Big L’s debut album, Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, was released on March 28, 1995 through Columbia Records. Recording sessions took place primarily at Powerplay Studios in Queens, New York in 1994 after Big L created a four-track demo in 1993 that ended up getting him signed. Production was handled by Buckwild, Craig Boogie, Kid Capri, Lord Finesse, and Showbiz. Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B charts, and #149 overall on the Billboard 200. The album was supported by two singles: “Put It On” featuring Kid Capri, and “M.V.P.” (which initially featured the same DeBarge sample from “Stay With Me” that was used on The Notorious B.I.G.’s “One More Chance / Stay With Me (Remix),” leading Big L to use the “Summer Smooth Mix” of M.V.P. in the music video). In a 2010 interview with HipHopDX, rapper/producer Lord Finesse spoke about Big L’s debut album: He was smarter than what he would lead you to believe on that album. But, it’s like, [for] Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous, “I’m portraying this character, and this character I’m portraying has to be believable”. The stuff he has to do has to be so over-the-top. And that’s a lot of the characters he was portraying on that album. It was a mixture between what was going on in Harlem and fiction. Some of it was real, some of it was fiction. [So] when he wanted to go over-the-top with some shit he went over the top with it!