Large Professor Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records (Part 1)

Large Professor’s discography ain’t no joke. We met up with Large Pro at Fat Beats Headquarters in Brooklyn.

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Large Professor’s discography ain’t no joke. The innovative and intelligent Flushing, Queens–bred producer/MC, who started his career as Main Source’s front man and a ghost producer for Eric B. & Rakim, has amassed a catalog of timeless, sample-based classics, collaborating with a lengthy list of legendary artists from his borough and beyond. As we celebrate Nas week, it seemed only right to get with Large Pro, the producer who introduced Nasty Nas to the game.

Let’s take a sec to think back. There are his Main Source hits (“Looking at the Front Door,” “Fakin’ The Funk,”), his work with Nas on Illmatic (“Halftime,” “One Time 4 Your Mind,” “It Ain’t Hard To Tell,”) and Stillmatic (“You're Da Man,” “Rewind”), not to mention his unforgettable appearance with A Tribe Called Quest on Midnight Marauders’ “Keep It Rollin’.”

Add on solo joints like “The Mad Scientist,” poisonous production for Kool G Rap and Big L, and hard-hitting remixes for Beastie Boys, Common, Mobb Deep, and Gang Starr, plus guest spots with Lord Finesse and The Beatnuts, and you’ve got a hip-hop resume jam-packed with rawness.

With his fourth solo album, Professor @ Large, dropping June 26th, we met up with Large Pro at Fat Beats Headquarters in Brooklyn to break down the stories behind his classic records. In Part One, Extra P gives us the extra details about Big Daddy Kane’s deadpan reaction to him showing up late for a session, hanging out with Q-Tip during the making of The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders (he also shares which of the two albums is his favorite), and creating “Live at the Barbeque,” tracks for Illmatic, and the unreleased gem “Understanding” with Nas.

LP also speaks on MCA’s passing, shares his earliest Beastie Boys memory, and tells us how proud his father was when he heard Main Source songs playing during Boyz n the Hood and White Men Can’t Jump. Plus so much more—check the method.

RELATED: Do Androids Dance? - Ghost Hunters: EDM Ghost Producers Speak Out

As told to Daniel Isenberg (@StanIpcus)

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Eric B. & Rakim “In The Ghetto” (1990)

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Eric B. & Rakim “In The Ghetto” (1990)

Album: Let the Rhythm Hit ‘Em

Label: MCA

Producer: Large Professor (uncredited)

Large Professor: “I was into beats, and DJing. I had two turntables. I had a Casio SK-1 that I was doing loops on. I was doing pause tapes.

“Studio 1212 was ringin’ [at the time]. They had the credits on everything. So the DJs I was with, they found out what it was, and their Mom [who was our manager] was like, ‘We gotta get with this guy [who works at 1212].’ So she put us in the studio with Paul C, and [he engineered one of our early sessions].


 

Rakim told me the first line to that... He was like, ‘Yo, I’ma set it off like this, Baby Pa.’ And he let me hear the first line, and that was it. The next time I heard it, it was finished.


 

“Paul C was the dude who stepped me up studio-wise. He put me on to the SP-1200, tracks, compression, and chopping on the drum machine, and everything like that. He took my ideas to another level, with the ingenuity, and the machines, and all of that. Now, I was doing pause tapes, but in the SP-1200. Paul kind of gave me the lane. There was one time when he let me borrow his SP-1200 for like two weeks, and I just went crazy with the beats during that time. That was my start right there.

“Paul was already engineering for Biz [Markie], [Queen] Latifah, Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud who was on fire at that time, and Ultramagnetic MCs. So for that time, when the ill sample-based stuff and the ill groups were getting out there, Paul had that batch.

“‘Ghetto’ was dope because I remember when Paul called me when he found the record at a flea market in the back blocks of Rockaway. He played it for me over the phone and was like, ‘Yo, this is tough.’ Then, his untimely murder happened, which obviously caught us all by surprise.

“So anyway, Rakim showed up to the studio one day, and they had enlisted me to do the beats that day. And Paul used to make people these tapes of the original records [that could be used for samples]. So Rakim showed up with a cassette, and was like, ‘Yo, [let’s use] this right here.’ And I was like, ‘Oh shit, this is that ‘Ghetto’ shit that Paul let me hear one time.’

