Lawrence Cook (Lawrence Whalley Cook; born Leonard Whalley Cook; March 28, 1884, Preston, Lancashire, England; died December 2, 1933, Mesnes, Wigan, Lancashire, England) was a bowler for Lancashire County Cricket Club between 1907 and 1923.

His career was somewhat unusual. For most of his career Lawrence Cook was not a regular member of the Lancashire eleven as many bowlers competed for two or three places, but near its end in his mid-thirties Cook bowled so well that some expected him to be chosen for the difficult 1920/1921 Ashes tour. He was not chosen, and indeed never played for England even during the disastrous 1921 series when thirty players were used to find a winning combination. Nonetheless, shrewd judges are unanimous that Cook was not the bowler for Test matches against a formidable batting side on rock-hard pitches.

Lawrence Cook emerged in 1907 as a bowler of fast-medium pace, possibly meant to substitute for Walter Brearley who was then engaged in one of his many disputes with the Lancashire committee. Although he took a wicket with his first ball in first-class cricket, on the whole his record for that season was moderate, but with seven wickets on a rare hard pitch against Kent at Canterbury he showed he had great persistence. When Brearley came back into the eleven in 1908, Cook was relegated to the Second Eleven, but in 1910 he re-established in place and in the May following year, helped by a bad pitch and feeble Northamptonshire batting, he bowled with considerable pace and a lot of spin to take eight wickets for 39 runs. Cook indeed bowled so well early that season that Lancashire seemed to have found an excellent pace bowler when Brearley could not play. However, he was felt impossible to fit in when that fast bowler was free from business and on returning to the side he did not maintain his early season form, nor did he do anything of note against the top counties.

The years 1912 to 1914 saw Lancashire, even with Brearley gone, aim to stabilise their bowling lineup. This left no room for Cook - he was probably passed over in favour of men who could bat better. During World War I, Lawrence Cook served in the Army, and he was not demobilised until well after the 1919 season commenced.

When he returned, however, Cook - now bowling at a slower pace than in 1911 - immediately became, for the first time, indispensable to Lancashire. Although he still failed to achieve much against strong counties, he did a notable performance against Gloucestershire with nine for 49, and was second in the Lancashire bowling averages. 1920, however, saw Cook jump right to the top of the tree with 156 first-class wickets for less than fifteen runs each, and some notable performances in tandem with Harry Dean and Cecil Parkin, notably against Kent at Old Trafford in July. Although he did not have the honour of representing the Players or touring Australia, Cook would no doubt have been chosen as a Cricketer of the Year by Wisden but for the special portrait of Pelham Warner to commemorate Middlesex's Championship win. In the dry summer of 1921, Cook showed himself to be one of the most tireless and consistent workhorses in county cricket, even if no selector thought he had enough sting to be a Test match bowler. He took 151 wickets without one haul of seven in an innings, and in 1922 he maintained his accuracy and spin notably when taking seven for 23 on a crumbling pitch.

Lancashire awarded him a benefit in 1923, but although he was still a most effective stock bowler Cook that season appeared to have lost much of his spin and was dropped for a number of matches late in the season. He still took almost 100 wickets even if at quite a high cost, but with Ted McDonald qualified it was not seen as worthwhile to retain him for 1924.

External links[link]

• First-class bowling in each season

Dane Cook
Cook at Comic Con 2007 promoting Good Luck Chuck
Birth name	Dane Jeffrey Cook
Born	(1972-03-18) March 18, 1972 (age 40) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, film, television
Nationality	American
Years active	1990–present
Genres	Stand-up comedy
Subject(s)	Observational comedy
Influences	George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Denis Leary, Steve Martin
Notable works and roles	Retaliation, Dane Cook: Vicious Circle, Isolated Incident
Website	Official website

Dane Jeffrey Cook (born March 18, 1972) is an American stand-up comedian and film actor. He has released five comedy albums: Harmful If Swallowed; Retaliation; Vicious Circle; Rough Around The Edges: Live From Madison Square Garden; and Isolated Incident. In 2006, Retaliation became the highest charting comedy album in 28 years and went platinum.^[1] He performed an HBO special in the Fall of 2006, Vicious Circle, a straight-to-DVD special titled Rough Around The Edges (which is included in the album of the same name), and a Comedy Central special in 2009 titled Isolated Incident.

