New York street named after '90s hip-hop artist Big L

A street in East Harlem, New York has been named after the late ’90s hip-hop artist known as Big L.

Big L, real name Lamont Coleman, was a founding member of Harlem hip-hop crew Children of the Corn alongside Mase, Cam’ron, Bloodshed, and McGruff. He signed to Columbia Records and in 1995 released his debut solo album, ‘Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous’, which featured Jay-Z among others.

The new street sign, which now reads Lamont “Big L” Coleman Way, has been placed on the corner of W 140th Street and Lenox Avenue in New York City near the place Coleman was shot and killed on 15th February, 1999. The person suspected of murdering Big L, Gerard Woodley, was shot and killed in 2016.

A campaign for the sign had been launched by the team behind the Big L documentary ‘Street Stuck’ (which takes its title from the Big L track of the name same). The tribute was unveiled on Monday (30th May), to commemorate what would have been Big L’s 48th birthday. Watch a video of the unveiling below.

Last year, a petition was launched to name a New York street after MF DOOM. Steered by Dr. Patrick Graham, the ‘KMD-MF Doom Way Committee’ have requested that Long Beach City Council rename the block between Riverside Boulevard and Long Beach Road on East Hudson Street in Long Beach after the late MF Doom, real name Daniel Dumile, who grew up in the city.

Image via Oska05