“So I looped it up off the tape right there. And Rakim was like, ‘Yo, I want the pauses in it. All the drops.’ So I sat there and messed with that loop. Back in the days, they had this shit called the Publison. So I threw it in the Publison, and did all of this chopping and all of that, and put it together.

“Rakim told me the first line to that, he only had the first line. He was like, ‘Yo, I’ma set it off like this, Baby Pa.’ And he let me hear the first line, and that was it. The next time I heard it, it was finished. I don’t know where he recorded vocals, but they went to Cali to finish it and mix it.

“Eric B. and Rakim were professional, but I was coming on the hip-hop B-Boy tip, where everyone would come to one dude’s house and DJ. I wasn’t on the professional side, like, ‘Show me the contracts.’ I was just in there doing beats. I had no contractual obligations with Eric B., because that’s who had me in there. On the strength of Paul C, I was in the studio. It wasn’t like, ‘You’re going to get credited for this and that.’

Kool G Rap & DJ Polo “Streets Of New York” (1990)

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Kool G Rap & DJ Polo “Streets Of New York” (1990)

Album: Wanted: Dead or Alive

Label: Cold Chillin’/WarnerBrothers

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “My dude [Joe] Fatal was the one who brought me around Eric B., G Rap, and everybody. He didn’t have to sell me, because the proof was in the beats. As soon as they were like, ‘Aiight, this is your man? Let’s see what you got,’ I just took flight. It wasn’t like we were bluffing or bullshitting. All Fatal did was say, ‘Yo, this is my dude, he’s nice with the beats.’ And we took it from there.


 

G. Rap is dope, because he would come to the studio with ideas already in mind. He’d come in with the rhymes written already. So we would formulate the beat right there.


 

“Fatal is just a cool dude. Everybody’s cool with Fatal. Through all five boroughs, everyone knows him. He first brought Tragedy to my house, when Trag first had got out of his first little dilemma, and from there it just started ringing off. I gave Trag beats, Marley [Marl] got in the picture, Eric B., G Rap, [and eventually Nas].

“I think what I first let G Rap hear were the Trag songs that I did. And then also Main Source, because that stuff was playing on the radio. Pete Rock and Marley were burning that. It was a culmination of all of that, like, ‘Yo, he’s official. He’s already on the radio.’ And Fatal was making sure everyone knew.

“The first song I had on the radio was 'Think.' I was right there at WBLS, and Pete Rock played it [on his show with Marley Marl]. We had pressed up our own records. Our manager, the two DJ’s mother, she had them pressed up. And Fatal was like, ‘Yo man, we can get in the doors. I’m cool with Marley and Pete. Let’s go up there.’ So I brought the record, and Pete just threw the needle on the record to see where it started, and just let it go. He didn’t even really listen to it [before he played it].

“I didn’t know Pete at that time, but one thing Fatal told me was, like, ‘Yo, bring some records with you. I know they like to sample, so just in case, you can trade some records or something like that.’ So I brought a case of records with me. And once Pete saw that, he was like, ‘Word? You like records too?’ And we just clicked like that. From there, it was on.

“G. Rap is dope, because he would come to the studio with ideas already in mind. He’d come in with the rhymes written already. So we would formulate the beat right there. I would start putting drums in, and he would be like, ‘Yo, I got this rhyme that would go good to that.’ ‘Streets of New York’ was one of those songs.

“The thing that was dope about that was Anton, the engineer, started really getting involved with it, and was like, ‘Yo, I can play this to it.’ And he started playing the piano. That’s Anton playing [the riff on the record]. We were in there goin’ off, all mixin’ it up. That song is like a masterpiece, because everyone was in on that, [kind of like a live jam].

“That was one of the strongest songs, the one that everyone was feeling. G Rap is the master of [painting a picture with his lyrics].”

Kool G Rap and DJ Polo f/ Large Professor, Freddie Foxxx, and Ant Live “Money In The Bank” (1990)

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Kool G Rap and DJ Polo f/ Large Professor, Freddie Foxxx, and Ant Live “Money In The Bank” (1990)

Album: Wanted: Dead or Alive

Label: Cold Chillin’/WarnerBrothers

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “When I was getting up with Pete Rock, he gave me those drums, the same drums from ‘The Symphony.’ He had that 45. I would go up to Mount Vernon all the time, and Pete was like, ‘Yo, these drums right here [are dope].’ So I was like, ‘Yo, can I rock those drums?’ So I sampled up the drums, and threw the bassline in there. That’s why I shouted Pete Rock out on [the song], ‘cause he hooked me up with the drums.


