YO TO ME BIG L WAS ONE OF THE ILLEST NIGGAS TO EVER DO IT.. HIS RHYMES WERE FUCKIN CLEVER AND AMAZING.. WHERE DO YALL PUT THIS DUDE AMONG SOME OF THE GREATEST LYRICIST TO EVER DO IT.. YO?

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Every once and a while, you come across an emcee, who makes you say, "who the fuck is that?" You're just blown away on their talent. Right then and their you wanna know more on that emcee. In this case, I be talkin about Big L. Big L, in a lotta people's minds, wasn't just a rapper, but an icon, a living legend. To be able to spit bars like him, or tell a story the way he did, says one thing, the man was bound to blow up. Although he was ignored by many, true hip-hopper's know, that a man of that caliber, is hard to find. From day 1, when he dropped a bar on the "Yes You May (Remix)" you know right away this guy was big. It don't take a fuckin genius to figure out that Big L was ahead of the game when his first LP dropped. The tracks on there were instant classics. Not only did he pave the way for himself, but for other cats like Mase, Cam'ron, Mcgruff, and Jay-Z. Classic cuts like, "Put It On", and "MVP" made your heads bop, way back in '95 and still make your head bounce. Big L was always commercially ignored, but let me break down commercial for what I think it means. Being commercial don't mean you got the slickest rhymes, it don't mean you the best emcee. It means you've gone pop. Being underground, allows you to stay true to your lyrics, you don't talk all that shit 'bout, "I got so much money blah blah," or, "So much ice around my neck blah blah." Big L talked about street life, but he never "over did it", sure he talked about having pockets dumb fat, but he didn't do it in every song. He was a lyrical genius. He stayed true to himself, he never sold out to sell more units at "Sam Goody," he never made lyrics just to get him airplay. For example, lets go back to when he made "Devil's Son." What in the fuck was he thinkin? Makin a song about slappin a priest or killin a bunch of people. He didn't make it for the radio, heck, it was banned from radio, he made it for him, and his fans, not for some bitch ass radio station, or MTV. Speakin of being ignored, how much airplay did he get on MTV? Truthfully I don't know, but I'm more than sure he didn't get much at all. See I'm from Canada, I got MTV, I got BET, even got Much Music, but yet I don't see a Big L video being played once a week, or even a month. I've seen "Holdin' it Down" twice, once on BET, and once on Much Music. I'm sure MTV has played it, but never has he been in high rotation. Luckily I've seen the "MVP" video once, but all that is bullshit. I don't wanna turn on the tube, put in on BET, and watch a fuckin video on Ja Rule talkin about love, or Puff Daddy sayin he's a bad boy. I wanna see a fuckin Big L video, or the odd underground video. Sure Ja Rule and Puffy are popular, but they sold out way back, just to make the extra dollar. Big L wasn't on a huge label, he had his own label, Flamboyant Ent. He called the shots, he put out what he wanted. He was gonna get signed on Roca-Fella, but for a one album deal, and it was gonna be through Flamboyant Ent. I'm sure Big L would have loved to be heard and seen more, obviously the extra face card in his pocket would have been nice, but isn't rap supposed to be for the love of it and all the money a big fuckin bonus? I guess not. Now let me talk about the "Big Picture." Half of it was completed before his death and the other, after. This album like his first was another instant classic. It's too bad Big L couldn't enjoy the success of this album. In my opinion this album is flawless. If Big L were here, he'd be for sure pleased with it goin gold. Although he's not here to savor the success, I'm sure he's lookin down laughin. He laughin, cause he proved all those mu'fuckas out there that he could do it. He went gold without havin to buy his way to it with all those ad's n' shit. Now we're left to wonder why? Like others, and myself, we were saddened by the horrific murder that left us breathless. It's not often you come across a rapper as nice as him. Although I didn't know him, those who did or met him will tell you the same. He was one of a kind. No one will ever be like him. Thanks to friends, we can still hear his music. Hopefully we'll see a greatest hits album, or unreleased compilation to put the finishing touches on his legacy. The best to come out of Harlem and one of the greatest to come outta rap. He's truly a MVP, the most valuable poet ever on the mic. - Intellect