Lorenzo Lee-Jae Wright (born February 11, 1989), better known by his stage name Big Lean, is a Canadian rapper from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Lean began making music in 2008, two years after his friend and rapper Blits was shot dead as he felt that he should carry on his friends legacy. He gained attention in 2011 being featured on the single "Reality" by DJ Charlie Brown released alongside other Toronto artists P. Reign,

Belly Belly may refer to: Anatomy * The abdomen, the part of the body between the pelvis and the thorax; or the stomach ** A beer belly, an overhang of fat above the waist, presumed to be caused by regular beer drinking ** Belly dance * The fleshy, ce ...

and Jahvon. He is independently signed to the label Da Degrees. He subsequently released his third mixtape '' Can't Stop Now'' in 2014 with features from

Chief Keef Keith Farrelle Cozart (born August 15, 1995), better known by his stage name Chief Keef, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago's South Side, he began his recording career as a teenager and initially garnered re ...

Juicy J Jordan Michael Houston III (born April 5, 1975), known professionally as Juicy J, is an American rapper and record producer. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he is a founding member of the Southern hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, established ...

and

Chinx Drugz Lionel Du Fon Pickens (December 4, 1983 – May 17, 2015), professionally known as Chinx (formerly Chinx Drugz), was an American rapper. He was a member of The Rockaway Riot Squad alongside fellow slain rapper Stack Bundles. Chinx later joined Fr ...

and his debut album '' Enough is Enough'' was released in 2015 with features from

Nipsey Hussle Ermias Joseph Asghedom (born Airmiess Joseph Asghedom; August 15, 1985 – March 31, 2019), known professionally as Nipsey Hussle, was an American rapper, entrepreneur, and activist. Emerging from the West Coast hip-hop scene in the mid-20 ...

Juelz Santana LaRon Louis James Sr. (born February 18, 1982), better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper and member of now-defunct hip-hop group, the Diplomats (also known as Dipset). He is best known for his appearances on group coho ...

and was executively produced by Lean's longtime friend,

Boi-1da Matthew Jehu Samuels (born October 12, 1986), known professionally as Boi-1da (a play on Boy Wonder) is a Canadian record producer and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. He is an in-house producer for Drake's OVO Sound label and has prod ...

. The album received a 7/10 rating by

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

. After releasing a freestyle of "Leg Over", Big Lean was featured on the single '' In The Morning'' by

Mr Eazi Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade (born 19 July 1991), better known by his stage name Mr Eazi, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record executive. He is the pioneer of Banku music, a fusion of sound he describes as a mixture of Ghanaian highlife a ...

. The song peaked at number 7 on the Billboard charts and a music video released on March 1, 2017. Big Lean appeared on

6ixBuzz 6ixBuzz (pronounced ''six-buzz''), is a controversial online media platform based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 2017 by Abraham Tekabo and Sarman Esagholian, 6ixBuzz is best known for sharing user-generated content, clickbait, and local news i ...

's 2018 compilation album ''

6ixUpsideDown 6ixBuzz (pronounced ''six-buzz''), is a controversial online media platform based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 2017 by Abraham Tekabo and Sarman Esagholian, 6ixBuzz is best known for sharing user-generated content, clickbait, and local news i ...

'', which peaked at 87 on the

Canadian Albums Chart The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...

, with the single "M.I.A." alongside

Safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable enclosure used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body ...

Early life

Lorenzo Lee-Jae Wright was born on February 11, 1989, and was raised in Parma Court which is located in the

East York East York is a district and former municipality within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From 1967 to 1998, it was officially the Borough of East York, a borough within the upper-tier municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The borough was dissolved ...

