Big L: Choke from the Gun Smoke

It’s funny to read and attempt to understand why other writers have figured Big L’s first disc didn’t do as well as it should have in the market place.

Being released in 1995 Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous was in stores during a time when west coast stuffs had taken over the market place. Wu-Tang had already released its avowed classic and was in the process of working out a series of solo endeavors. Jay-Z hadn’t arrived as of yet and Nas, much like the Wu, was in the middle of something other than career highlights.

With all of this as a sort of historical frame, Big L threw down this album that commentators have decided wasn’t produced all that well. Of course, that’s a debatable point, but with names like Lord Finesse and Buckwild in the liner notes, it doesn’t seem as if the beats were the problem. Between the recognizable production from “Put it On,” replete with vibes, to the echoing horn on “Street Struck” it would seem that the argument regarding poor production is baseless.

Some of the lyrical content on Big L’s first disc may have scared away deejays that would have potentially given the thing some air time, but with tracks like “I Don’t Understand It” Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous had its fair share of digestible work. The line, “I should get foul and buck wild and start sayin’ names,” only leads in to this emcee’s perception of what’s wrong with other rappers. The song might be just another track full of boasting – although here it’s warranted – but it could have still be played in the same rotation as anything from Cypress Hill, Snoop or Dre.

Big L’s appreciation for the game, elucidated in that aforementioned song, points to the reason that he was so well respected. Of course, most of his verse on “Da Graveyard” never had a chance to show up on air. “’Cause I’m a street genius with a unique penis/Got fly chicks on my dick that don’t even speak English,” wasn’t going to get past any censor anywhere. But the fact that L’s followed here by Lord Finesse, a young Cam’ron and a primed Jay-Z makes the track continually classic. It’s a classic on a disc that isn’t going to sell too much, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an important marker in the genre. The work represented here on this album is really what solidified Big L’s celebrity.

More likely than not, what ostensibly killed Big L’s first album was a combination of the west coast thing flying off the handle in addition to the market place being gorged with products. In ’95 hip hop was still something relatively new to the general public and for that very reason, folks rushed work to be released in order to capitalize on that latest thing. It’s a cop out to blame the industry, but one should wonder if L woulda been able to get over in today’s game, internet and all.