Big L- A Brief History

Lamont Coleman, better known by Big L, is widely known among Hip-Hop heads and historians as one of the best lyricists ever in the rap game. Many casual listeners may not have heard of Lamont and even many of his fans do not the history of the man and the influence he had on the Hip-Hop game. In fact many current and past Hip-Hop artists achieved mainstream success which in some way could be contributed to Big L. These artists include Cam'ron, Ma$e and Jay-Z.

L was born in May of 1979 and was raised in Harlem, New York. He began rapping on the street corner's in what is known as rap cyphers, which is when many people take turns rapping to no beat, or very simplistic beats usually in the form of clapping and verbal beatboxing. This is where L learned how to perfect his style, as many see as perfect accapella using many techniques such as multi-syllable, inner, and alliteration rhymes.

Big L began his road to success after meeting legendary New York MC/Producer Lord Finesse at an autograph signing and requesting to spit some bars for him. Finesse originally declined but a source close to him eventually convinced him that L was the real deal. He was then placed on Finesse's B side single "Yes, You May (Remix)

Big L went on to join Finesse's crew "DITC" (See last post) and lead his own group called "The Children of The Corn" which consisted of Murder Ma$e (Ma$e), Killa Cam (Cam'ron), Digga, Mcgruff and the late Bloodshed. Ma$e and Cam'ron both went on to receive mainstream praise and success. Although C.o.C never had the opportunity to release an official album, many of their songs can be found online in the form of a mixtape and more recently on youtube. Below is one of their songs, with L preforming the final verse (2:57).

Big L's first album, Lifestylez ov Da Poor and Dangerous, featured his most successful song Put It On produced by Buckwild and featuring scratching by Kid Capri. He also had some success with his other singles from the album MVP, and No Ends No Skins. There was also critical praise for the two posse tracks on the album, 8 iz Enuff and Da Graveyard, which featured a young Jay Z. Unfortunately this is the only album that he would be alive to see released. L also went on to do a 7 minute, 2 round freestyle with Jay-Z, who at the time was using a flow that you would not expect to hear Jay Z use today. Below is Big L's most successful song "Put it On"

Big L was shot and killed in Harlem on February 15, 1999. The reason is unknown but many believe that it was a retaliation towards his brother, Big Lee, who was in jail at the time. Big Lee was also shot in killed later within blocks of location L was killed. At the time of his murder L was working on his second album and fortunately had finished recording. The album was released in 2000 under the name "The Big Picture" and features verses from a late Tupac, Big Daddy Kane, Guru, Fat Joe and more.

Just in case anyone would like to hear young Jay-Z's radio freestyle with L, here it is-

Sorry i don't have time to edit this post for spelling and grammar. My plane is boarding now. I'll look it over when i get home tonight and do my blog reading rounds.

Diggin' in the Crates (D.I.T.C)

The Diggin' in The Crates Crew, better known as DITC, was a Hip-Hop group composed of New York rappers, both veterans and rookies.

Members
 Lord Finesse (Funky Technician, Production on Dr. Dre's 2001)
Diamond D (Ultimate Force- I'm Not Playin)
Buckwild (Production for Notorious BIG, Big Pun, Jay Z,KRS-One, The Game and more)
Showbiz and AG (Goodfellas)
O.C (Jewelz)
Big L (Lifestylez ov da Poor and Dangerous) - Murdered in 1999


 The story is a bit complicated but I'll try to make it as simple as possible.

DITC came together when legendary MC/Producer Lord Finesse began working with Diamond D and Showbiz on his record "Funky Technician". At the time Showbiz, a Bronx producer, was looking for an MC to collaborate on an album with. Finesse had battled a young rapper by the name of A.G and introduced the two to form the duo "Showbiz and A.G"

Lord Finesse was already friends with another legendary producer, Buckwild, and the two were going on tour together. While on tour Buckwild became good friends with a young MC by the name of OC, the three of them kicked it off immediately and began working together. At around the same time a young rapper, Fat Joe, had gotten signed by Finesse's label. To promote Fat Joe, Finesse and many other producers from the label began to collaborate with Joe making him the first Latino MC from New York to hit it big. (In my opinion he has gotten shittier and shittier every album)

The final rapper in the core of DITC was Big L. Big L at the time was broke and unknown and had showed up to an autograph signing that Finesse was doing and asked to freestyle. Finesse, hearing the same story many times had originally declined. A source close to Finesse decided to listen to L rhyme and told Finesse that he HAD to hear to him and the rest is history.

Finesse was now working with all these artists producing their albums and rapping on their projects. From there he decided that it would be easier to start a crew to promote the upcoming releases of all of the rappers. Many have had mainstream success and the late Big L is often considered one of the best lyricists of all time.

