Big L was a 90's rapper who was murdered in 1999, he only released 1 album during his lifetime. His second album, named The Big Picture, was finished, but unrealeased at the time of his death. He never got the love that Biggie and Tupac got. This had more to do with content than skill, Big L is lyrically one of my favorite rappers ever, but his content is almost exclusively explicit descriptions of murder, selling drugs, and smoking weed. Though many rappers' content is similar to this, Big L stands out to me because of his superior lyricism and the complexity of his rhymes. Though the content isn't so complex he uses very complex metaphors which I love to find in music. The song Don't Front is a freestyle of his which I love and have started to act on. When I sat to act on, I don't mean to act on violently, but I feel I can no longer be so forgiving and trusting of everyone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8v6nWXGMaI
Yes, a classic. Here's the thing- he was considered one of the best during his life. Sure radio and popular media were not giving him that respect, but people who knew the music were. Biggie was given respect as an emcee...won't say much more about him. Tupac was acknowledged more as an entertainer. Believe it or not no one was running around talking about how good of an emcee Tupac was except for maybe himself and his crew.
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