Is Big L’s ‘Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous’ underrated?
The year 1995 was a remarkable one for hip-hop. 2Pac, Mobb Deep, The Roots, The Pharcyde, several members of the Wu-Tang Clan and more released classic albums that year, but arguably none of those artists were responsible for the best one.
Big L is, certainly, a highly respected figure within hip-hop’s history, but there is a sense that his debut album, Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous, flies under the radar a bit. But, really, it has a very strong claim to being the best hip-hop album of ’95, and probably one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever.
Big L is a rapper’s rapper, with many people citing him as an influence. Mac Miller, in particular, spoke so highly of him, telling XXL in 2012, “I was 15 years old, around 2007, and the stuff on the radio was cool, but I just remember when I heard Big L, it was just so different than everything I was hearing. That interested me, because no one my age that I knew was listening to him.”
He explained how Big L impacted his life, noting, “He was my favourite rapper, and at that time it was like, ‘This is my favourite rapper, and no one else’s that I know’. I was doing all this research. He really inspired me to be clever and witty. My early stages of rapping, I was basically trying to be like Big L—trying to be a super raw MC.”
That quote pretty much sums up Big L’s legacy—his genius is recognised in certain quarters, but the mainstream never quite caught onto how great he was. It is difficult not to suggest that this may have something to do with the fact Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous was the only album L ever released during his lifetime. It was only a few years later, in 1999, that he was murdered in a drive-by shooting. He was only 24, with a life and career cut way too short.
Big L was an incredible rapper, profoundly lyrically dexterous with a knack for invoking bleak, terrifying scenes while, somehow, retaining a wicked sense of humour. The album’s very title is a joke—Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous is a play on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, a sort of proto-Keeping Up with the Kardashians reality show in which the ridiculous, opulent lives of the rich and famous were presented to viewers. It was Big L’s ability to take stock of the culture around him, to present its nastier elements plainly, but still to bear a sense of fun, that really made him stand out.
That rare combination of humour and horror within the record still sounds incredible today, but, at the time of its release, the album didn’t set the world alight. It only reached number 22 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, which, considering how enduring it is today, was a definite underperformance.
Speaking with HipHopDX in 2010, Lord Finesse, the album’s producer, blamed Columbia Records for that. “It was rough,” he said of the album’s struggles to find an audience, “because, you had [opening track] ‘Put It On’, which was a great record, and Columbia did push it—to a certain extent, but I don’t think they really put the full blast on it.”
He went on to highlight problems with labels in general, saying, “You know when a label put the machine, put the power behind something. I think they gave him a push, like a nudge, but they ain’t really give him that push you over the roof push. And I think it was hard on him because they had such an unpolished gem there.”
The recognition of Big L would, sadly, come later, after he was killed—but even then, it’s arguable that his legacy still isn’t quite as celebrated as it should be. Had he survived to make more music, it seems extremely likely that he would have broken further into the mainstream. In fact, as he once admitted to MTV, Jay-Z had been determined to sign him. “We were about to sign him right before he passed away. We were about to sign him to Roc-a-Fella. It was a done deal… I think he was very talented… I think he had the ability to write big records and big choruses.”
If that had happened, maybe Big L would be widely considered as one of rap’s true greats today. As it is, his legacy remains a little more obscure than it has any right to be. But listen to Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, and it’s undeniable that he was one of the best.