area of

. Both his parents were Jamaican immigrants and he was one of three children. He was left to be raised by his mother alone after his parents split up when he was a child. Lorenzo gained the nickname "Lean" as a child after a friend of his misheard his mother calling him "Lee", a shortened version of his middle name "Lee-Jae." Lorenzo went on to use the moniker "Big Lean" as his stage name. Lean has stated that his mother was very supportive in life and told him that he can achieve anything he put his mind too. During his high school years, Wright was recruited in a top-level basketball program, the Scarborough Basketball Association, however, he dropped out due to financial problems. As a result, he began to sell drugs on the streets which often got him into trouble with law enforcement. Big Lean's older brother, who was known by friend and family as "Bigga", passed away in 2002. A person Lean describes as a major influence in his life, stating that he never smoked

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

because of his older brother. The loss of his older brother made Lean turn to the streets and focus less on his studies. Lean attended numerous high schools but due to his poor attendance, this led to his expulsion. He dropped out of high school before he finished his senior year due to frustration.

Career

2008–2011: ''Beginnings and early releases''

Big Lean began making music at the age of 19, two years after his friend and rapper Blits (Kareme Parks) was shot dead as he felt that he should carry on his friends legacy. Lean started releasing numerous freestyles and tracks to little success. He released his debut mixtape ''I'm Here Now'' on November 25, 2010, where the majority of the production was handled by

and a vocal feature from

. It also contained production from his childhood friend "Yung Tony" now known as OVO Hush, a mutual friend of Drake. It wasn't until 2011 when he saw his first commercial breakthrough. DJ Charlie Brown released his first single "Reality", which saw him put together a collection of Toronto artists including P. Reign,

, Jahvon & Big Lean. It was released on February 9, 2011. This brought Lean into the spotlight of other commercially successful artists as well as the DJ entering the rap industry. He also released his debut single "You Got It Good" on March 22, 2011. Big Lean dropped his sophomore mixtape '' Something Gotta Give'' on October 11, 2011. It featured guest appearances from R.O.Z. and

Sizzla Miguel Orlando Collins (born 17 April 1976), known by his stage name Sizzla Kalonji or Sizzla, is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is one of the most commercially and critically successful contemporary reggae artists and is noted for his high num ...

, and

served as executive producer of the album.

2012–2016: ''Can't Stop Now'' & ''Enough is Enough''

He released the single "My Lifestyle" on December 27, 2012, and featured

. The following year, he released the single "Too much for TV" featuring

and the single "Squeeze" featuring

with a music video released on September 6, 2013. All singles went on to be featured on his third mixtape " Can't Stop Now" was released on July 15, 2013. Lean made a return to music in late 2014 with the release of "Everything's alright". It was produced by

Pro Logic Dolby Pro Logic is a surround sound processing technology developed by Dolby Laboratories, designed to decode soundtracks encoded with Dolby Surround. The terms Dolby Stereo and LtRt (''Left Total'', ''Right Total'') are also used to describe sou ...

and was the first promotional single for his upcoming studio album. The music video contained cameos from

and

Jimmy Prime Gordon Edward Phillips III (born ), better known by his stage name Jimmy Prime, is a rapper from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Jimmy is known for coining "The Six" as a nickname for Toronto and being the frontman of the hip hop group Prime Boys. Musi ...

. Big Lean released his debut studio album '' Enough is Enough'' on September 4, 2015. The album was also supported by two singles including "Benjamins" featuring

which was released on March 6, 2015 and the single "California Water" featuring

. A music video for the single was released a year later on June 8, 2016. The non-album singles "Wavy" featuring Halal Gang member Mo-G was released on February 29, 2016 and "More Than Music" was released on March 13, 2016. Big Lean released the single "Stamina" on September 11, 2016, after receiving a shoutout from

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

earlier in the year. Lean also made an appearance on the single "Ya Ya" by

Baka Not Nice Travis Savoury (born March 6, 1979), known professionally as Baka Not Nice, is a Canadian rapper and former security guard. He signed with Drake's record label OVO Sound, an imprint of Warner Records, in 2018. Career Baka's career began as part ...

released on November 6, 2016.

