Found: Full Version of Big L and Jay-Z’s 1995 Freestyle for Stretch & Bobbito.

On February 23, 1995, Jay-Z and Big L visited the Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito Show to promote the “In My Lifetime” single and Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, respectively. They dropped a legendary 9 and a half minute freestyle and the full recording has only just surfaced. This moment in hip-hop history is especially surreal considering the paths that lay ahead of the two rappers, who at the time were peers on the NY hip-hop scene. Big L was murdered in 1999, blocks away from his home in Harlem. Jay-Z recently had lunch with billionaire investor Warren Buffet.

Play this for a friend whose knowledge of Jay-Z begins with “Roc Boys” and ends with “Empire State of Mind.” They might be surprised that Jay-Z could once hold his own against one of the most dexterous rappers ever.