Harlem Street Renamed in Honor of Deceased Rapper Big L

In a renaming ceremony held on May 28, family and fans of deceased rapper Big L, gathered as the corner of W 140th Street and Lenox Avenue in New York City became Lamont “Big L” Coleman Way. The designation is in honor of Harlem native and fabled rapper, Big L, who, in 1999, was shot nine times and killed in the very same East Harlem neighborhood.

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Heralded as a top tier MC, the renaming was spearheaded by the team behind Big L’s documentary, Street Struck: The Big L Story.

“It took a whole lot of effort and Support to get to this great point but as a collective we made it happen, an Instagram announcement read.”

The Biggest Thank you’s go out to the Dope 500 plus people who signed and passed the petition around so we could get this street renamed. There are entirely tooo many good people that gave this their support, so with all my heart, I personally want to say THANK YOU!!!!

Known for his wordplay, free-styling ability, and overall wittiness, Big L was once the crown prince of New York’s underground hip hop scene. As part Harlem hip-hop crew Children of the Corn alongside Mase, Cam’ron, Bloodshed, and McGruff, he featured in dozens of records as the group attempted to get signed. Coleman later found success as a solo act, signing to Columbia Records in 1994. His debut album, Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous (1995) is considered a cult-classic. His posthumous sophomore project, The Big Picture, (2000) was executive produced by DJ Premier and featured the likes of 2Pac, Fat Joe and Big Daddy Kane and has been certified Gold.

Big L was 24-years-old at the time of his death, but now his name will forever live on in the streets of Harlem.

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