Big L
Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous LP vinyl

Quite possibly the best MC to ever come out of Harlem, Big L was on the cusp of superstardom when he was shot dead in early 1999. A master of killer punchlines, wild bravado, and colorful crime stories, he was put on by Lord Finesse, who brought him into D.I.T.C. and provided many of the beats on this exceptional debut. Lifestylez is a great mix of humour, shittalk, and felonious flows, with crucial selections like the single "MVP," anti-gold digger manifesto "No Endz, No Skinz" (sample lyric: "they wanna know why I'm so fly/a girl asked me for a ring so I put one around her whole eye"), and the cautionary tale of "Street Struck." Also clutch are two thunderous posse cuts, "8 Iz Enuff" and "Da Graveyard," the latter of which features Granddaddy I.U. and a young Jay-Z. Undeniably hardcore but also occasionally hilarious, L's rhymes continue to amaze years after his untimely passing. The only album released during his lifetime, this is absolutely essential listening.

NEW /  Released in 1994 / Reissued in 2026

Tracklist:

A1 Put It On

A2 MVP

A3 No Endz, No Skinz

A4 8 Iz Enuff

B1 All Black

B2 Danger Zone

B3 Street Struck

C1 Da Graveyard

C2 Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous

C3 I Don't Understand It

D1 Let 'Em Have It 'L'