Big L ‎– Devil's Son EP (From The Vaults)

RSD at this point is a shitshow of overpriced reissues and novelties, but every year, there's a gem or two among the $35 picture-disc editions of the Cocktail soundtrack or whatever other dollar-bin record the majors are trying to mark-up. This right here is a long overdue collection of some of L's harder to find material from his years with Sony. There's the infamous "Devil's Son" single, plus the three other songs that appeared on the first promo tape of Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous, but were cut from retail release. The biggest deal among these gems is "Times Iz Hard," which has yet to appear on any of the countless posthumous Big L collections (excluding mixtapes) and is, in my opinion, one of L's greatest tracks. The only place to find this previously was some pricey bootleg wax, so having an official release is incredibly gratifying. Also included is the excellent 90's demo "Unexpected Flava" with an assist from an in-his-prime Large Professor. Not sure why that Lifestylez reissue from a few years back didn't throw on all of these as bonus material, but better late than never. Seek this out if you can.