Having made a name for himself as a guest MC on D.I.T.C. (Diggin' in the Crates) projects such as Diamond D.'s Stunts, Blunts Hip-Hop and Showbiz A.G.'s Runaway Slave, the flamboyantly gifted Lamont Coleman (aka Big L) dropped his debut in early 1995. A product of the mean streets of Harlem, L made his bones in the rap game with his rapid fire freestyle delivery and clever punchline-peppered rhymes. A patchwork album with a few outstanding cuts, Lifestylez fails to package the lightning-in-a-bottle talent of this cut-above MC. The album showcases L as a master of the lyrical stickup undressing his competition with kinetic metaphors and a brash comedic repertoire. The lead track, Put It On produced by Kid Capri, is a party cut with a criminal attitude. M.V.P. snatches a brief segment from DeBarge's Stay With Me (later aggrandized on the Notorious B.I.G.'s popular remix of One More Chance). Da Graveyard features a young Cam'ron (here Killa Kam) and most notably a superb verse from a pre-Jigga Jay-Z (at the outset of his solo career). With better production and marketing, Big L might have found himself with a platinum album but instead he settled for platinum respect. This album captures the dynamic potential of a street legend, a legend who would later be gunned down in his prime. ~ M.F. DiBella, Rovi

1		Put It On
2		MVP
3		No Endz, No Skinz
4		8 Iz Enuff
5		All Black
6		Danger Zone
7		Street Struck
8		Da Graveyard
9		Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous
10		I Don't Understand It
11		Fed Up Wit The Bullshit
12		Let 'Em Have It "L"