In the early months of 1999, Jay-Z and Damon Dash paid weekly visits to the Harlem home of Lamont Coleman, a/k/a the rapper Big L, in an attempt to persuade him to sign with their Roc-A-Fella record label. One of L's two older brothers, Donald Phinazee, says he repeatedly turned down their advances out of loyalty to his friends: "Jay-Z wanted to sign him, but Lamont wanted them to also sign McGruff and C-Town, other rappers, as part of the deal. They... More >>>