Phat Phillie’s Hip-Hop Stories Volume 1 : Big L

Polish website DustyRoom.pl recently asked me to write a story on the Big L show I promoted back at Club Aquarius Zagreb in 1997.

My partner Dj Frx & I started our Blackout Rap Show in Zagreb, Croatia in November of ’93. When it came to ’97 we wanted 2 celebrate our radio show’s 4th anniversary with something special. A year before (1996) I spent 4 great months in London & through Dapo Ajayi (UK Zulu King) I met Serena Parsons, she used to run a booking agency called Profile. A year later (’97) she offered to book O.C. as he was coming to Europe to promote his ‘Jewelz‘ album which we loved and played a lot. It was supposed to be my first ever US promoted Rap show in Zagreb. We had P.E. Ice T, Afrika Bambaataa before, I definitely went to see those gigs & even DJ’d at the Bambaataa one.

A week or so before the show I received a fax from Serena with the passengers list (to book flights & hotels since they were spending 3-4 days in Zagreb on their off days). One thing that was interesting on the list was the name Lamont Coleman, I asked Serena if that was Big L & she said yes, L was going on a tour as a support for O.C. We were all Big L fans, and we heard his Columbia Records album & DITC singles ‘Day One’ & ‘The Enemy’ w/ Fat Joe was already out & in high rotation on my radio show. The DJ who came with L & O was DJ O.Gee, a producer from DITC. The boys arrived with no problems, we checked them in at the hotel Intercontinental (Westin nowadays).

We did a concert at club Aquarius & filmed it with two cameras for Top DJ Mag show on Croatian TV. Frx and I were DJing before the gig but also at one point during the show Big L gave me the mic & I ended up doing ad-libs for OC‘s ‘My World‘.

While in Zagreb, Big L was messing with this girl named Tajana and when he was leaving for the airport he gave me her hoodie to give it back (I guess she left it in his room). I met up with Tajana and she was hot so I started messing with her for a couple of months after that lol.

After the boys left I went to the music store where we sold tickets for the show and I got a cold shower, someone came in and pretended he was me and got all the money from the presale. I actually now think that the store lied and took all the money as I was young and didn’t have any paperwork. The show was financed by my radio station and when my boss found out about that he was so pissed that I never ever actually fully recovered my status at the station and I stayed there until 2013 doing Blackout Rap Show.

L and I kept in touch, he gave me his phone number and we even spoke a few weeks before he got shot. After he passed away, Rawkus records and his manager Rich King sent me a gold plaque for ‘The Big Picture’ album to thank me for taking care of Big L while in Zagreb. He really enjoyed his time in Zagreb, it was one of his favorite performances ever during his short career. He is deeply missed. I remain in a great relationship with O.C. and the whole DITC, went to see them numerous times in NYC and went to the DITC studios in the Bronx.

O.C. even did a song about the Zagreb show called ‘Real Life Part 1&2’.

“Me & L at the radio stations On the same tour we met Phat Phillie from Croatia For a last minute booking out in Zagreb to do a show That was my last run with Corleone”

R.I.P. L (May 30, 1974 – Feb 15, 1999)

Photos: Simon Stojko Falk, Lutvo Mekić, Tomislav Čuveljak