He is credited as one of the first comedians to use a personal webpage and MySpace to build a large fan base^[2] and in 2006 was described as "alarmingly popular".^[3] As an actor, Cook has appeared in films since 1997, including Mystery Men, Waiting..., Employee of the Month, Good Luck Chuck, Dan in Real Life, Mr. Brooks (in a non-comedic role), and My Best Friend's Girl.

Personal life[link]

Cook was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts,^[4] the second son of Donna Jean (née Ford) and George F. Cook.^[5] Cook has an older half-brother, Darryl, and five sisters. He was raised in a Roman Catholic family^[6] in Arlington, Massachusetts, where he attended Arlington High School.

Cook has described himself as being "pretty quiet, pretty introverted, shy" as a child, although he was a "wild child" at home.^[7] He overcame his shyness in his junior year of high school when he began acting and doing stand-up comedy.^[8] After graduating from high school, he studied graphic design in college as a back-up plan in case he did not achieve success in comedy.^[9] He now designs all of his merchandise, including the cover of his album Harmful If Swallowed.^[8] Cook has stated that he does not drink or do drugs.^[10]

Cook's half-brother Darryl was Cook's business manager until 2008, when it was discovered that Darryl and his wife had embezzled millions of dollars from Dane Cook. Both Darryl and his wife have been sentenced to prison for the embezzlement.^[11]

Career[link]

Dane Cook

Stand-up[link]

In 1994, Cook moved to New York City and began performing. Two years later, he moved to Los Angeles, where he still lives today.^[12] His big break came in 1998 when he appeared on Comedy Central's Premium Blend. In 2000, Cook did a half-hour special on Comedy Central Presents. Since then his special has won the Comedy Central Stand-up showdown twice in a row.^[13]

In 2003, Cook released his first CD/DVD, Harmful If Swallowed. He signed a contract with Comedy Central Records. The album is certified platinum. He released his second CD/DVD in 2005, entitled Retaliation. This album went double platinum and made Cook the first comic in 29 years to have an album at #4 on the Billboard charts.^[13] He performed at the MTV Video Music Awards, and then afterwards he joined Snoop Dogg (who introduced him) in presenting the award for Best New Artist.^[13]

On April 15, 2005, Cook performed his first HBO Special entitled Vicious Circle. Vicious Circle was filmed "in the round" at the TD Banknorth Garden. The same year, Cook shot two pilot episodes for his own sitcom, Cooked. The sitcom never got picked up and the two pilot episodes were later released on DVD as the Lost Pilot Episodes. That same year, he embarked on a 30-day 20-show college tour called Tourgasm with his long time friends Robert Kelly, Gary Gulman, and Jay Davis. The tour was filmed and was later made into a 9-episode documentary on HBO.

On December 3, 2005, Cook hosted Saturday Night Live. It was one of the highest-rated SNLs of the season".^{[14][dead link]} He would then go on to host the premiere of season 32 of SNL a year later. Both episodes were the highest rated of the season.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, Cook headlined for Dave Attell's Insomniac Tour and hosted the 2006 Teen Choice Awards alongside Jessica Simpson. The following year he won the award for Best Comedian. On November 12, 2007, Cook became the second comic to sell out Madison Square Garden. He did two sold out shows in one night. The show was filmed and would later be put onto a DVD to be sold on Cook's third comedy album. Cook won the Big Entertainer Award at the VH1 Big in '06 Awards, and Rolling Stone magazine's Hot Comic of the Year. The following day, November 13, 2007, he released his third CD/DVD entitled Rough Around The Edges, which was filmed live at Madison Square Garden in New York City. During that time, he embarked on his first arena tour.^{[citation needed]}

