay Slay Freestyle Big L - 98 Freestyle Big L - & Jay z - 7 Minute Freestyle Big L - Don’t Front Freestyle
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Singles Discog:
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Big L - Devil’s son Big L feat. Kid Capri - Put It on Big L – MVP Big L – Street Struck Big L – Ebonics Big L – The heist Big L – Flamboyant Big L – Hold It Down
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Children of The Corn
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Big L, Cam’ Ron, Mase, Bloodshed
Children Of The Corn – The Corn Children Of The Corn – American Dreams Children Of The Corn – Harlem Nights Children Of The Corn – Don’t Sleep Children Of The Corn – Fuck with Known Felons
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The Albums
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RIP Big L.
Reply to this Article
the only thing we can do now as were readin this post is to show respect to him.
So RIP to Big L
and i hoped u guys wouldve put up Times is Hard on the Blvd. but u already got up some classics. 1
B4 I go I’ll just say R.I.P 2 da rappers who died like Big L, Big Pun, Eazy-E, X-1, Proof, Bugz, Pimp C, 2Pac, Biggie, O.D.B, MC Trouble, Buffy of da fat boys, Big DS of onyx, n anybody I forgot R.I.P…
im runnin wit men
imma 6e grippin mikes til im 1hundred an 10
havin dem niggaz like yo dis nigga dun dunit again
he was hip hop RIP L
Big L – Eazy E – 2Pac – Biggie – E-money-bag – Kadafi
R>I>P BIG L
PS EVERBODY OUT INCLUDES NAS AND JIGGA
“Harlem World keep holdin’ it down…”
R.I.P
Big L – Eazy E – 2Pac – Biggie – CURTIS SNITCH JACKSON
You couldnt have just kept that bullshit to yourself?
Yall just trashed homie because dude didn’t call him a legend, it wasn’t disrespectful, dude was nice on the mike though, and I agree with dude for the most part. Yall act like he called him wack or some shit.
WTF- Are you fukin kiddin?!?!?!- U must be high or sumthin- scroll up and listen to “The Heist” – That kind of story tellin aint “aight”- “Nothin special” my ass- fuk outta here wit all that bullshit- Go grab ur ipod and listen to some jim jones or some lil boosie, son…
Take some Big and some Pac and you mix em’ up in a pot
Sprinkle a little BIG L on top, what the fuck do you got?
You got the realest and illest killas tied up in a knot
The juggernauts of this rap shit, like it or not – Em
RavenH20 — about 9 hours ago
RIP Big L! He was aight to me I aint gone sit here and lie. Nothing special and he didnt start no trends or anything because Nas was doing it way before! I aint gone hate cuz he had a flow but he definitely wasnt gonna go platinum if he was alive! Your worth more when your dead and that’s just how it goes! Papoose definitely sounds like him and let’s see where Papoose goes!
SOMEBODY GIVE ME AN ADDRESS. THIS NIGGA IS SPEAKING RECKLOUS ABOUT THE DEAD THAT’S NUMBER ONE, SO NOW I HAVE TO DO MY RESEARCH AND FIND WHERE YOU LIVE BOY. SECOND THIS NIGGA IS TOTALLY MIS INFORMED ABOUT HIP HOP SO AFTER ITS ALL SAID AND DONE HE GETS A WEDGIE. YALL KNOW MY STYLE. DON’T COME TO ME WITH THIS E-THUG SHIT. NOW THATS REAL HIP HOP BOYS
get the fuck outta here son
Big L is top 5 ever to touch the mic, he real nice wit the flow, and he got some of the best lyrics ever
suck a dick
N TO ME L IS GOAT…I LOVE THIS NIGGA
“A REAL MAN SHOULDN’T HAVE TO SAY NO HOMO”
-JADAKISS
THAT WAS FOR THE FAGS
BUT YO KRACK MAN LISTEN TO THE SECOND VERSE OF THAT 98 FREESTYLE….GO ON IMEEM MY NIGGA L IS A MONSTER…N HIM N HIS MENTOR LORD FINESE STARTED THAT PUNCHLINE SHIT WAY BACK IN LIKE ’93 B4 NAS N JAY-Z WAS EVEN ON
caz you the krack man..
get off that krack nigga dat shit messes wit your head and youll start makin weird desicions like you jus did
RIP BIG L
He’s the influence of alot of east coast and mid west shit in fact all rap….
he influned alot but don’t forget there are niggas that influenced him and so on and so on…………
i was reading krackmans shit n it made me think
YOU KNOW ALL THIS I DONT LIKE RAP SHIT IS GETTING ON MY NERVES………
there is always going to be a style to define an era and music is like a fuckin merry go round ……so lyrics and intricate rhyming ain’t in it’ll be BACK like as soon as everyones done dancing n shit………
yall know what i miss ……like who’s gonna start the new shiny suits era….like the whole i’m happy i got money shit,like BEEN AROUND DA WORLd-MASE, n shit like that…….i think everyones sick of these ex hustlin i don’t know what to write because im not broke no more ass rappers.BE HAPPY YOU GOT MONEY, n fuck everything else…..we need a new golden era of rap……….hip hop aint dead …it’s chillin with alternative music and boy bands ….you can’t kill music!!! Im sure that it might not be the same but it’s evolving into something that we’ll enjoy a lot more…….it’s like growing your hair out. OLD sCHOOL RAP is like that fresh fade and were going through that ugly stage right now…so just put your hat on and chill my niggas we gon be bolted down soon enough……
AND TELL WHERE A LOT OF NIGGAS GOT THEY WHOLE STYLE FROM” BIG L
Jokesta — “Hi haters!” — 1 day ago
The thing you’re missing Raven, is that Big L originated that style…He was in it before Jay, before Nas, before alotta cats.