 

G Rap and Rakim... they would book time, and dudes would just go in there. But Rakim, he was more like a monk. He would need the whole universe to be still [before he would come through].


 

“Then, when I played the beat in the studio, G was like, ‘Yeah, that shit is tough right there. We need to hook that up.’ I think this was at the end of the session we were in. So he was like, ‘Yo, tomorrow [let’s work on it].’ So that night, I wrote a rhyme to it just in case. I typed up a rhyme. I had a word processor that I typed all my joints on. So I typed it up, and I was ready.

“The next day, he was like, ‘Yo, play that beat that you had on yesterday.’ So I played it, and he was sitting there getting ready to write. And I was like, ‘Yo, I got a verse for this already.’ So he was like, ‘Word? Go say your shit!’

“So I said it, but I was mad nervous, because G Rap is [that dude]. Still is. And at first it was really just me and him in there. So I came out of the booth, and he was like, ‘Yeah, that shit is aiight!’ He had never heard me rap, and he kept playing it back.

“So then [Freddie] Foxx came through, because that’s how a G Rap session would be back then. It would be the Paid In Full Posse kind of thing, where everyone would just come through the studio. It was kind of a toss up between G Rap and Rakim. They would book time, and dudes would just go in there. But Rakim, he was more like a monk. He would need the whole universe to be still [before he would come through]. [Laughs.]

“A normal Wanted: Dead Or Alive session would have Foxxx coming through a lot, because he was working on his first solo album that Eric B. executive produced. But it was normal for Hot Day, and Supreme, and all the Paid In Full Posse to be there.

“So Foxxx came through, and heard my verse, and was like, ‘We should call this shit ‘Catch A Body.’ And everybody was like, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ On my verse, I’m like, ‘I catch a body from wreckin’ slum rappers.’ But then I threw the ‘Money in the Bank’ sample in there, and he was like, ‘Nah, [call it] ‘Money in the Bank’! So I had to add my next couple of lines on.

“So Foxxx jumped on, and said his shit. Then G Rap was done by that time, and he went in. Then Ant Live came in later, and he had been messing around with rhyming a little bit on the low. He’s Eric B.’s brother. So he comes in the studio, and he’s chillin’, and then he’s like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m gonna say something to this.” And G was like, ‘Go ahead!’ You know, G Rap, that’s a cool dude. He’s real cool like that. And that was it.

“No, [we never performed that all together]. That would be crazy though. [Laughs.]

Slick Rick “It’s A Boy (Remix)” (1991)

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Slick Rick “It’s A Boy (Remix)” (1991)

Album: It’s A Boy 12 Inch

Label: Def Jam

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “I’m from Flushing, and Slick Rick was living down the block from where I was staying in Flushing with his son’s mother. And I went to school with her. So when it came time for that project to happen, Rick was around the way. It was kind of like a family thing to me [because I knew his son’s mother from school and she lived right near me].


 

Rick is a master. Out of all the people I’ve worked with, that dude, and Busta Rhymes, are way up there.


 

“Def Jam came to me in the situation with him getting locked up, and was like, ‘We want you to remix this joint.’ Once I heard what it was, I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, I gotta rock that.’ And my man Rashad Smith, who’s now a famous producer, he used to come through with a lot of bangers, nice records and stuff like that. So, he put me on to the Cal Tjader album, with the vibes. I always zoned out to that record. So I hooked up that one piece right there.

“That’s another joint where Pete Rock had the drums. He found the Lonnie Smith ‘Spinning Wheel’ drums from [A Tribe Called Quest’s] ‘Can I Kick It?,’ but [I used] an earlier part of the record. So I chopped them up, threw that bassline in there—let’s go. Something slick.

“Rick was already locked up, so I just had the acapellas. I never heard his reaction, but when we continued to work [later on when he was released], it let me know that he was rockin’ with it. Rick is a master. Out of all the people I’ve worked with, that dude, and Busta Rhymes, are way up there.”

Main Source “Just Hangin’ Out” (1991)

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Main Source “Just Hangin’ Out” (1991)

Album: Breaking Atoms

Label: Wild Pitch/EMI

Producer: Main Source

Large Professor: “When I got that ‘90%’ loop, and I figured it out, it was on from there. I brought it to the studio, and was like, ‘We’re gonna rock this shit right here.’ We laid that down, and threw the ‘Season’ drums on it, and was like, ‘Aiight, this shit is really coming together.’


