On this date in 2000, Big L’s posthumous album The Big Picture was released on Rawkus Records. The LP was originally slated as the late Lamont Coleman’s debut album, but L was tragically murdered in Harlem while the album was in production.
Big L is regarded as one of the games best emcees that never got their chance in the spotlight, however, because of his ability to foresee great talent, he was the one who introduced Jay-Z as a force in 90s era crime rhyme, which dominated NYC Hip Hop via the Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show in 89.9 FM in 1995.
Big up to the Rawkus team, the entire DITC and Big L himself for this eternal Hip Hop classic!
On this date in 2000, Big L’s posthumous album The Big Picture was released on Rawkus Records. The LP was originally slated as the late Lamont Coleman’s debut album, but L was tragically murdered in Harlem while the album was in production.
Big L is regarded as one of the games best emcees that never got their chance in the spotlight, however, because of his ability to foresee great talent, he was the one who introduced Jay-Z as a force in 90s era crime rhyme, which dominated NYC Hip Hop via the Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show in 89.9 FM in 1995.
Big up to the Rawkus team, the entire DITC and Big L himself for this eternal Hip Hop classic!
On this date in 1993, legendary DITC delegate Fat Joe dropped his debut full-length studio album Represent on the Relativity/Violator imprint.
In 2020, Fat Joe is recognized as one of the icons of NYC Hip Hop, however, back in 1993, Joe was knee-deep in the streets and having only appeared on Diggin’ In The Crates founder Diamond D’s Stunts, Blunts And Hip Hop album was fairly a newcomer to the rap game. With assistance from his DITC crew members Diamond, Lord Finesse, and Showbiz behind the boars, Joe formulated one of the most integral audible time capsules of the era. Tracks like the Beatnuts-powered “Shit Iz Real”, “You Must Be Out Of You Fuckin’ Mind” featuring the late Apache of the Flavor Unit and Kool G Rap and the premiere single “Flow Joe” were all foundational examples of the “Fat Joe Da Gangsta” persona that is now respected and celebrated in 2020.
Salute to the late Chris Lighty, Fat Joe, Diamond D, Lord Finesse, Showbiz, and the entire DITC for this timeless piece of Hip Hop history!
On this date twenty-seven years ago, Big L dropped his debut and only full-length studio album Lifestylez Ov Da Poor And Dangerous, on Columbia Records.
Aside from, eloquently stated by The Source Magazine at the time, “[coming] with ill animated lyrics, combined with metaphors that stun; a combo sure to have suckas on the run,” Big L also ushered in two emcees that are very prominent in the culture today: a then-unknown Killa Cam and a semi-established Jay-Z.
Produced primarily by the legendary Lord Finesse with Showbiz and Buckwild on the help out, this was a Diggin’ In The Crates album. According to “Funky Technician” Lord Finesse, who had a hand in some of the album’s production, in an interview commemorating the album’s 15th anniversary, he said this about the posse track “8 Iz Enuff”, “With that [song] L just thought he had to do a track with the rappers from his hood. And he definitely wanted to put on [those particular emcees]… We looking like, ‘How you gonna put eight niggas on one track?’ [And he was like], ‘Don’t worry, I got this.’”
He definitely had it too.
Unfortunately, Lifestylez Ov Da Poor And Dangerous would be the only album released by L in his life as he was fatally shot in Harlem in 1999.
Salute to Big L kaka Lamont Coleman(RIP), Lord Finesse, Jay-Z, Cam’ron, Grand Daddy I, U, and everyone else who helped make this album a piece of Hip Hop history!
Day 1 starts on Saturday, May 22nd with live in-store performances by hip hop legends Super Natural, El Da Sensei (of the Artifacts), and Ras Kass. Dom’s Barbecue will also be set up with their famous barbecue parfaits!
Day 2 will be a swap meet Sunday, May 23rd featuring DJ sets by Lord Finesse (of D.I.T.C.), Breakbeat Lou, and Supreme La Rock.
Both days will run from 1pm – 7pm. The event will be hosted by D-Stroy of the Arsonists & Show Off Your Gems. There will be live art by the very talented Dump La Rock (aka Dumper, aka Dumperfoo). Vendors will be set up in the side lot selling merch, collectibles, art, vinyl, and more! Additional sound support will be provided by DJs Fact135, Reflekshin, and Akshen.
Special VIP Packages will available for purchase exclusively on Eventbrite including limited edition merch, guaranteed entrance into the shop, a meet & greet with the hip hop legends in attendance, and more!
Urban Legends, a division of UMe, Universal Music Group’s global catalog company, is continuing to spotlight one of the greatest artists of all-time, “The Godfather of Soul” James Brown, with the second installment of the animated mini-series Get Down, The Influence of James Brown.
On September 14, 2020, James Brown’s official YouTube Channel will unveil Funky President, episode two of the new three-part series, following the first episode, Funky Drummer, released on July 10th. Narrated by Questlove (The Roots, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon), and featuring Lord Finesse and Co-founder/former EIC of Wax Poetics Magazine, Andre Torres, the three-part series was created by UMe along with Dreambear and explores the sonic DNA of James Brown whose music is continually sampled and whose trademark vocal phrasing is deeply woven into the fabric of Hip-Hop.
