Big L

Why he matters

Lamont Coleman was born in Harlem in 1974. His older brother took him to a Run-DMC show at the Beacon Theatre when he was about seven, and by twelve he was freestyling with kids in the neighborhood. He started writing seriously in 1990. That summer he met Lord Finesse at an autograph session in a record shop on 125th Street, rhymed for him on the spot, and in 1991 he joined Finesse’s Bronx crew, D.I.T.C.

He was also building at home. In 1993 he started Children of the Corn with two other Harlem MCs, Killa Cam and Murda Mase, plus Herb McGruff, Bloodshed and producer Six Figga Digga. That same year a four-track demo cassette got him signed to Columbia. Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous came out in March 1995, produced mostly by Finesse with Buckwild and Showbiz, with a young Jay-Z on “Da Graveyard” and Killa Cam on “8 Iz Enuff.” Finesse later said the label pushed for something brighter for radio, which is how “Put It On” became the lead single.

Columbia dropped him in early 1996 over artistic differences. In 1998 he started his own label, Flamboyant Entertainment, and put out “Ebonics.” Roc-A-Fella’s Damon Dash wanted to sign him, and L held out to bring his crew along. He died in 1999. The Big Picture followed in 2000 and went gold, his best-selling record.

What a working rapper can take from it

Battles are practice. Records are the job. L spent years winning on street corners and in hallways, but what lasts is the writing he took into the booth, every punchline built and checked. Use battles to find what lands, then rewrite it until it lands on the fifth listen too. The verse-writing guide covers that edit.

Give the label its single without giving up the album. “Put It On” was the radio concession, and it still sounds like Big L. If somebody asks you for a hook record, write one in your own voice instead of borrowing somebody else’s.

When the deal goes, keep releasing. Dropped by a major, he started his own label, and an independent single is what put him on Damon Dash’s radar. Today that path is a distributor and a release plan. The streaming release guide covers it.