-———————————————————————————————————————This is true but not for Nas, actually nas came on the scene a whole year befor Big L.
Remember Nas on Main Source’s Breaking Atoms in 1991 yea thats what i thought….and yea i Have a copy of Nas’ demo tape in my collection most of them tracks were made in 1990…this is coming from a real hip hop fan…So Yea Big L is the sickest and yet smatest freestyler ever…he already remembered them words and play around with thing that are actuaaly happening when he freestyles he mixxes them you can tell because of sum of the complex metaphore that appear in some of his freestyle or should I say most…“far from broke /got enough bread and mad hoes/ask beavus i get nun butt- head” Wow this is obviously isnt made up on the the spot no what I mean…He is the best at it still, when sum one else freestyles you can tell all the lines that are written and the one that are of the top which is more than rare if you know what I mean….Im out…Speaking real HIP HOPers…no dummass shud reply to my comment
camel — 2 days ago
but im glad im not the only one that realized my nigga poosey sound a lil like L.
No yo, nattafact i heard a song of Pap back in 1998(wen pap first appeared) and thought it was Big L, i dint realize it untill my cousin told me so i was like damn is dude trynna bite L’s style but Pap’s killed ripped it tho….but now i think on the mic both of their voices is simillar and it takes over the beat and they just happen to be lirical so they actually sound alike. I like both though oh the Pap song from 98 was called " Rock On" and no its not big L u might get confused
I remember when Lifestyles… came out in 1994 when a lot of you were climbing monkey bars and sliding down boards, see sawing and shit. Snot Nose is what I mean. Most of you didn’t even give the joints posted a listen. Most of you never heard these joints and didn’t give the classics a second listen.
R.I.P Big L because if he were hear today along with maybe Pac and Big then you would continue to not listen to and embrace their music like it should be.
It is a Got Damn Shame where music is in most of us because it definitely does not reside in some of our hearts. These are indeed the last days. 5000
1 luv man!!!
someone who really knows out there i heared some shit and i want to know if its true so someone who really knows answer these questions for me
Did Nas really learn from Big L?
Did Big L take that line “i went to hell for snuffin jesus” from nas or did nas take it from him? (i think big l took it because nas said it in a song before Big L came out i think)
someone answer that for me please and thank you
and also faresl2 props for everything you said dawg for real
someone who really knows out there i heared some shit and i want to know if its true so someone who really knows answer these questions for me
Did Nas really learn from Big L?
Did Big L take that line “i went to hell for snuffin jesus” from nas or did nas take it from him? (i think big l took it because nas said it in a song before Big L came out i think)
-—————————————————————————————————————nodoubt for the props but yea BiG L did take that line from Nas (It was no big Deal Though) everyone had already heard cause it was before illmatic and Big L came out around the time Half time was out damn there is alot of non hiphop informed ova hea lol, that line is from Nas ft main soource- Live at the BBQ….U know what ima do ima upload that track for you right now nahh mean
Artist: Main Source f/ Nas, Fatal, Akinyele
Album: Breakin Atoms
Song: Live at the Barbeque
Typed by: OHHLA Webmaster DJ Flash
Ahhhhhhhhhhh-ohhhh-ho!
Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!
It’s like that y’all (that y’all)
That y’all (that y’all) —> repeat 5X
and that’s all!
[Nas]
Street’s disciple, my raps are trifle
I shoot slugs from my brain just like a rifle
Stampede the stage, I leave the microphone split
Play Mr. Tuffy while I’m on some Pretty Tone shit
Verbal assassin, my architect pleases
When I was twelve, I went to hell for snuffin Jesus
Nasty Nas is a rebel to America
Police murderer, I’m causin hysteria
My troops roll up with a strange force
I was trapped in a cage and let out by the Main Source
Swimmin in women like a lifeguard
Put on a bulletproof nigga I strike hard
Kidnap the President’s wife without a plan
And hangin niggaz like the Ku Klux Klan
I melt mics till the sound waves over
Before steppin to me you’d rather step to Jehovah
Slammin MC’s on cement
Cause verbally, I’m iller than a AIDS patient
I move swift and uplift
your mind shoot the gift when I riff in rhyme
Rappin sniper, speakin real words
My thoughts react, like Steven Spielberg’s
Poetry attacks, paragraphs punch hard
My brain is insane, I’m out to lunch God
Science is dropped, my raps are toxic
My voicebox locks and excels like a rocket
did Nas learn from Big L?
my boy told me this thats why i want to know if its true or not?