This second episode explores the fascinating and unpredictable politics of James Brown while following the influence of his second-most sampled track of all time, “Funky President (People It’s Bad).” Touching on the civil rights movement and Brown’s seminal “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud,” Funky President shows how James Brown, as well as his musical peers and successors, has been able to encourage social change and raise political concern from a black American perspective.
The full episode of Funky President premieres on September 14, 2020, and can be viewed here with part three (The Payback) coming later this year.
On this date in 1993, legendary DITC delegate Fat Joe dropped his debut full-length studio album Represent on the Relativity/Violator imprint.
In 2020, Fat Joe is recognized as one of the icons of NYC Hip Hop, however, back in 1993, Joe was knee-deep in the streets and having only appeared on Diggin’ In The Crates founder Diamond D’s Stunts, Blunts And Hip Hop album was fairly a newcomer to the rap game. With assistance from his DITC crew members Diamond, Lord Finesse, and Showbiz behind the boars, Joe formulated one of the most integral audible time capsules of the era. Tracks like the Beatnuts-powered “Shit Iz Real”, “You Must Be Out Of You Fuckin’ Mind” featuring the late Apache of the Flavor Unit and Kool G Rap and the premiere single “Flow Joe” were all foundational examples of the “Fat Joe Da Gangsta” persona that is now respected and celebrated in 2020.
Salute to the late Chris Lighty, Fat Joe, Diamond D, Lord Finesse, Showbiz, and the entire DITC for this timeless piece of Hip Hop history!
Legendary rapper, hip-hop producer, and founding member of the influential collective Diggin’ In The Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), Lord Finesseis back with his most ambitious project to date: Motown State of Mind, a set of handpicked Motown classics remixed and reimagined. The inspired new remix album will be available to stream on June 26 via Motown/UMe and the remix of Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You” is available to stream now (available here).
In true DJ style, the remixes will also be released as a 45 RPM box set on July 24 containing seven 7-inch records on black vinyl featuring the remixed version on Side A and the classic original on Side B. In support of the release, there will be digital activations throughout June including livestreams and IG live takeovers from Motown’s various handles.
Curated and arranged for the new generation, going back to the original masters/sources, the remixes include chart toppers such as Michael Jackson’s “I Wanna Be Where You Are” and DeBarge’s “I Like It” alongside deep cuts from Motown’s catalog like Sisters Love’s “Now Is The Time.”
“Now Is The Time” is a unique track as it was originally recorded in 1970 and in 1973 the group recorded a version of the song which was produced by Willie Hutch and appeared in the movie The Mack, but was never officially released. As an ode to the 1973 version, Lord Finesse and J Zone (producer, drummer, multi-instrumentalist, rapper, and writer) recreate the song as if it was released that year. The instrumental version of the track will be included as the B-side in the 45 box set.
The reimagined versions also feature collaborations from the likes of Dinky Bingham (the CEO of production/publishing company Dinky B. Music and a producer of gold and platinum hits for artists such as Changing Faces, New Edition, Kylie Minogue andJaheim) as well as producer Tall Black Guy (who’s worked with artists such as Gilles Peterson, Lefto, Anthony Valadez, Jazzy Jeff, Questlove, amongst others).
Lord Finesse classifies the remixes to be his “best project to date.” “I’m my own worst critic. If I like it, I don’t think no one can really tell me anything,” he explains. With that in mind, Finesse closes out the album with a mastermind remix of the critically acclaimed Jackson 5 medley “I Want You Back/ABC/The Love You Save.” The standalone singles of those three original aforementioned tracks, alongside the release of their fourth single “I’ll Be There,” made the group the first to debut with four consecutive number one hits on Billboard’sHot 100.
On this date, a quarter century ago, Big L dropped his debut and only full length studio album Lifestylez Ov Da Poor And Dangerous on Columbia Records.
Aside from, eloquently stated by The Source Magazine at the time, “[coming] with ill animated lyrics, combined with metaphors that stun; a combo sure to have suckas on the run,” Big L also ushered in two emcees that are very prominent in the culture today: a then-unknown Killa Cam and a semi-established Jay-Z.
Produced primarily by the legendary Lord Finesse with Showbiz and Buckwild on the help out, this was definitely a Diggin’ In The Crates album. According to “Funky Technician” Lord Finesse, who had a hand in some of the album’s production, in an interview commemorating the album’s 15-year anniversary, he said this about the posse track “8 Iz Enuff”, “With that [song] L just thought he had to do a track with the rappers from his hood. And he definitely wanted to put on [those particular emcees]… We looking like, ‘How you gonna put eight niggas on one track?’ [And he was like], ‘Don’t worry, I got this.’”
He definitely had it too.
Unfortunately, Lifestylez Ov Da Poor And Dangerous would be the only album released by L in his lifetime as he was fatally shot in Harlem in 1999.
Salute to Big L kaka Lamont Coleman(RIP), Lord Finesse, Jay-Z, Cam’ron, Grand Daddy I,U and everyone else who helped make this album a piece of Hip Hop hisotry!