 

I threw the Sister Nancy in there. And that’s crazy, because I was in a Chipotle the other day, and you know, I’m getting my snack on, and I heard the Sister Nancy ‘Bam Bam.’ And when I hear it, I feel a kind of pride, you know what I mean, that I brought that [to the hip-hop world].


 

“At that time, I was really OD’ing on the movie Sweet Sweetback’s Badasssss Song. I used to watch that shit every day. It had a scene in it where the dude comes out of the shower, and he’s like, ‘You my man, you my favorite man.’ Threw that in there. Then, ‘Hang Out & Hustle,’ threw that in there.

“Then I threw the Sister Nancy in there. And that’s crazy, because I was in a Chipotle the other day, and you know, I’m getting my snack on, and I heard the Sister Nancy ‘Bam Bam.’ And when I hear it, I feel a kind of pride, you know what I mean, that I brought that [to the hip-hop world]. [Laughs.]

“At that time, I was doing a lot of hanging out. Myself, my man Joe with the Jetta, Dr. Butcher, my man Van, Fatal, Nas, Pete [Rock], going up to Mount Vernon. There was a lot of just going around. That song is where we were at during that time.

“The video was cool because it was young dudes just out here, not really paid or anything, just doing their thing, just standing around, shooting a video. And that was an early Hype Williams video. That’s like his cousin’s house that we’re sitting up in front of. Ralph McDaniels, he hooked us up with that. And [Hype] did his thing with that, especially with the throwback clips. That was dope.”

Main Source “Looking At The Front Door” (1991)

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Main Source “Looking At The Front Door” (1991)

Album: Breaking Atoms

Label: Wild Pitch/EMI

Producer: Main Source

Large Professor: “That’s when I was still writing rhymes in high school. It was a combination of a lot of things, man. Girl problems, crazy stuff. I just put it together.


 

As I go on in life, I think more and more about what that song is really about, and it’s really too deep. That’s a deep record. At that time in life, I was eighteen years old. It was a kid with a pure heart, just writing, and putting his soul out there for the world.


 

“I had the beat, and it was just a loop. We were going in to Libra Digital [Studios], just adding little pieces and bits. And it was a few sessions, everything didn’t just come together right there. I remember one session, I did the vocals, and everything was there. But in the beginning, when the beat was playing, and the bass line came in, [I heard the vocal sample keep playing in my head]. And they were like, ‘Why you keep saying that?’ And I was like, ‘Yo, watch.’ Then the next session I threw that shit in there, and they were like, ‘Oh shit! That’s kinda crazy.’ It came together. It was a nice song.

“As I go on in life, I think more and more about what that song is really about, and it’s really too deep. That’s a deep record. At that time in life, I was eighteen years old. It was a kid with a pure heart, just writing, and putting his soul out there for the world.

“That ain’t even a Main Source record, that’s a New York record. I was eighteen performing in Bentley’s. I wouldn’t have even imagined going to Bentley’s, and I was performing in there. That’s a New York staple, the tempo of it and everything.

“‘Looking At The Front Door’ was the door-kicker-opener for Main Source. We were working on songs all along, and Wild Pitch decided, ‘Let’s put this one out there.’ It’s funny, on the original version, I said, ‘I could play some old stuck-up rapper role, and smack you in the face any time you lose control.' And Stu Fine was like, ‘Nah, you gotta change that line.’ It was done and everything, and he was like, ‘Nah, that line is crazy right there.’ So I changed it to, ‘Get foul every time you lose control.’ Easier to swallow. Big up Stu Fine for that, because it made all the difference in the world. [But it’s funny to think about that edit], because now the shit people say is crazy! Word!”

Main Source f/ Nas, Joe Fatal, and Akinyele “Live at the Barbeque” (1991)

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Main Source f/ Nas, Joe Fatal, and Akinyele “Live at the Barbeque” (1991)

Album: Breaking Atoms

Label: Wild Pitch/EMI

Producer: Main Source

Large Professor: “I always had that drum loop, the ‘Nautilus’ drum loop. [People sampled that record a lot], but to be right there with it, and just get the drums out of it without all of the bells and all of that—at that time, it was amazing. Like, ‘Oh shit, you got just the drums out of ‘Nautilus’?’ It was tough.


 

I wrote my verse right there. Fatal had a combination of dudes collaborating with him on his verse. Ak was always ready. And Nas, he always has books and books of rhymes. So he took this piece of this rhyme, and that piece of that rhyme, and put it all together.