Numba1NasFan — about 2 hours ago
that nas verse from main source was sooooo hot yo that was one of the craziest verses ever but what about my other question
did Nas learn from Big L?
my boy told me this thats why i want to know if its true or not?
-—————————————————————————————————————————Well Technically NOT…Nas never changed his style since he appeared on that record
He Has been consistant with the Nasty Nas style ( by style i don’t mean switchin a lil flow on a record like on Blunt Ashes and Memory Lane)..And that was all before Big L…Well Nas was already established after Illmatic dropped, and even befor that when he had his demo out, and that halftime record and this one verse right here from live at the BBQ, his buzz was incredible, people were sayin is he better than Rakim ?is he better than Ra? nahh mean…B4 the tape dropped he was already there so there were basically no need to change style…but did he learn a thing or two from one of the best freestyler ever (talkin about Big L) It’s possible
RAWEST LYRICS
AND THE PUNCHLINE GOD……..
THROW THEM L’S UP.
Co-Sign SchizNicca your right the Big L’s Special Ed Big Daddy Krs 1Rakim etc wouldn’t give us these punchline rappers yao ming?
How the fuck did Killa cam go from being so nice to the bullshit he be doing now?
whos being close minded?
I like Jay but the nigga aint perfect.
2nd: im tired of all these muthafuckas complaining about real hip hop and real artist bcuz that other bullshit yall buyin into would die if u really supported real shit!!!
he was dat dude in the hip hop
rest in peace my man.
Its a shame they take away a star like him and leave us with the rubbish we have now!
Music will never be the same again
wish he was alive makin music
i loved both lifetsyles ov da rich and dangerous and the big picture
best freestylist eva
and oh birdman05
hell yeah killa cam was nice back in day
especially hearing 8 iz enuff and a few children of the corn songs
R.I.P Big L,Bloodshed
yo L had some sick freestyles…my favorites were deadly combination w/ pac and the 7 min freestyle w/ hova…his punchlines were raw…my favorite was
“Big L is the nigga you expect
To catch wreck in any cassette deck
I’m so ahead of my time, my parents haven’t met yet”
and it was true. He wasn’t selling because it scared people, it was raw, and it was unique. All these rappers now wish they were half the nigga that L was.
RIP L
R.I.P
MAKE SURE MY MIC IS LOUD AND MY PRODUCTION IS TIGHT
BETTER WATCH ME GRAB YOUR GIRL IF YOU AINT FUCKIN HER RIGHT!
FRONT AND GET YOUR BRAIN PINCHED
BIG L WILL HAVE YOUR WHOLE GANG LYNCHED
I STARTED SMOKIN DUST I BEEN INSANE SINCE!
im on some 100 g car shit superstar shit
sellin ni99as that wet shit right out the jar shit
the bitch type i dislike
im rougher then a fistfight
all chicks aint shit aint no such thing as miss right
so we can never be a couple hun
fuck love all i got for hoes is hard dick and bubble gum :0
u motherfuckers need to stop killin all the best rappers off stop hating on motherfuckers gettin money cuz they got talent cuz nowadays nobody really does by the looks of it BIG L one of the best that ever did it if not the best RIP!
1.B.I.G
2.2 PAC
3.BIG L
4.BIG PUN
5.OF COURSE MY MUTHAFUCKER PANIRO DA GHOST
TOP FIVE DIE OR ALIVE
6.JADA JUST MISSED KISS BUT HE MY MUTHAFUCKER
7.NAS (DONT REALLY LIKE HIM MORE DEN HOVA BUT IM A REAL NIGGA NAS LYRICS LIKE PUT UR MIND ON ANOTHER PLAN DA BOY GET DEEP ON SOME BLACK POWER RISING ABOVE THIS MADNESS OF SUCH A FUCK UP WORLD WE LIVE IN)
8.JAY-Z(JAY WAS ON DAT SHIT A NIGGA NEEDED TA HERE TA STAY SHARPE SHITED B-MORE I KNOW YALL CATCH DA NEWS WHEN DEY TALKIN DAT BODY COUNT PER CITY SHIT BE OUTTA HAND BODYS DROPPIN LIKE SHIT FROM PEIGONS)
MAN IM HIGH MT BLUNT KEEP GOING OUT YALL DECIDE THE REST IM TRYNA SMOKE MY TREES OH YEAH R.I.P ALLIAYH SEAN TAYLOR ITS ALLOTTA BLACK YOUNG STAT IM TO DAMN HIGH TA THINK OF BUT I WISH LIFE AINT HAVE TA BE THIS WAY BUT AS A STAND UP NIGGA THAT COULD ALREADY BE DIE I CANT FEAR DEATH)
Too many Brothas gettin murdered….
R.I.P.
Big L
R.I.P. Big L
Rip Big L Flamboyant foever!
I hear there is a remix album in the works for him in the same fashion as bigge if thats true gonna cop before it even hits the shelves.