Wiki
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Release Date
21 March 1995
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Length
12 tracks
"Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous" is the debut studio album by American hip-hop artist Big L. Released March 28, 1995 on Columbia Records, it is Big L's only album to be released during his lifetime. Recording sessions took place primarily at Powerplay Studios in Queens, New York from 1993 to 1995. Production was handled by Buckwild, Craig Boogie, Kid Capri, Lord Finesse, and Showbiz.
The album debuted at number 149 on the US Billboard 200 and number 22 on R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, but did not chart internationally. The album was supported by two singles: “Put It On” featuring Kid Capri, and “M.V.P.,” which initially featured the same DeBarge sample from “Stay With Me” that was used on The Notorious B.I.G.’s “One More Chance / Stay With Me (Remix),” leading Big L to use the “Summer Smooth Mix” of M.V.P. in the music video.
In a 2010 interview with HipHopDX, rapper/producer Lord Finesse spoke about Big L’s debut album:
"He was smarter than what he would lead you to believe on that album. But, it’s like, "Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous", I’m portraying this character, and this character I’m portraying has to be believable. The stuff he has to do has to be so over-the-top. And that’s a lot of the characters he was portraying on that album. It was a mixture between what was going on in Harlem and fiction. Some of it was real, some of it was fiction. when he wanted to go over-the-top with some shit he went over the top with it!"
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