member, later signed Big L.)īig L left an indelible impression on many of the people he met in the hip-hop community in the 1990s. crew, a group of New York rappers and producers that included Fat Joe and Diamond D. Finesse also introduced Big L to the D.I.T.C.
“I was so impressed when he was done, I was asking him for all his numbers,” Finesse says. “But he finally got to rap for me.”Įven then, the rookie rapper was making heads swivel with his nasal, flinty delivery and steady drip of punchlines. “I gave him a hard time at first,” Finesse remembers. Finesse was signing autographs, and Big L wanted to audition for him on the spot. Mike Herard, who now oversees Big L’s estate, points out that the rapper “has nieces, nephews a brother.” But out of “all the earnings” Big L has generated, until recently, “not a dime of it is going to his family.”īig L wasn’t old enough to vote when he sought out rapper-producer Lord Finesse, who had just released his debut album, at a Harlem record store in 1990. As a result, little income has come to the rapper’s estate recently, placing it in the middle of contentious debates about what constitutes ethical business in the music industry and who has the right to benefit from an artist’s work. Since his death, his recordings and belongings have been sold off, seemingly for less than their worth. Paradoxically, as Big L’s legend has grown, his commercial footprint has eroded. To Nineties hip-hop fans who love memorizing potent couplets, it’s not uncommon to hear Big L mentioned as one of the best rappers to ever touch a microphone. Despite his lack of output and popular success - he never earned a Hot 100 hit - the MC has achieved “your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper” status in the years since his death.
But Big L was shot and killed in Harlem just four years later with only one album to his name. This electrifying on-air exchange seemed to presage long, accolade-packed careers for both men.
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