Children Of The Corn

Me and the homie got to talking about 90's nostalgia and eventually COTC came up. I realized that I had only had a few demo quality songs that I had collected over the years, I never bothered to look for a legit album. I looked around and found this collection of gems.

The group only recorded about 30 songs/freestyles together. Big L and Bloodshed were both murdered. Cam went on to become one of my personal favorite memes/rappers of all time. Ma$e went on to dance and talk about enchiladas. McGruff signed with Bad Boy so you know how well that worked out :/

Anyways I uploaded this shit myself so you didn't have to deal with DatPiff

UPDATED:

HERE

Big L

SDTW provides 90's rap welfare for those who qualify.

Link Here

90's

Cool photo

Big L

I've had this for a while.

It's worth having, but I think they could of put a little more work on it. I say that only because if you are a 90's rap dork like myself you already had about half of these tracks.

But you should grab it anyways because we all know that mediocre Big L verses shit on these new jack's best verses any day of the week.

Return Of The Devil's Sonnnnnnnn

Rest In Peace Big L

11 years ago today Big L was shot and killed near his home in Harlem, NY.

This clip is the often slept on part 2 of his famous freestyle on the Stretch and Bobbito Show.

And I quote:

"You got fucked up state/You cupcake/How many dicks can yo butt take?"

"I was fuckin chicks in the ass/when I was six and a half."

That shit is funny I don't care what anyone says.

Big L

I am a huge Big L stan. Most of my friends are too.

If you grew up on 90's hip hop and rap how could you not be?
The dude was just heads and shoulders above everyone else.

Some critics say that had he not died before his big crossover people would not have made him into the "cult" like figure he is today.

I guess you can make that argument with any musician that has ever died. Biggie, Pac, Cobain, Hendrix, etc.

It's pretty haterish though to try and discredit someone's catalog just because they are deceased. In fact it is very bitch made to do so. I mean Brittany Murphy just kicked the bucket and I'm pretty confident they aren't gonna go back and analyze her away from camera acting subtleties in her silver screen debut "Clueless" just because she's 6 feet now. So stop dissing the god.

For my two cents Big L was the truth. If the goal of rapping is to brag about how awesome you are and how lame everyone else is then Big L was the best that ever did it. Period.

Enough fanning out.

I came across what has to be the most extensive collection of Big L rarities, white labels, alternates, b-sides, remixes ever compiled. I have a lot of L tapes and have made it a habit to snatch any one I come across, but this site is ridiculous though. I can't even scratch the surface.

So dive in and find your own forgotten 90's L gems.

BigL Rarities

Street Struck: The Big L Story

I so support this.

Big L was the best that ever did it.

Big L Tribute Mix

Official Big L Tribute Mix by DJ Soul

Hit the link to the post.

Big L Tribute Mix

Harlem's Finest Big L

This is a bootleg compilation of most of Big L's freestyles.

It makes it very apparent how good L really was in case you had any doubts.

Be prepared to getting treated to lines like:

"Big L is a large boss/ known for puttin' more holes in a n*gga body than a golf course"

"I'm making rap hits/ I stack flicks and mack chicks/ Just the slim ones/ You'll never see L with no fat bitch"

"The type of n*gga that be gamin' your freaks/ while you out working hard/ I be puttin' stains in yo sheets"

Love it.

Download:
Big L "Harlem's Finest Vol. 1 & 2"

Big L

Here is a nice treat for all the Big L fans that read SDTW.

Now...I could go on and on about why most rappers couldn't even stand in L's shadow, but I will leave that argument for the nerds.

J.Love works with a lot of the 90's favorites and this Big L tape is really well done. There's remixes of classic tracks, unreleased tracks, and b-sides.

If "Lifestylez..." and "The Big Picture" don't do it for you anymore then grab this mix.


Download:
J.Love "In Memory of Big L 2.1"

Shepard Fairey

It's not exactly news that Shepard Fairey has gone from being a street artist to the most known name in art.

Last year he created one of the most iconic images of the century which has now earned him an unjust lawsuit by The Asscoaited Press for copyright infringement. As if the lawsuit wasn't enough Shepard was also arrested by suspiciously Boston Police on the night of his art show. It has now been reported that the Boston police may have violated his civil rights and may have even tried to use Shepard's arrest as a catalyst to incite a riot in front of the show as a way to implicate the mayor of Boston as a supporter of a criminal.




I could only imagine the roller coaster this last year has been for him. I actually got to hang out with Shepard on a few occasions and even went bombing with him. Shepard played a huge role in the skateboarding/street aesthetic culture when he moved to San Diego. He created a lot of the earlier Obey Campaign designs in SD before eventually relocating to Los Angeles. He was enormously influential in the SD skate/art community.

For what it is worth I felt compelled to write this post because I have a huge amount of respect for Shepard. I've been privileged to meet a lot of the people I've looked up to in art, music, fashion, film, and the like and there is nothing I respect more than humility. Shepard has earned his stripes. He has bombed his posters and imagery all over the world and been jailed for it more times than you can count. He is the real deal. He remembers everyone by name and even when he's in the middle of huge installation or a dj set he'll stop what he's doing and shoot the shit with you. He is very open about where he gets inspiration from both in his design and concepts. He is an avid historian of youth/music culture and seeks the authenticity in everything he touches and puts his name on.

