Big Lean facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Big Lean
Wright in May 2014
Background information
Birth name	Lorenzo Lee-jae Wright
Born	(1989-02-11) February 11, 1989 (age 36)
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Canadian hip hop hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper singer songwriter
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Da Degrees
Children	1

Lorenzo Lee-Jae Wright (born February 11, 1989), known as Big Lean, is a Canadian rapper from Toronto, Ontario. He started making music in 2008. He wanted to continue the musical journey of his friend, Blits, who had passed away. Big Lean became well-known in 2011 after being featured on the song "Reality" by DJ Charlie Brown. This song also included other Toronto artists like P. Reign and Belly. Big Lean releases his music independently through his label, Da Degrees.

He later released his third mixtape, Can't Stop Now, in 2014. It featured artists such as Chief Keef and Juicy J. His first album, Enough is Enough, came out in 2015. This album included collaborations with Nipsey Hussle and Juelz Santana. It was produced by his long-time friend, Boi-1da. The album received a good review, earning a 7/10 rating from Exclaim! magazine.

After releasing a freestyle version of "Leg Over", Big Lean was featured on the song In The Morning by Mr Eazi. This song reached number 7 on the Billboard charts. A music video for the song was released on March 1, 2017. Big Lean also appeared on 6ixBuzz's 2018 album 6ixUpsideDown. This album reached number 87 on the Canadian Albums Chart. He was featured on the song "M.I.A." with Safe on that album.

About Big Lean

Early Life and Nickname

Lorenzo Lee-Jae Wright was born on February 11, 1989. He grew up in an area of Toronto called Parma Court in East York. His parents were immigrants from Jamaica, and he was one of three children. His parents separated when he was young, and his mother raised him.

Lorenzo got the nickname "Lean" when he was a child. A friend misheard his mother calling him "Lee," which was a shorter version of his middle name, Lee-Jae. Lorenzo later used "Big Lean" as his stage name. He has shared that his mother always supported him and told him he could achieve anything he set his mind to.

Challenges and Education

During his high school years, Lorenzo was a talented basketball player. He was part of a top basketball program, the Scarborough Basketball Association. However, he had to leave the program because of financial difficulties. This led him to face challenges in his life and get into trouble.

Big Lean's older brother, known as "Bigga," passed away in 2002. Bigga was a very important person in Lean's life. Lean has said that because of his brother, he chose not to use certain substances. After losing his brother, Lean found it harder to focus on his studies. He attended several high schools but often missed classes, which led to him leaving school before finishing his senior year.

Music Career

Starting Out (2008–2011)

Big Lean began making music when he was 19 years old. He felt it was important to continue the musical journey of his friend, Blits (Kareme Parks), who had passed away two years earlier. Lean started by releasing many freestyles and songs, but they didn't gain much attention at first.

His first mixtape, I'm Here Now, was released on November 25, 2010. Most of the music on this mixtape was produced by Boi-1da. It also featured a song with Belly and production from his childhood friend, Yung Tony (now known as OVO Hush).

Big Lean's first big success came in 2011. DJ Charlie Brown released his song "Reality" on February 9, 2011. This song brought together several Toronto artists, including P. Reign, Belly, Jahvon, and Big Lean. This helped Lean become known among other successful artists. He also released his first single, "You Got It Good," on March 22, 2011. Big Lean then released his second mixtape, Something Gotta Give, on October 11, 2011. It featured guest artists like R.O.Z. and Sizzla, and Boi-1da was the main producer.

Later Releases (2012–2016)

Big Lean released the song "My Lifestyle" on December 27, 2012, which featured Chief Keef. The next year, he released "Too much for TV" with Juicy J and "Squeeze" with Chinx Drugz. A music video for "Squeeze" came out on September 6, 2013. All these songs were included on his third mixtape, "Can't Stop Now", which was released on July 15, 2013.

Lean returned to music in late 2014 with "Everything's alright." This song was produced by Pro Logic and was the first song to promote his upcoming album. The music video for it included appearances from Sizzla and Jimmy Prime. Big Lean's first studio album, Enough is Enough, was released on September 4, 2015. The album also had two other songs released as singles: "Benjamins" featuring Juelz Santana (released March 6, 2015) and "California Water" featuring Nipsey Hussle. A music video for "California Water" was released on June 8, 2016. He also released other songs not on the album, like "Wavy" with Mo-G from Halal Gang (February 29, 2016) and "More Than Music" (March 13, 2016).

On September 11, 2016, Big Lean released the song "Stamina" after Drake mentioned him earlier that year. Lean also appeared on the song "Ya Ya" by Baka Not Nice, released on November 6, 2016.

Recent Work (2017–Present)

A new version of his song "Stamina" featuring PartyNextDoor was released on January 7, 2017. This version was played on OVO Sound Radio, which led to Big Lean joining PartyNextDoor on his international tour. In March 2017, he released the song "On Deck." After releasing a freestyle over "Leg Over", Big Lean was featured on the song In The Morning by Mr Eazi. This song reached number 7 on the Billboard charts on February 25, 2017, and its music video came out on March 1, 2017. He worked with the afrobeats singer again in August 2017 on "Long Time," which was produced by Juls. In December 2017, Big Lean was part of the Noisey documentary 6IX RISING. This 75-minute film showed the hip-hop music scene in Toronto and featured other Canadian rap artists.

Lean worked with British rapper Giggs on his second song of 2018, "Hermes." This song was released by the British media group GRM Daily on February 8, 2018. In the same year, Lean released the songs "Julie," "Don't Stop," and "Motivation." Big Lean was featured on 6ixBuzz's album 6ixUpsideDown, which was released on October 19, 2018. He was on the song "M.I.A." with Safe.

Lean signed Ryda to his independent music label, Da Degrees. Together, they released the songs "Dumb Rich" on April 19, 2019, and "Drop" on June 28, 2019. During this time, he also appeared on Zoe Grind's song ATL with R.O.Z. He then teamed up with Murda Beatz to release the song "Action" on July 26, 2019.

Other Projects

Da Degrees Label

Da Degrees is an independent record label that Big Lean co-founded with his business partner, Lotto Max. This label also acts as a hip hop collective for the artists who are signed to it. Big Lean started his own independent record label, Da Degrees (which used to be called 380 Degrees), in 2010 with his long-time friend Joel Anthony Alexander (known as Lotto Max). Big Lean currently releases all his own mixtapes and albums through this label. Co-founder Lotto Max passed away in his hometown of Parma Court on December 11, 2015. After this, Lean became the only person running the label.

One of the first artists to sign with the label was Lean's friend and rapper R.O.Z., who joined when the label first started. More recently, Ryda, an artist from Toronto, was added to the group in 2018. The artists in the group have released several mixtapes under the Da Degrees label.

Music Releases

Albums

• 2015: Enough is Enough

Mixtapes

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

Film and TV Appearances