Big L: The Big Picture : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Hip-hop lost Big L to the dead street-poet's society last year; he was shot and killed on a Harlem street corner. When that happened, we lost a rhymer who might have one day run neck-and-neck with Jay-Z for ultimate supremacy of Boast City. The Big Picture -- which was assembled by friends of L from released and unreleased tracks -- has the sad honor of being the finest posthumous hip-hop album yet. Big L is a whirlwind of word and wit, whether he's dealing in one-line pimp slaps ("If my girl think I'm loyal, then that bitch is a fool") or the slanguage arts of "Ebonics" ("A radio is a box/A razor blade is an ox/Fat diamonds is rocks, and jakes is cops"). It's also ripe with life-as-art irony: "Peace to Biggie and 'Pac,/'Cause they really were hot/Rap-game heavy hitters/It's a shame they no longer wit' us," he raps on "Size 'Em Up." "Deadly Combination" is a jaw-dropping collaboration with Tupac himself. On "The Big Picture (Intro)," Big L asks, "What's this motherfuckin' rap game without L?" His litany of answers to that question includes, "the Bulls without Mike." The Big Picture reveals an MC who is more alive in the grave than most rappers are onstage. (RS 849)

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