2017–present

A remix of his single "Stamina" featuring

PartyNextDoor Jahron Anthony Brathwaite (born July 3, 1993), known professionally as PartyNextDoor (often stylized in all caps), is a Canadian singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer. He was the first artist to sign with Drake's record label OVO Sound ...

was released on January 7, 2017, and was placed on

OVO Sound Radio OVO Sound (short for October's Very Own) is a Canadian independent record label, founded in 2012 by rapper Drake, producer 40, and manager Oliver El-Khatib. The label operated as a subsidiary of Warner Music Group until 2022, after which it b ...

and subsequently led to Big Lean supporting the artist on his international tour. In March 2017, he released the single "On Deck" After releasing a freestyle over " Leg Over", Big Lean was featured on the single '' In The Morning'' by

. The song peaked at number 7 on the Billboard charts on February 25, 2017, and a music video released on March 1, 2017. He collaborated with the afrobeats singer again in August 2017 on "Long Time" and was produced by Juls. In December 2017, Big Lean was on the

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company ...

's documentary ''

6IX RISING 6IX RISING: Toronto’s Rap Ascendence (pronounced ''six rising'') is a Canadians, Canadian documentary film about the Canadian hip hop, hip hop culture in Canada. The film was directed by Shawney Cohen and released on November 16, 2017. It was d ...

''. The 75-minute documentary showcased Toronto's hip-hop scene alongside other Canadian rap artists. Lean enlisted British rapper Giggs, to feature on his second track of 2018; "Hermes". The single was released by British media outlet

GRM Daily GRM Daily (Grime & Rap Music Daily), formerly Grime Daily, is a British urban music outlet and entertainment platform. As the name suggests, the platform is an outlet for UK rap and its various genres, such as UK drill, afroswing, trap, and Br ...

on February 8, 2018. In the same year, Lean released the singles "Julie", "Don't Stop" and "Motivation". Big Lean was featured on

's compilation album ''

'' released on October 19, 2018, with the single "M.I.A." alongside

. Lean signed Ryda to his independent label ''Da Degrees'', the pair subsequently released the singles "Dumb Rich" on April 19, 2019, and "Drop" on June 28, 2019. During this time he also featured on Zoe Grind's song ''ATL'' alongside R.O.Z. He teamed up with

Murda Beatz Shane Lee Lindstrom (born February 11, 1994), known professionally as Murda Beatz, is a Canadian record producer from Ontario. Working predominantly in hip hop and trap music, he has produced hit songs and albums for various musical acts since 2 ...

to release the single "Action" on July 26, 2019.

Other Ventures

Da Degrees

Da Degrees is an independent record label co-founded by Canadian rapper Big Lean and business partner Lotto Max. The label also forms a

hip hop collective Musical collective is a phrase used to describe a group of musicians in which membership is flexible and creative control is shared.Liisa Ladouceur"Collective Souls" '' This Magazine'', November/December 2004. The concept is distinct from that o ...

for its currently signed artists. In 2010, Big Lean founded his own independent record label, Da Degrees (formerly known as 380 Degrees), with long time friend Joel Anthony Alexander (stage name; Lotto Max). Lean is currently self-signed to the label, having released all his mixtapes and albums through the label. Co-founder Lotto Max was killed in a drive-by shooting in his hometown of Parma Court on December 11, 2015, which led to Lean becoming the sole operator of the label. One of the earliest artists signed to the label includes Lean's long time friend and rapper R.O.Z. who was signed since the formation of the label. More recent artists signed to the label included Toronto native Ryda, who was added to the roster in 2018. The group have released several mixtapes under the label. Da Degrees also represents as a hip-hop collective for these artists.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2015: '' Enough is Enough''

Mixtapes

* 2010: ''I'm Here Now'' * 2011: ''Something Gotta Give'' * 2013: ''Can't Stop Now''

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{Big Lean 1989 births Living people 21st-century Black Canadian musicians Canadian hip-hop singers Canadian male rappers Canadian pop singers Canadian rhythm and blues singers Canadian male songwriters Rappers from Toronto Writers from Toronto Ghostwriters 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian singers 21st-century Canadian rappers