[Certain]

It's a classic only because it's Big L's only album released before his death. If he had not died, he would have made three to five better albums. This is particularly true because his style would have fit in so well with the late-1990s trends. I'm not saying he could have been as big as Jay Z, but he probably would have been more commercially successful than Nas and more artistically credible than Mase. (The Big Picture shows us only flashes because it was stuffed with all they could find from Big L after his death.)

But as far as Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, I find myself blown away by Big L's talent at times but put off by the lazy production (and two mostly mediocre, long posse cuts, though those young Killa Cam and Jay Z verses are fire). Buckwild and Showbiz gave O.C. better beats for Word ... Life, and everyone involved had a problem with writing and delivering hooks.

"I Don't Understand It" is a perfect example. Big L is sharp as fuck on that track, but the Showbiz beat and hook are really unremarkable. Lord Finesse has three of the four best songs on the album in "M.V.P.," "All Black" and the title track ("Put It On" being the fourth).

He should have been working with DJ Premier, basically.