On April 10, 2007, Cook broke The Laugh Factory's endurance record (previously held by Richard Pryor)^[15] by performing on stage for 3 hours and 50 minutes. Dave Chappelle would break the record five days later.^[16] On January 1, 2008, Cook later broke Chapelle's record, by performing on stage for 7 hours.^[17]

From May 23, 2008 to May 25, 2008, Cook reunited with Robert Kelly and Al Del Bene for three shows at The Coliseum in Caesars Palace. From May 29, 2008, to June 4, 2008, the trio went to Iraq to perform for the troops. Del Bene was the Emcee, Kelly was the Feature, and Cook was the Headliner.^{[citation needed]}

He finished his fourth album, Isolated Incident; a performance which aired on Comedy Central on May 17, 2009, with the release of the record following two days later. He kicked off that tour at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, on April 25, 2009. This album will be the last as part of Cook's four record deal with Comedy Central Records. The new album was performed at The Laugh Factory in Hollywood, which is considered to be Cook's home base, where he goes and works on new material. He released the DVD version of Isolated Incident in November 2009.^[18]

Critique[link]

Cook's style is principally "long-form storytelling"^[19] and "multipurpose phrases"^[3] with a casual attitude. Cook says his onstage persona is a combination of the personalities of his mom, Donna, and his dad, George. "My mother is like a Looney Tunes cartoon. She's wiggly ... She has the ability to tongue in cheek a lot, and do it in a way where she's being physical. My dad is the polar opposite. He always had a little 'what the fuck' in his voice. Even if he knew nothing about what he was talking about, he could sell it. So I looked at these two extremely funny people and created a style of comedy from absorbing their actions."^[20]

He explains:

I wanted to create a stage persona for myself that allowed me to really speak about anything I want... So I can be a storyteller, I can be jokey, I can be corny, I can be a little vulgar, I can be a lot vulgar. And I'm not afraid to go anywhere to get the point of the joke across, even if I have to just blabber like a retard until it becomes apparent that I'm a retard and that the audience should laugh.

Commentators in a variety of media sources have characterized Dane Cook's humor as unfunny.^[2][3][21] Comedian Ron White has criticized Dane Cook for his lack of real material and for his inflated ego; saying "[He] does not make me laugh, at all, in any way, shape or form."^[22] When asked about his opinion of Cook on The Howard Stern Show, comedian Nick DiPaolo said "he doesn't make me laugh, but that doesn't mean he's not funny."^[23] On Boston radio station WBCN, Dane Cook was named by radio show Toucher and Rich to a tournament of the top 16 "Worst Comedians" and, based on listener voting, was voted the "Worst Comedian" of all. In the Michigan Daily, Elie Zwiebel and co-author Jesse Bean wrote that "he's managed to become one of the most overrated comics ever" and that his act is "boringly stagnant".^[24]

Jim Breuer talked about Cook's reputation within the comedy industry, saying: "Everyone kills this guy ... Not one comedian comes on [my Sirius radio show] and says 'I'm so happy for him', which is weird. ... They can't stand this poor guy." Breuer went on to say that he personally thinks Cook is a "tremendous performer".^[25]

Accusations of plagiarism[link]

Comedian Joe Rogan has claimed that Cook performed a bit on an episode of Premium Blend that Rogan had developed on I'm Gonna Be Dead Someday (sketch titled "Tigers Fucking"), and claimed to have performed the routine earlier in clubs with Cook present.^[26] Other comedians have also accused Cook of stealing their material. A 2007 article in Radar magazine about joke theft included Rogan's allegations, as well as the allegations of an anonymous "veteran comic" who accused Cook of appropriating one of that comic's "very physical routines," despite a direct request by the comedian that Cook stop using the routine in question.^[27] The piece also noted widespread Internet discussion of the similarity between the bits "Struck by a Vehicle," "Itchy Asshole," and "My Son Optimus Prime," from Cook's 2005 album Retaliation, and the bits "Guy on a Bike," "Itchy Asshole," and "Kid's Names," from comic Louis C.K.'s 2003 album Live in Houston.^[27] In 2011, Cook played himself in an episode of Louie, scripted by C.K., centering on a fictional encounter between the two comics during which they discuss the controversy.^[28]