 DITC: Day One- (Rappers in order of appearance: Diamond D, Big L, AG, Lord Finesse, OC)



RIP Big L (1974-1999)

No Update Today

Sorry everyone, my hotel tonight doesn't have internet and it's pretty expensive to blog on my phone since I'm not in my home country. I'm in a higher class hotel tomorrow night so I'll make sure to comment on the blogs i like and make a real entry. Sorry!

Boston

For the next couple days I will be in Boston so for that occasion I will dedicate this entry to Boston Hip-Hop. Please excuse the few beers I had with dinner.

Mr. Lif- One of the better rappers from the Boston area, he is known primarily for his emotionally driven political lyrics. He his also one of the members of Boston Hip-Hop group The Perceptionists

Edo G- My favorite rapper from Boston. He has had his songs featured on the cartoon show "The Boondocks". He has also had collaboration albums with star producer Pete Rock, and is seen frequently rapping with Masta Ace.

Guru- The most well known Boston MC by far. Guru, with DJ Premier, formed the Hip-Hop duo Gang Starr in 1987 but are most well known for their influential releases from 1989-2003. Unfortunately the duo broke up in 2004 and were not able to put their differences aside before Guru's death early last year.

RIP Guru 1961-2010

Eli Porter - The People`s Champion

Eli Porter of viral video fame is getting his own documentary. Earlier this year, after 8 years of silence, Eli released a YouTube video of himself to squash the rumors that he is `retarded`. He then went on to diss actual autistic YouTube star and rapper 50 Tyson. For anyone who may have missed the original video, here is a clip of the battle that gave Eli his 15 minutes of E-fame.

Eli is a very interesting story. He doesn`t seem to be normal which is what makes people so interested in him and his background. Although his new song is garbage and his music career may be a running joke, i feel intrigued to check out his new film. The 6 minute teaser trailer at the end of this post gives us a sneak peek at the documentary and it appears to cover the whole story, from Eli`s original ``rap``, to his current ventures, and the lives of the other characters involved in the making of the accidental Internet hit. What may be most interesting about this documentary is learning more about the private life of Eli and being educated on his health issues.

I`m da best mayne........... I deeeeeeeed It

Favorite Hip-Hop Albums of 20-10

 Although, this may not be overly interesting to most, I thought that I would do another music post as it's late and I can not seem to sleep. Here are my favorite albums of 2010. I didn't get to hear everything this year so don't hate on my post if there is something missing, leave a comment and I'll try to check it out!


Nineteen Ninety Now- Celph Titled & Buckshot
 










Covered it in the last post. Celph takes on Buckshots unused beats from the 90s




I F*cking Hate Rappers- Packfm

This is another first for me. PackFM impressed me and shows doubters that not all talent is on a mainstream label. Although it may not be the most consistant album of the year, PackFM is able to demonstrate some techniqual aspects of rapping that is often overlooked in mainstream Hip-Hop. Not to bad for a guy that can't even get his own wikipedia page.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy- Kanye West

  


Not much can be said about this Album except WOW. Kanye West takes a different direction than he did on his last effort and surprisingly there is no autotune to be found. The complexity of the production and beats is proof alone that Kanye has grown and continues to grow as an artist. Check this out even if you are not a fan of Kanye, you might be one sooner than you think.

Distant Relatives- Nas & Damien Marley

The pairing up of Nas and Damien Marley is no surprise to many. There really isn't even too much to say. If you liked their past collaborations on their solo albums then this is the album for you. If you're not really into to either artists then stay away. I will however say that Damien Marley, in my opinion, stood out more to me.

Mentions:
T.I- No Mercy
Curren$y - Pilot Talk
Eminem- Recovery
The Roots- How I Got Over
Fat Joe - Tales From the Darkside Vol 1

I do have to say that I was disappointed with a more then few albums this year. Here's to 2011!

Nineteen Ninety Now

So today is the first day of my blog and I spent so much time focusing on this to actually see anything interesting so i am going to post about a CD that I heard.

The CD is called Nineteen Ninty Now by Celph Titled and Buckwild. The most interesting thing about this album is that all of the beats are from the 90's. You know? The time when Hiphop beats sampled Jazz and Soul and the lyrics actually meant something. Don't get me wrong, some current mainstream songs are catchy but nothing gets me going like a lyrical song with a beat from the Golden Era.

If you are a fan of DITC, Big L or any other New York 90's Hiphop then this is a must hear album.  Celph Titled was a name I would never have clicked until this record but you can bet that I'll be checking out all his future releases.

Thanks to HiphopDX for awarding it with The Slept on Album of the Year Award or I would have missed this one.