*** Big L

THE BIG PICTURE

(Rawkus)

On this posthumous sophomore release, rapper Big L "Corleone" breathes life into the mike, spitting enough fire and personalized street poetry to keep B-boys and backpackers alike from catching their breath. L, who didn't make it to 25, was a Harlem hip-hop superhero whose 1996 track "Ebonics" is revered as an underground classic and is one of the 16 offerings (no bullshit skits) on The Big Picture. Big L drops razor-sharp rhymes on "Holdin It Down" -- "It's L, the Harlem pimp baby/For real, I got more dimes than the Sprint lady" he boasts over a bowl of Pete Rock flute loops. The Harlem globetrotter also holds court with heavyweights like G Rap (new album due this fall on Rawkus), a rejuvenated Big Daddy Kane (on the Premier cut "Platinum Plus"), and various DITC partners. And there's an eerie (and unexpected) match-up with Tupac on the outstanding "Deadly Combination." Comparing The Big Picture with L's inspired debut, Lifestylez ov da Poor and Dangerous (which featured a young Jay-Z attempting to keep pace on "Da Graveyard"), isn't quite fair -- Lifestylez joins discs by Nas, Group Home, Mobb Deep, GZA, and Raekwon in the untouchable-hip-hop-debut department. But The Big Picture doesn't disappoint.

-- Chris Conti