When I was beginning to design my second line for Militree Shepard was cool enough to let me convince him that Big L needed to get the Shepard Fairey treatment. My point was that Big L deserved to be in the same pantheon of artists that Shepard had immortalized in his posters, I told him that there will be a million 2Pac and Biggie tributes, but that Big L was as equally talented, but was murdered in the midst of his prime before gaining main stream attention.

See below:



The point is this:

Some people get successful and forget where they came from and why they started doing what it is they do in the first place, but thankfully Shepard Fairey is not one of those people. He is opening doors that were once closed to our sub-culture and is making a path so that others can follow his trail. It's hard to see the true impact of a legend when they are in their prime and it is usually only visible once they are no longer with us, but if you look for the signs carefully you'll see it is happening right here and now.



Links:

OBEYGIANT

Das EFX

Man oh man how I miss these brothers. Das EFX sons anything you are currently f*cking with in your i-pod. These dudes helped shape the "Silver Era" of hip-hop and are pretty much the epitome of funky.

Skoob and Dre pretty much had people flippin when they dropped their flows and everyone bit from them to some extent Lords of the Underground, The Fu-Schnickens, Kris Kross,and even HOV (Jay Z) peep the Big L/Jay Z freestyle HERE *Note Big L was better than any emcee that ever rapped. Fact.




Download this joint if you're not stiggedy stupid.

Download:
Das EFX "Dead Serious" (Full Album)

SDTW presents "Big L"

The greatest rapper of all time died on February 15th in 1999. I don't want to hear any arguments about this. Big L was the best PERIOD.

For all you "L" fans I found some rare versions of some tracks and a few harder to come across songs and slapped it together in one download.

"Furious Anger" track with Shyhiem is probably the stand out, but if you already have "Lifestlylez..." and "The Big Picture" there's really no where else to turn for Big L unless you find it on the net.

Again this isn't a "greatest hits" or anything of that sort. These are just tracks and versions that you probably don't have.

Bump it.



Download:

SDTW presents "Big L"

*Trouble downloading click HERE

Lord Finesse

Gather round now kids and get learned.

I don't throw around the title of "Top 5" loosely on here, but this album is definitely in my Top 5 Rap albums ever. It is essential listening for so many reasons.

Firstly, most of the album was produced by Primo with the other tracks being provided by Diamond D, Showbiz, and one lonely track from DJ Mike Smooth. The weird thing is as much as I obsess over this record I have never really figured out what DJ Mike Smooth has to do with this album. He produces one beat and is mentioned a few times. That's it.

But forget Mike Smooth cause dude is not the reason for this album's greatness.

Finesse basically smokes every track with the most straight forward N.Y battle raps ever. He basically lays the foundation for the entire D.I.T.C style in one stroke. You hear it echoed by Showbiz & AG and most noticeably in Big L. If you like Big L than you should probably thank Lord Finesse if ever given the opportunity. Finesse made it a point to make each verse have that clever, punchy, in your face steez that L took and made even better.

After a couple of listens you'll see how much of an influence Finesse was to L.

I could go on and on about how good this LP is and how Finesse started D.I.T.C, produced tracks for "Ready To Die" and "Chronic 2001", but none of that really matters once this album starts playing.

"Cause emcees try their best to flow and catch thee/ L-O-R-D-F-I-N-E-DOUBLE S-E."

Oh and if all that wasn't enough Finesse is currently working with Premiere to create an album out of Big L tapes they found in his closet. Thank God.

Enjoy.

Download:

Lord Finesse & DJ Mike Smooth "Funky Technician"

Big L

"The Big L is strictly gunplay
I run through church and pistol-whip the priest every Sunday
Once I put out the crazy order
I sent n*ggas to kill Tone, his mom, and his baby daughter
I'm living up to my extortion image
I be stalking Lennox, catching more bodies than abortion clinics
A kid tried to take L out
Shot me with a tech, I just laughed and spit the shell out
Next I took his gun then he dropped to his knees
With ease I made him freeze, he begged me please not to squeeze
But I ain't the type to bust, I just sniped a bus
Gunclap *bang* Another n*gga bites the dust
Shorts I'm taking none
Misbehave and get sent to the grave by the Devil's Son."

Lyrics from "The Devil's Son"

Big L

Taken from "Dangerzone"


"The microphone is through when this rap legend grab it
Sendin poems to have them faggots diggin hoes like Reverand Swaggart
L's the nigga that crime follows
I'm hittin fine models and stabbin punks with broken wine bottles
I beat chumps til they head splits, then break em like breadsticks
I sex chicks, I'll even fuck a dead bitch
Always sprayin Tecs, because I be stayin vexed
Some nigga named Dex, was in the projects layin threats
I jumped out the Lincoln, left him stinkin
Put his brains in the street
Now you can see what he was just thinkin
I'm chokin enemies til they start turnin pale
Satan said I'm learnin well, Big L's gonna burn in hell
Front and get scarred cause your rap style ain't even hard
I run with a thievin squad, and NONE OF US believe in God."


Here's an oldy but goody that many have probably forgotten about:



Almost 4 years ago I convinced Shepard Fairey to add Big L to his list of iconic music artists for a brand I was running at the time. It nearly took a year, but he did it.