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Big L
BigL

Birth name

Lamont Coleman

Born

(1974-05-30)May 30, 1974
Manhattan, New York, U.S.

Died

February 15, 1999(1999-02-15) (aged 24)
Manhattan, New York, U.S.

Genres

Hip hop, East Coast hip hop, horrorcore

Occupation(s)

Rapper

Years active

1992-1999

Labels

Columbia (1993-1996)
Flamboyant Entertainment (1998-1999)

Associated acts

Children of the Corn, D.I.T.C., Lord Finesse

Lamont Coleman (May 30, 1974 - February 15, 1999), better known by stage name Big L, was an American rapper from Manhattan, New York. His first professional appearance came on the remix of Lord Finesse's "Yes You May" in 1992, and he became a member of the collective D.I.T.C. through his association with Finesse. Coleman released his debut album, Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, in 1995 on Columbia but it failed to have a commercial impact and he left the label. He created his own independent label, Flamboyant Entertainment, on which he released one of his best-known singles, "Ebonics", in 1998.

On February 15, 1999, Coleman was fatally shot by an unknown assailant in his hometown Harlem, a neighborhood of Manhattan. His second studio album, The Big Picture, was put together by Coleman's manager, Rich King. It was released the following year and was certified gold. Four posthumous albums have been released, mainly consisting of unreleased songs which were put together by Rich King and Coleman's brother Donald.

Early life[]

Coleman was born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York on May 30, 1974 as the youngest and third child of Gilda Terry (d. 2008) and Charles Davis. His father left the family when Coleman was a child. His two siblings were Donald and Leroy "Big Lee" Phinazee (d. 1999). At the age of 12, Coleman became a big fan of hip hop and began freestyling against people in his own neighborhood. Around this time, Coleman adopted the stage name "Big L", a reference to his childhood nickname "Little L". In the summer of 1990, he met Lord Finesse at an autograph session in a record shop on 125th Street. After Coleman performed a freestyle, he and Finesse exchanged numbers.

Coleman attended Julia Richman High School. While in high school, Coleman freestyle battled in his hometown; in his last interview, he stated, "In the beginning, all I ever saw me doing was battling everybody on the street corners, rhyming in the hallways, beating on the wall, rhyming to my friends. Every now and then, a house party, grab the mic, a block party, grab the mic." He graduated from high school in 1992.

Career[]

1991-1994: Beginnings[]

In 1991, he founded the Harlem rap group Children of the Corn with Killa Cam, Murda Mase, and Bloodshed. On 11 February of that same year, Coleman appeared on Yo! MTV Raps with Lord Finesse to help promote Finesse's studio album Return of the Funky Man. Coleman's first professional appearance came on the song "Yes You May (Remix)", the B-side of the 1992 single "Party Over Here" by Lord Finesse, and his first album appearance was on "Represent" off of Showbiz & A.G.'s 1992 album Runaway Slave. In that same year, he won an amateur freestyle battle, which consisted of about 2,000 contestants. In 1993, Coleman signed to Columbia Records. Around this time, Coleman had become a member Lord Finesse's Bronx-based hip hop collective D.I.T.C. which consisted of Lord Finesse, Diamond D, O.C., Fat Joe, Buckwild, Showbiz, and A.G.

Sometime in 1993, Coleman released his first promotional single, "Devil's Son", and claimed it was the first horrorcore single released. He said he wrote the song because "I've always been a fan of horror flicks. Plus the things I see in Harlem are very scary. So I just put it all together in a rhyme." On 18 February 1993, Coleman performed live at the Uptown Lord Finesse Birthday Bash at the 2,000 Club, which included performances from Fat Joe, Nas, and Diamond D. In 1994, he released his second promotional single "Clinic". On 11 July 1994, Coleman released the radio edit of "Put It On" featuring Kid Capri, and three months later the music video was released. In 1995, the video for the single "No Endz, No Skinz" debuted, which was directed by Brian Luvar.

1995-1996: Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous and release from Columbia[]

His debut solo album, Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, was released in March 1995. The album debuted at number 149 on the Billboard 200 and number 22 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Lifestylez would go on to sell 200,000 copies as of 2000. Three singles would be released from the album; "Put It On" and "MVP", reached the top twenty-five of the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks, while the third "No Endz, No Skinz" failed to chart.

In 1996, Coleman was dropped from Columbia because of the dispute between Coleman's rapping style and the production from Columbia.

1997-1999: The Big Picture and Flamboyant Entertainment[]

In 1997, he started working on his second studio album, The Big Picture. Children of the Corn disbanded after the death of Bloodshed in a car accident on 2 March 1997. In 1998, Coleman formed his own independent label, Flamboyant Entertainment. He also released the single "Ebonics" in 1998; The Source called it one of the top five independent singles of the year. DITC released their first single, "Dignified Soldiers" that year.

Coleman caught the eye of Damon Dash, the CEO of Roc-A-Fella Records, after the release of "Ebonics". Dash wanted to sign him to Roc-A-Fella, but Coleman wanted his friends to sign with him. On 8 February 1999, Coleman, Herb McGruff, C-Town and Jay-Z started the process to sign with Roc-A-Fella Records as a group called "The Wolfpack".

Death[]

Coleman was killed in the doorway of 45 West 139th Street in Harlem on 15 February 1999 after being shot nine times in the face and chest. Gerard Woodley, one of Coleman's childhood friends, was arrested in May for the crime but was later released due to insufficient evidence. The murderer was one of the New york gang member who was chasing Coleman's brother Lee due to unpaid debt. And he misunderstood Coleman as his brother. So Coleman was shot 9 bullets on every part of body. Coleman died instantly. But his brother Lee was in the jail then. Lee was killed too by that gang member. The murderer was unknown.

Artistry[]

The main components of Coleman's lyrical technique were a straight forward matter-of-fact style, multi-syllabic rhyming and a rough sense of humor. Many of his songs feature violent and homicidal lyrics, with songs "All Black" and "Devil's Son" being prominent examples of his use of the sub-genre horrorcore.

Legacy[]

Documentaries and films[]

Three documentaries about Coleman's career have been produced but none have seen an official release. Street Struck: The Big L Story had a trailer posted on YouTube in 2009 with a "coming soon" end title but was not released. It featured interviews with DJ Premier, Showbiz, Doug E. Fresh, Herb McGruff, Stan Spit, Mysonne, Jin the MC, Paul Rosenberg, and Coleman's friends and family.[1]

Foul Child: The Legend of Big L was a documentary short produced by Mass Appeal. It was to be released on May 29, 2020, but the date passed without a release or any announcement of its delay. The documentary had received criticism from Big L's former D.I.T.C. group members Lord Finesse and Showbiz who were not interviewed for the film.[2]

Put It On is a biographical film under production based on Coleman's career. Its trailer was expected to be released in November 2020 but the date passed without a release or update.[3] The film received criticism from Lord Finesse.[4]

Discography[]

Main article: Big L discography

Studio albums[]

References[]

Big L
Studio albums Lifestylez ov da Poor & DangerousThe Big Picture
Live albums Live from Amsterdam
Compilation albums 139 & LenoxReturn of the Devils SonThe Danger Zone
Singles "Put It On" • "MVP" • "Ebonics" • "We Got This" • "Flamboyant" • "Platinum Plus"
Related articles Children of the CornD.I.T.C.
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