Big L (Lamont Coleman), the Harlem rapper whose life was cut short on this date in 1999, is remembered by many hip hop fans and industry professionals as one of the genre’s more promising talents of his era, and many take time to mark the anniversary of his death a date with tributes to his life and music. In New York, Hot 97 DJ and industry veteran DJ Mister Cee often pays homage to fallen rap artists including Biggie Smalls, Tupac, Guruand Big Pun, and in that vein, spent part of his radio slot today highlighting music from Big L.A member of the hip hop collective Diggin In The Crates (D.I.T.C.), Big L was set to release his second album The Big Picture when he was shot and killed in his Harlem neighborhood on February 15, 1999. He was 24.
Big L was an early collaborator with a number of hip hop artists who went on to become successful artists, rhyming alongside Cam’ron, Mase, Fat Joe, and a young Jay-Z. A memorable piece of New York hip hop radio history, which had previously only existed in a protracted format, was notably released last year, highlighting a then lesser-known Jay-Z, who Big L had featured on his first LP Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous, trading freestyles with Big L on the The Stretch and Bobbito Show on New York’s WKCR.
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