Film[link]

Cook began with small film roles in the late 90's, including Mystery Men as "The Waffler," and opposite Dennis Rodman in 1999's Simon Sez.^[29]

In 2006, Cook starred in his first leading role as the slacker box boy Zack Bradley in Employee of the Month, which co-starred Jessica Simpson and Dax Shepard. Poorly received by critics, the film made a modest $30 million against a $12 million budget.^[30] In June 2007, Cook co-starred in his first dramatic role as the devious photographer "Mr. Smith" in Mr. Brooks, which starred Kevin Costner. The film debuted at #4 at the box office. The film grossed $10,017,067 in the opening weekend.^[31]

In September 2007, Cook starred as dentist Charlie Logan in Good Luck Chuck, which co-starred Jessica Alba and Dan Fogler. The film was the second-highest grossing film (#1 Comedy) at the U.S. box office in its opening weekend, grossing $13.6 million in 2,612 theaters. The film went on to have a total box office tally of approximately $35 million U.S. and $24 million foreign. It was received very poorly by critics.^[32] A month later, Cook co-starred as Mitch Burns in Dan In Real Life, which starred Steve Carell. The film grossed $11.8 million in 1,921 theaters its opening weekend, ranking #2 at the box office. As of July 6, 2008, it has grossed $62,745,217. It received moderate to good reviews from critics.^[33]

In 2008, Cook starred as air purifier call-center supervisor Tank Turner in My Best Friend's Girl with Kate Hudson, Jason Biggs, and Alec Baldwin. The film grossed $8.2 million in its opening weekend, debuting at #3 at the box office, but received poor reviews from critics.^[34]

In 2010, Cook auditioned for the role of Captain America for Captain America: The First Avenger, although the director, Joe Johnston, did not have him on the short list for the part.^[35]

Stage[link]

On November 18, 2010, it was announced that both Cook and Josh Hamilton will be starring in Neil LaBute's 2011 Broadway production of Fat Pig.^[36] Production will begin in March 2011.

Tours[link]

• Tourgasm 2006 (w/ Robert Kelly, Gary Gulman, Jay Davis)
• Rough Around The Edges Tour 2007
• Globo Thermo Tour 2009 (w/ Robert Kelly and Al Del Bene) – In a Shave Magazine review of the Globo Thermo tour, Jake Tomlinson expressed that "his live performance quite enjoyable", and gave the concert 4 out of 5 stars.^[37]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Other releases[link]

• 2006: Dane Cook's Tourgasm (3DVD)
• 2007: The Lost Pilots (DVD) Sony Pictures Television.
• 2011 In the Future Steel Panther Balls Out

Singles[link]

• (2006) I'll Never Be You – #100 (U.S. Pop), #4 (Germany)
• (2007) Forward
• (2010) Drunk Girl/Red Car^[38]

Cook co-wrote and performed the song "Ruthie Pigface Draper" for the Dan In Real Life film with Norbert Leo Butz.^[39]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dane Cook

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dane Cook

• Official website
• Dane Cook at the Internet Movie Database

Lamont Coleman (May 30, 1974 – February 15, 1999), better known by his stage name Big L, was an American rapper. Coleman was born and raised in Harlem, New York, where he started his rap career with Three the Hard Way. He founded the group Children of the Corn and was a member of the Diggin' in the Crates Crew before pursuing a solo career. His first professional appearance came on Lord Finesse's "Yes You May (Remix)". He released his debut album, Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous in 1995, and significantly contributed to the underground hip hop scene. He created his own independent label, Flamboyant Entertainment, in 1998 where he released one of his best known singles "Ebonics" (1998).

