Double L and the Big L Legacy

I used be a partner in a way before it’s time store called Soul Sauce. I’ve spoken about it from time to time. We sold clothing, graff supplies, skateboards, records, magazines, books and anything else we were into. Skaters, DJs, writers, rappers, musicians and tons of others rolled through. We had turntables in the back of the store where everyone who spun could get on. One young buck who was a regular was this white cat named Double L (LL). He was a young dude, and on any day he’d show up wearing a leather eight ball jacket, doo rag, Tims, whatever was hot at the time (Mecca, Ecko, Girbaud, etc.), straight thuggin’ and all business. He would also bring records and a mic. He would get on the turntables and just kill it while rapping over instrumentals (my man had a stutter but still had a silky flow). He just played underground Hip Hop, and repped it all day every day. My dude would also make mixtapes to sell (complete with home made xeroxed covers). He’d put together nonstop mixes of The Best of OC, plus The Best of Double L (complete with his own raps)! It was a great time in music and just a great time in general in my life. I wish I had saved the photos When Double L wasn’t cutting up two copies of OC, he would work in groups like Rawkotics, and of course one of his favorites, Lamont Coleman aka Big L and the DITC crew. At the time, Big L was still alive, and his music was a topic that people would talk about in our lounge while listening to others DJ. I always dug Big L’s flow, and when news came through that he had been killed, it was a sad day at the Sauce. It especially hit Double L hard. Good things really never last, and by 2003 we had shut down the store, I moved on to touring nationally as a DJ, and I never heard from Double L again. I do remember though, Double L bringing in cassettes, specifically home made Stretch and Bobbito tapes that we would all listen to during store hours. Here’s one that I can remember LL bringing in, and one that was revisited by Chairman Mao, Stretch, and Bobbito a few weeks ago in San Francisco at a Red Bull Music Academy Lecture.

If Biggie didn’t die, would fast rapping Jay Z aka Jaz been as big as he is now? That’s for another post, but in 1995, Big L straight killed this freestyle on the Stretch and Bobbito show. Jay’s flow is quick, and nice, but it’s Big L that steals the show. Rest in Power Big L, who knows where you would have been if you were still alive? Probably competing as one of the greatest rappers of all time (no disrespect to Big Daddy Kane on this one).

Big L Freestyle on the Stretch and Bobbito Show 02.23.95