February 15th, 2010
it’s the 11 year anniversary of Big L‘s death. Put It On was an anthem for Hip-Hop heads in the 90′s especially in New York. One of my favorite lines of all time came from this song; “you can’t kill me I was born dead.” I still say it sometimes as a quick response when it’s relevant to the convo and wonder if people know the reference. I feel like everyone jumped on his dick when he dropped Ebonics and although it’s a classic, it not what I remember him by. I remember Children Of The Corn demos on the Stretch and Bobbito show, his first album Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, DITC gems, and of course his classic freestyles on the show. If you’ve been around and in the know since then, you know that same radio show gave birth my career years later. It’s something I’m extremely proud of because I know theres a bunch of rappers from NY who never got the chance. Big-L was one of many giants from that era who solidified themselves as NY Hip Hop legend status, even before he died.
listen to this if you’ve never heard it before…. I remember hearing this live when it was on the air, in fact I might even have it recorded on a tape under my bed. This is when Big-L and Jay-Z used to run together and peep how L as so ill compared to Jay. They were peers of course and excellent rappers, and Jay still killed it, but he had no work for L.
listening to it as I type this and God damn I miss this time in rap so much, fuckkkk. truly one of the greats.
damn that was impressive. excellent clip, i’ll admit this is my first introduction to Big L. he is flawless man.