On February 15, 1999, Coleman was killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in his hometown of Harlem. Suspects, including the main suspect Gerald Woodley, were brought in for questioning, but no one was found guilty. His second studio album, The Big Picture was put together by Coleman's manager, Rich King. It was released the following year and certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Four posthumous albums have been released, mainly consisting of unreleased songs which were put together by Rich King and his brother, Donald. Multiple tributes have been given to Coleman, including in The Source, MTV, and HipHop DX. A documentary is in the works titled Street Struck: The Big L Story (2012). About.com called him the twenty-third best MC of all time, and multiple writers at Allmusic have given him high praise.

Early life[link]

Born Lamont Coleman in Harlem, New York on May 30, 1974,^[1] he was the third and youngest child of Gilda Terry (d. 2008^[2]) and Charles Davis.^[3] His father left the family while Coleman was a child.^[4] He has two siblings, Donald and Leroy Phinazee (d.^[2]), who were the children of Gilda Terry and Mr. Phinazee.^[3] Coleman received the nicknames "Little L" and "'mont 'mont" as a child.^[5][6] At the age of 12, Coleman became a big hip hop fan and started freestyling against his own neighborhood.^[3][6] He founded a group called Three the Hard Way in 1990, but was quickly broken up due to a lack of enthusiasm.^[7] It consisted of Coleman, a "Doc Reem", and a "Rodney".^[8] No studio albums were released, and after Rodney left, the group was called Two Hard Motherfuckers.^[8] Around this time, people started to call him "Big L".^[3] In the summer of 1990, Coleman met Lord Finesse at an autograph session in a record shop on 125th Street.^[9][10] After he did a freestyle, Finesse and Coleman exchanged numbers.^[10]

Coleman attended Julia Richman High School.^[3] While in high school, Coleman freestyle battled in his hometown; in his last interview, he stated, "in the beginning, all I ever saw me doing was battling everybody on the street corners, rhyming in the hallways, beating on the wall, rhyming to my friends. Every now and then, a house party, grab the mic, a block party, grab the mic."^[11] He graduated in 1992.^[3]

Professional career[link]

1991–1994: The beginnings[link]

Coleman began rhyming in 1990.^[12] In 1991, he founded the Harlem rap group Children of the Corn (COC) with Killa Cam, Murda Mase, and Bloodshed.^[7][13] On February 11, Coleman appeared on Yo! MTV Raps with Lord Finesse to help promote Finesse's studio album Return of the Funky Man.^[14] Coleman's first professional appearance came on "Yes You May (Remix)", the B-side of "Party Over Here" (1992) by Lord Finesse,^[13] and his first album appearance was on "Represent" off of Showbiz & A.G.'s Runaway Slave (1992).^[9] In that same year, he won an amateur freestyle battle, which consisted of about 2,000 contestants and held by Nubian Productions.^[15] In 1993, Coleman signed to Columbia Records.^[7] Around this time, L joined Lord Finesse's Bronx-based hip hop collective Diggin' in the Crates Crew (DITC) which consisted of Lord Finesse, Diamond D, O.C., Fat Joe, Buckwild, Showbiz, and A.G.

Sometime in 1993, Coleman released his first promotional single, "Devil's Son", and claimed it was the first horrorcore single released.^[9] He said he wrote the song because "I've always been a fan of horror flicks. Plus the things I see in Harlem are very scary. So I just put it all together in a rhyme."^[9] On February 18, 1993, Coleman performed live at the Uptown Lord Finesse Birthday Bash at the 2,000 Club, which included other performances from Fat Joe, Nas, and Diamond D.^[3] In 1994, he released his second promotional single "Clinic". On July 11, 1994, Coleman released the radio edit of "Put It On", and three months later the video was released.^[3] In 1995, the video for the single "No Endz, No Skinz" debuted, which was directed by Brian Luvar.^[16]

[edit] 1995–1999: Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous

His debut solo album, Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, was released in March 1995. The album debuted at number 149 on the Billboard 200^[17] and number 22 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.^[18] Lifestylez would go on to sell over 200,000 copies as of 2000.^[19] Three singles were released from the album; the first two, "Put It On" and "M.V.P.", reached the top twenty-five of Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks and the third "No Endz, No Skinz" did not chart.^[20][21] Even though the album received a three-star rating from Allmusic, it was an AMG Album Pick.^[22]

