Big L: Devil’s Son (Columbia, 1993, 12″)
Was meant to be the debut solo single from Big L but supposedly withdrawn by the label for being too violent. Originally released only as a promo (though subsequently bootlegged).
Hearing Big L spit fire on a killer Showbiz track is never a bad thing but it’s not hard to see why Columbia may have balked on releasing this. I mean, dude really “took it there,” especially during the second verse. Still, in terms of energy, “Devil’s Son” is a great reminder of why there was so much hype behind Big L back in that era.
For no particular reason, I never went out of my way to cop this back in its heyday but when I saw this copy up on the wall at Groove Merchant the other week – and also learned it used to be Matthew Africa’s – I figured “sure, why not?”
1/365
Vocally this record is about as PC as Large Pro and Kool G Rap’s, “Break A Bitch Neck”. But the Showbiz production is killer for the instrumental win!