Like so many others, the Wu has has met friends along the way. Through connections, old friends, friends of friends and so on. In '94 one of those individuals found their way into the line of sight of one the Wu-Tang's executive officers. That particular man was Oliver Grant (aka Power) and that individual was Lason Jackson. Lason, born and raised in the Bronx Borough of New York City, soon became acquainted with Power, and soon after was introduced to the Wu-Tang Clan. "They were executives I ain't even know they were from the Wu-Tang, next thing I knew they were from the Wu-Tang then when I found out where they were from, they introduced me to Raekwon, Meth and it was on after that, they knew our rhymes, we [L'a & Method Man] was just in the studio freestyling, and it's been on ever since." At the age of 10, Lason began to write his own raps, and by the age of 17 had completed his first song, while also officially transforming into L'a the Darkman. That song was "I Want It All", the closing cut to his debut album.
Apart from being an accomplished rapper, L'a also has a background in Business Administration & Accounting, which he acquired during his schooling attending Tennessee State University. L'a has said that the skills and such that he learned while at school, besides that idea of hard work that he learned by paying his own way through school, has led him to become a "businessman- artist" and to be able to watch his own back when it comes to what money is spent, where it's spent, and when. At the beginning of his career, L'a was signed to Fo' Real Records for a short time, and then to Big Beat Records, which was an off-shoot of Atlantic Records. L'a though was having trouble with the company, by means of money and who was getting paid what points. The company refused to publish his album, and would also not allow for a bunch of the songs to be bought by the company that would later pick him up and release his first solo album, "Heist of the Century". The company which eventually picked him up was actually started by a member of Rza's production team, The Wu-Elements. The member was Supreme, who had recently started his own production company, entitled Supreme Team Entertainment.
L'a's type of rhyme is fairly hard to put a label on, due to the fact that he's incorporated so many aspects of different rappers, and different aspects of life. His lyrics and such resemble that of both Raekwon & GhostFace Killah, but has a style more of Method Man. He raps about all areas of life that he personally has dealt with along his travels. On songs like the title track, Heist of the Century, which also features Killa Sin (of KillArmy), L'a and Killa Sin rap about robbing banks, stealing codes and information, hacking computers and what not. But then you go over to a song like "Love" which features Maia Campbell (of LL Cool J's TV show 'In The House'), he talks about meeting this girl back in high school and goes on to describe her and his life with her. He just flows from one end of the spectrum to the other. There's no boundaries to his style.
Besides his album and white label singles, L'a hasn't made that many other appearances in the industry. He dropped his first official promo single on Big Beat Records (before he terminated his contract), Heist of the Century, and then was quiet for awhile, until he resurfaced on DJ Muggs Compilation album, "Soul Assassins - Vol. 1". He premiered on a track called "Devil In A Blue Dress". Another white label promo also came out called "Young Thugz", which features Masta Killa. This track was originally supposed to appear on the album, but due to record label problems, was replaced with other cuts. The only other track L'a has really dropped rhymes on besides those, would have to be the Davina cut, "So Good (So Dirty Remix)", which also features Ol' Dirty Bastard.
As of right now, I doubt L'a has plans for any new material coming out L'a is planning on making cameos on both Inspectah Deck's debut album, "Uncontrolled Substance", and Ol' Dirty Bastard's sophomore LP, "Nigga Please". Lastly, L'a is planning on producing a movie of his own, like so many in his line of work are doing these days. This's a quote from the man himself about the movie, "it's like a street scenario, it's got a lot of twists and turns, it's a serious joint."
Singles/Album Info.
I Want It All / Az The World Turnz
(Fo' Real Records 0777716 ) 1996
This was a promo 12" release only on Fo' Real Records, and their was two versions of it. One version contained two mixes of I Want It All, a Six July and a clean Cents Mix, while the other contained the previous two mixes, but this time adding the dirty Cents mix. Raekwon is featured on Az The World Turnz.
DJ Muggs - The Soul Assassins LP:
(Columbia Records; CK 66820) 1997
La The Darkman appears on the track Devil In A Blue Dress Produced by Muggs, this track made many headz first realize his skills and connections to Wu in the line "Lampin, eatin fish in the Wu Mansion".
Heist of The Century/I Want It All
(Atlantic/Big Beat Promo; DMD-2457) 1998
This promo 12" contains the clean and steet mixes of "Heist of The Century" featuring Killa Sin and the clean and street mixes of "I Want It All" (Six July Mix) from 1996, diffrent from the 1995 version.
Come Over To My Place/So Good (So Dirty Remix)
(CD-5 Loud Records; 07863 65448-2) 1998
L'a The Darkman appears on the exclusive b-side single cut with Old Dirty Bastard on the So Dirty Remix of So Good by Davina.
Spring Water/City Lights
(Supreme Team Entertaiment; STE-3007) 1998
First single off of "Heist of The Century" Lp, on his new label, Supreme Team. Raekwon appears on Spring Water, and City Lights is the official title to the joint some were calling A Good Nigga and Street Stories which were the bootleg and street names.
Heist of The Century LP
(Supreme Team Entertainment; STE-30072) 1998
Debut LL from L'a. Tracks such as Lucci, Shine, Polluted Wisdom, 4 Souls, and Wu-Blood Kin are off the hook. Ghostface Killah, 12 O'Clock, Raekwon, Killa Sin, and Havoc all have cameos on the LP, which many are comparing to Raekwons debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. Overall, a very good start from L'a, whose debut was long delayed.
Albums
Heist Of The Century
Track Listings
01. Lucci
La The Darkman
02. Shine
La The Darkman
03. City Lights
La The Darkman
04. What Thugs Do
La The Darkman f/ Dj Rogers & Puff
05. Heist Of The Century
La The Darkman f/ Killa Sin
06. Fifth Disciple
La The Darkman
07. Now Y
La The Darkman
08. Spring Water
La The Darkman f/ Raekwon
09. 4 Souls
La The Darkman f/ Shotti Screwface
10.Street Life
La The Darkman f/ Tekitha
11. Love
La The Darkman f/ Mala Campbell
12. Figaro Chain
La The Darkman f/ Havok Of Mobb Deep
13. Polluted Wisdom
La The Darkman
14. Gun Rule
La The Darkman
15. Element Of Surprise
La The Darkman f/ U-God & Masta Killah
16. Az The World Turnz
La The Darkman f/ Raekwon
17. Wu-Blood Kin
La The Darkman f/ Ghostface Killah & 12 O'Clock
18. I Want It All
La The Darkman
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