Sometime in 1996, Coleman was dropped from Columbia mainly because of the dispute between Coleman's rapping style and the production from Columbia.^[23] He stated "I was there with a bunch of strangers that didn't really know my music."^[24] In 1997, he started working on his second studio album, The Big Picture.^[25] COC folded when Bloodshed died in a car accident in April 1996.^[26] DITC appeared in a July issue On The Go Magazine.^[3] Coleman appeared on O.C.'s single "Dangerous" for O.C.'s second album Jewelz.^[27] In November, he was the opening act for O.C.'s European Jewlez Tour.^[3] Sometime in 1998, Coleman formed his own independent label, Flamboyant Entertainment.^[28] According to the The Village Voice, it was "planned to distribute the kind of hip-hop that sold without top 40 samples or r&b hooks."^[29] He released the single "Ebonics" in 1998.^[30] The song was based on ebonics, and The Source called it on of the top five independent singles of the year.^[10] DITC released their first single, "Dignified Soldiers", that year.^[1]

Coleman caught the eye of Damon Dash, the CEO of Roc-A-Fella Records, after the release of "Ebonics". Dash wanted to sign Lamont to Roc-A-Fella, but Coleman wanted his crew to sign^[31][32] On February 8, 1999, Coleman, Herb McGruff, C-Town, and Jay-Z started the process to sign with Roc-A-Fella Records as a group called "The Wolfpack".^[3][33]

Death[link]

In a 2010 interview with Donald Phinazee, he commented on what led up to the death of Lamont Coleman

There was something that went down with a dude out here with my middle brother, "Big Lee", and, uh, Lee went upstate for five years. [...] It was a little problem like I just said, "divide and conqueror" between the fellas and, uh, Lee went upstate, then I went upstate, and then [Lee] sent word to do something [to someone]. He sent word to somebody else to do something, but Lamont went with him, which he shouldn't have. [...] It didn't go down the way it should have and they seen Lamont face. So, uh, both of us is gone, and [Lamont] was out here by himself. And so you can't get one brother, you get the other one. That's it in a nutshell.

—Donald Phinazee, ^[31]

Coleman was killed in the doorway of 45 West 139th Street in Harlem on February 15, 1999 after being shot nine times in the face and chest.^[34][35][36] Gerard Woodley, one of Coleman's childhood friends, was arrested in May for the crime.^[37] At the time of his death, Coleman had two brothers in prison. "It's a good possibility it was retaliation for something [Big L's] brother did, or [Woodley] believed he had done," said a spokesperson for the NYPD.^[38] Woodley was later released, and the murder case remains unsolved.^[39]

Posthumous career[link]

The tracks "Get Yours", "Way of Life", and "Shyheim's Manchild" b/w "Furious Anger" were released as singles in 1999 for DITC's self-titled album (2000) on Tommy Boy Records.^[3][40] The album peaked at number 31 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 141 on the Billboard 200.^[41] Coleman's first posthumous single was "Flamboyant" b/w "On The Mic", which was released on May 30, 2000.^[42] The single peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs^[43] and topped the Hot Rap Tracks,^[21] making it Coleman's first and only number-one single.

Coleman's second studio album, The Big Picture, was released in August 1, 2000 and featured Fat Joe, Guru of Gang Starr, Kool G Rap, and Big Daddy Kane among others. The Big Picture was put together by his manager and partner in Flamboyant Entertainment, Rich King. It contains songs that he had recorded and a cappella recordings that were never used, completed by producers and guest emceess that Coleman respected or had worked with previously.^[3] The Big Picture debuted at number thirteen on the Billboard 200, number two on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and sold 72,549 copies.^[19] The album was certified gold a month later for shipments of 500,000 copies by the RIAA.^[44] The Big Picture was the only music by Big L to appear on a music chart outside of the United States, peaking at number 122 on the UK Albums Chart.^[45]

