Big L
| Big L | |
|---|---|
Big L in 1995
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Lamont Coleman |
| Born |
May 30, 1974 New York City, New York |
| Origin | Harlem, New York |
| Died | February 15, 1999 (aged 24) New York City, New York |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1990–1999 |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | biglonline |
Lamont Coleman (May 30, 1974 – February 15, 1999), best known by his stage name Big L, was an American hip hop recording artist. Coleman embarked on his career in rapping, with the hip hop trio, Three the Hard Way. His first notable appearance came on Lord Finesse's "Yes You May (Remix)". Coleman released his debut album, Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, in 1995 and significantly contributed to the underground hip hop scene. In 1998, he founded Flamboyant Entertainment, his own indie label, through which he released one of his most popular singles, "Ebonics" (1998). On February 15, 1999, Coleman was killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in his native Harlem. His second studio album, The Big Picture, was put together by Coleman's manager, Rich King, and released posthumously the following year. It was eventually certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Three posthumous albums have been released, mainly consisting of unreleased songs which were put together by Rich King and his brother, Donald. Multiple tributes have been given to Coleman, including in The Source, MTV, and HipHop DX. A documentary is in the works titled Street Struck: The Big L Story (2016). About.com called him the twenty-third best MC of all time, and multiple writers at Allmusic have given him high praise.
Lamont Coleman was born in Harlem neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan on May 30, 1974, he was the third and youngest child of Gilda Terry (d. 2008) and Charles Davis. His father left the family while Coleman was a child. He has two siblings, Donald and Leroy Phinazee (d.2002), who were the children of Gilda Terry and Mr. Phinazee. Coleman received the nicknames "Little L" and "'mont 'mont" as a child. At the age of 12, Coleman became a big hip hop fan and started freestyling against his own neighborhood. He founded a group called Three the Hard Way in 1990, but was quickly broken up due to a lack of enthusiasm. It consisted of Coleman, a "Doc Reem", and a "Rodney". No studio albums were released, and after Rodney left, the group was called Two Hard Motherfuckers. Around this time, people started to call him "Big L". In the summer of 1990, Coleman met Lord Finesse at an autograph session in a record shop on 125th Street. After he did a freestyle, Finesse and Coleman exchanged numbers.
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