Joey Bada$$ Wants To Portray Big L In A Biopic

In a recent interview with REVOLT, Joey Bada$$ shared that he wants to play Big L in a biopic. Big L’s record label has since responded.

Joey Bada$$ has his sights on portraying Big L in a future biopic. In a recent interview with REVOLT, the 2000 rapper shared that he’d want to play the Harlem rapper, whose debut album Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous was released in 1995.

A hip hop icon that I would love to play in a biopic would have to be Big L,” Joey said. “I’ve heard many people in my career tell me how I favor him look-wise. Personally, he’s one of my favorite rappers to come out of the golden age — his story isn’t known well enough, so I would love to bring his story to light and worldwide.”

TMZ reached out to Brian Shafton, a partner at RBC Records, which owns several masters to Big L’s music, and he agreed that Joey should portray Big L. However, Shafton mentioned that it be near impossible to license Big L’s tracks for the film due to copyright infringement from samples.

Joey, whose real name is Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott, currently plays Kadeem “Unique” Mathis in Power spinoff Power Book III: Raising Kanan. Joey’s acting career began in 2016 while playing Leon on USA Network drama Mr. Robot followed by short-lived BET sitcom Boomerang. The rapper last portrayed ’90s hip-hop veteran Inspectah Deck in Hulu series Wu-Tang: An American Saga in 2019, only to be replaced Uyoata Udi due to scheduling conflicts with Joey’s 2020 short film Two Distant Strangers. The short film won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film at the 93rd Academy Awards.

In July, Joey released his long-awaited third album 2000, which features Diddy, Westside Gunn, Larry June, Chris Brown, Capella Grey and JID.