A compilation album containing COC songs entitled Children of the Corn: The Collector's Edition was released in 2003. The next posthumous album released was 139 & Lenox, which was released on August 31, 2010.^[46] It contained previously unreleased and rare tracks.^[46] It was released by Rich King on Flamboyant Entertainment.^[47] The next album to follow was Return of the Devil's Son (2010), which peaked at number 73 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.^[48] Coleman's next release was The Danger Zone (2011),^[49] and an upcoming album called L Corleone is planned to release February 14, 2012.^[50]

Legacy[link]

Henry Adaso, a music journalist for About.com, called him the twenty-third best MC of 1987 to 2007, claiming "[he was] one of the most auspicious storytellers in hip hop history."^[51] HipHop DX called Coleman "the most underrated lyricist".^[7]

Many tributes have been given to Coleman. The first was by Lord Finesse and the other members of DITC on March 6, 1999 at the Tramps.^[3] The Source has done multiple tributes to him: first in July 2000^[52] followed by March 2002.^[53] XXL did a tribute to Fat Joe and Lamont in March 2003.^[54] On February 16, 2005, at SOB's restaurant and nightclub in Manhattan, held a commemoration for him.^[55] It included special guests such as DITC, Herb McGruff, and Kid Capri.^[55] All the money earned went to his estate.^[55]

Style[link]

	"Ebonics" noicon In "Ebonics", one of Coleman's best-known tracks, he raps about the slang used in Harlem while he was growing up.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Coleman is often credited in helping to create the horrorcore genre of hip hop due to his 1992 song "Devil's Son."^[9] However, not all his songs fall into this genre, for example, in the song "Street Struck" Coleman discusses the difficulties of growing up in the ghetto and describes the consequences of living a life of crime.^[56] Idris Goodwin of The Boston Globe said, "[Big L had an] impressive command of the English language", and the best example was Coleman's song "Ebonics".^[57]

He was notable for using a rap style called "compounding".^[58] He also used one-liners: an example is in the song "'98 Freestyle" from The Big Picture where he raps "If my girl think I'm loyal, then that bitch is a fool."^[59] Coleman also used metaphors in his rhymes.^[22] M.F. DiBella of Allmusic stated Coleman was "a master of the lyrical stickup undressing his competition with kinetic metaphors and a brash comedic repertoire".^[22] On the review of The Big Picture, she adds "the Harlem MC as a master of the punch line and a vicious storyteller with a razor blade-under-the-tongue flow."^[23] Trent Fitzgerald of Allmusic said "a lyrically ferocious MC with raps deadlier than a snakebite and mannerisms cooler than the uptown pimp he claimed to be on records."^[60]

Documentary[link]

A movie title Street Struck: The Big L Story is set to be released in 2012. It is directed by a childhood friend and independent film director, Jewlz.^[15] Approximately nine hours of footage was brought in, and the film is planned to be 90 to 120 minutes long.^[31] The first trailer was released on August 29, 2009.^[15] Street Struck contains interviews from his mother Gilda Terry; his brother Donald; childhood friends E-Cash, D.O.C., McGruff, and Stan Spit; artists Mysonne and Doug E. Fresh; producers Showbiz and Premiere; and recording DJs Cipha Sounds and Paul Rosenberg.^[15] A soundtrack will be made for the documentary, and it will be put together by Lamont's brother Donald.^[31]

Discography[link]

Studio

• Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous (1995)
• The Big Picture (2000)

Posthumous

• 139 & Lenox (2010)
• Return of the Devil's Son (2010)
• The Danger Zone (2011)
• L Corleone (2012)

See also[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Big L

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Hess, Mickey (2010). Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide: Volume 1: East Coast and West Coast. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-34323-0. 
• Jasper, Kenji (July 6, 1999). "Of Mics and Men in Harlem". The Village Voice. http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-07-06/news/of-mics-and-men-in-harlem/. Retrieved February 6, 2012. 

External links[link]

• Official website
• Big L at Allmusic
• Big L at MTV
• Big L discography at Discogs
• Big L at Find a Grave