Singing Telegram: Big L - I Don't Understand It

RIP Big L

Happy Tuesday, people!! Yesterday was a day of love by most accounts, and I love hip-hop, so today's Singing Telegram is a song that applies just as much today as it did in 1995 when it appeared on Big L's 'Lifestylez ov da Poor and Dangerous'. 'I Don't Understand It' is a tribute to the MC's in the game that switch up their styles in the hopes of a greater paycheck, and/or profess to be the hoodedest of rappers.

That said, L was ahead of his time in writing this. He was in the midst of a changing of the guards in hip-hop. The Golden Era of hip-hop was slowly hitting it's peak, the South hadn't taken over as yet and the Shiny-Suit era was about to take flight. L regaled his hip-hop compatriots to stay true to what they knew. That's not to say he was against experimentation or evolving with time. In Big L's two albums (one posthumous), the listener sees the same hunger and ravenous rhymes, all while getting better. L said it himself: "I'm older and smarter, this is me at my best."

It's a shame that today, rather than listening to L's 3rd or 4th album, we're mourning the death of Lamont Coleman. Hip-hop heads will list L as a GOAT, but the mainstream might never laud his greatness adequately (listen to Hot 97's Throwback at Noon and tell me if you've ever heard a Big L track). That said, as a hip-hop fan, it's impossible to not see the Harlem native for what he was: an amazing MC. That L could write a song that holds true and stands the test of time is a testament to that. Rest in peace to Harlem's Problem Child...

RIP The Notorious B.I.G.

It goes without saying that Biggie Smalls was a rapper ahead of his time and that his untimely death is one of the biggest losses in hip-hop. That said, the legacy he would have left had he lived is greater than most people could even imagine. B.I.G.'s death, along with other high-profile hip-hop deaths, caused a ripple effect throughout hip-hop. This is best seen in this rare footage (just released today) of Biggie and the rest of the circa-1995 Bad Boy Records roster. Take a look at that video and count how many of the artists and personalities, aside from Diddy, are still in the business today. I counted Lil' Kim, and that's really it. Biggie's death essentially sealed the fate of all of those artists, as Bad Boy had no headliner to bring their other acts up. The same can be said for deceased artists like Big L, Eazy E and Big Pun, though no one will ever truly know what their deaths did to hip-hop. I suppose it's just wishful thinking, but Biggie's potential is worth every second. All we can say today is RIP to Christopher Wallace...