Most Valuable Poet: The 15 Best Big L Punchlines

Anniversaries aren’t always celebratory occasions. This past weekend (Feb. 15), Hip-Hop suffered through the fifteenth year without the Harlem rapper Lamont “Big L” Coleman.

There have been plenty of rappers who have passed away with one or fewer albums released to general public but the 25-year-old rapper talent greatly reflected a young man who was on his way to actually making it.

There were talks that his Flamboyant label was nearing towards closing a deal with Jay Z’s Roc-A-Fella imprint (and in 1999, that was a really big deal), but tragically his life was cut short before anything could be materialized.

It has been widely speculated that Big L was murdered by a close associate of his brother’s in a case of mistaken identity or classic web of revenge. Gerard Woodley was charged with the murder but “word on the street” wasn’t enough for a court of law.

Before the hashtag came into play on social media, Big L was renown for his overly rugged lyrics delivered in couplets and sly phrasings backed by a rapid-fire delivery that was completely audible. He only released one album in Lifestylez Ov Da Poor and Dangerous while he was alive but his posthumous material was enough to keep his legacy afloat, even to this day, 15 years after his demise.

Hip-Hop Wired has compiled the 15 best Big L punchlines in hopes of giving old fans a bit of reflection and newcomers a glimpse on what made 90s rap so exciting.

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Photo: Coup That

“Back Up Off Me”

“Or the city bus/crones be hideous no one I really trust/They call me Willie Hutch the way I mack these silly sluts”

Goldie would proud.

“Put ‘Em On”

“L keep rapper’s hearts pumping like Reebook…”

D.I.T.C. never assigned an official leader but, it is worth nothing the union all but dissolved after L was gunned down.

Photo: John McDonough/Icon SMI

“MVP”

“And every time I’m in a jam I always find a loophole/I got a crime record longer than Manute Bol”

L may have been a notty head but this was pure falsification, yet hilarious nonetheless.

“Stand Strong”

“What I recite be taking hours to write/So if you bite just tell your man what type of flowers you like”

There once was a time where swagger jacking was not condoned in Hip-Hop.

“Put ‘Em On”

“My rap’s steady slamming/I keep a heavy cannon/It’s a new sheriff in town and it ain’t Reggie Hammond”

Audio greatness.

“Da Graveyard”

“I’m known for snatchin’ purses and bombin’ churches/I get more pussy by accident then most n****s get on purpose”

Is it possible to be an accidental weapon of mass destruction?

“Lifestylez Ov Da Poor And Dangerous”

“Breaking in cribs with a crowbar/I wasn’t poor, I was po’–I couldn’t afford the “o-r”

It’s a cold world and even letters aren’t free.

“Let ‘Em Have It”

“Step to this and get shanked up/I knocked out so many teeth the tooth fairy went bankrupt”

Which means Santa probably committed suicide on Lenox Ave.

“MVP”

“Yeah cause I got all of them sprung Jack/My girls are like boomerangs/No matter how far I throw them they come back”

No Lady Eloise.

“Big Picture (Intro)”

“What’s this motherf*****g rap game without L?/That’s like jewels without ice/That’s like China without rice/Or the Holy Bible without Christ/Or the Bulls without Mike/Or crackheads without pipes/The Village without dykes/Or hockey games without fights…”

Not to state the obviousness in every line but Chicago hasn’t won a championship since 1998.

“Represent”

“But them chumps is like Ray Charles/Cause they ain’t seen no money yet”

Technically this is a double entendre, word to Jeff Brown allegedly jerking the blind boy from Georgia.

Photo: MTV

“’98 Freestyle”

“Before I buck lead and make a lotta blood shed/Turn your tux red, I’m far from broke, got enough bread/And mad hoes/ask Beavis I get nothing but head”

Simply put this is one of the most clever lines Hip-Hop has ever witnessed.

“7 Minute Freestyle”

“Big L is the n***a you expect to catch wreck in any cassette deck/I’m so ahead of my time, my parents haven’t met yet”

Only Marty McFly can relate.

“Ebonics”

The entire song. Rest in power, Big L.