Edward Lee Knight

Edward Lee Knight (November 2, 1971 – July 24, 2001), best known by his stage name Big Ed (or Big Ed the Assassin), was a rapper from Richmond, California who was signed to Master P's No Limit Records from 1993 to 1999. Knight attended Eastern Washington University from 1992 to 1993 on a basketball scholarship, but dropped out to pursue a career in rap music in the Bay Area under the wing of Master P, joining both his TRU & West Coast Bad Boyz cliques. When Master P moved from Richmond back to his hometown of New Orleans Louisiana in 1995, Big Ed remained with the label. His debut album, "The Assassin", was released on September 1, 1998 and debuted at #15 on the Billboard 200 and #3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. In August 1999, Big Ed left No Limit along with Beats By The Pound, Fiend, Mr. Serv-On & Full Blooded and started his own record label, Special Forces Records. He released his second album through this label, 2000's "Special Forces", which featured contributions from his former No Limit labelmates. Despite being a non smoker, physically fit & having a vegan diet, Big Ed died of Hodgkin lymphoma cancer on July 24, 2001.