 

“We had recorded all of the album. The album was done. And we had this last song to do. It was the last session. This was it. We had tried to hook it up other times. Nas said a rhyme on it when we were at another studio, but it just never really came together. There was another studio that we were working at, and it was like we were trying to get a little extra in at the end of a session, and I threw it up, like, ‘Yo Nas, see if you got anything for this.’ So he put something down, and I’m sure it was tough, but the whole idea of it just didn’t come together.

“But this session, I threw the bassline in the beat, and we were all there. Times before, it was like, we were just practicing when I would throw that beat up, because it was just the drums. This time, it was like, ‘This gotta count.’

“I wrote my verse right there. Fatal had a combination of dudes collaborating with him on his verse. Ak was always ready. And Nas, he always has books and books of rhymes. So he took this piece of this rhyme, and that piece of that rhyme, and put it all together.

“We used to wild in the studio. G. Rap kind of started that with us. In the studio in general, dudes used to be on some real wild shit, getting their puff on and drink on, partying, the damn speakers blaring loud. That’s where that chorus came from. [Laughs.]

“It was crazy with ‘Barbeque’ because that was the last song, and so it was like a month or two later, the album was out. There was no in-between time. It wasn’t like I had time to go around the way and play it for people. It was like, ‘We got it in the can, it’s good.’ As soon as we finished that, we were mastering, and then it was like, it went straight to the radio. We were like, ‘Yo, this is it!’

“For all of us in general when the album came out, it was [crazy]. And Nas was like a huge highlight on that joint. And then he started getting his shine on, with Bobbito and [Stretch Armstrong], going up there and gettin’ busy.

“[I originally] met Nas through Joe Fatal, and he had a friend named Melquan that he was getting up with. Nas wanted to record a demo for himself. His mother was funding him to go record a demo. And at that time, my name was kind of ringing bells, like, ‘Yo, there’s this dude out in Flushing that’s making these crazy beats.’ Fatal was putting that out there. So I had to show and prove.

“One day, Melquan [and Fatal set it up], and I was coming out of high school, coming down the steps. And [them and Nas] came by in the cab, like, ‘Yo, we’re gonna make that happen.’ So we jetted back to the crib, I got my machine, and jetted all the way out to some studio—Sty In The Sky Studios in Coney Island, Brooklyn. I made the beat right there, and we recorded the demo. I forgot the name of it, but it was dope though. [We had other demos from that time too that were ill, like] ‘Top Choice of the Female Persuasion,’ and ‘550 Fahrenheit.’ [But they] never came out.”

Main Source “Fakin’ the Funk” (1992)

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Main Source “Fakin’ the Funk” (1992)

Album: White Men Can’t Rap EP (OST)

Label: EMI

Producer: Main Source

Large Professor: “Coming from where I knew hip-hop, where everyone would go hang out at the guy’s house with the turntables, everybody getting their scratch on, that’s what hip-hop was to me. Everyone showing love and getting busy. So when I got into the music industry, and saw that people were not getting their record played because of their skill, but it was because someone paid some money and some political shit, it took me by storm. Being a young dude, coming up and seeing this, I didn’t know. So I was like, ‘Aiight, that’s the politics of the game.’ That was my introduction to the politics.


 

We used to listen to the Moe Dee tape, when he’s going at Busy Bee, like, ‘’Cause you’re fakin’ the funk...’ We just used that term, and kept that moving. We were just surprised that the industry was as crazy and corrupt as it was.


 

“Being so young and innocent, that shit just came straight out of my heart. It’s like, ‘Yo, dudes is fakin’ the funk.’ And that’s an old [Kool] Moe Dee term. We used to listen to the Moe Dee tape, when he’s going at Busy Bee, like, ‘’Cause you’re fakin’ the funk...’ We just used that term, and kept that moving. We were just surprised that the industry was as crazy and corrupt as it was.

“Neek [who is also on the record though only credited on the remix] originally used to come to K-Cut and Sir Scratch’s house. He used to roll with me over there, then he just stopped rollin’. And Breaking Atoms came out, and Neek would be like, ‘Aiight, the album's out. No doubt.’ And I would see Neek, and I was like, ‘Yo, what’s up? I’m getting ready to go through to the studio for this soundtrack shit. Why don’t you come through and jump on a joint with us?’ And he came through [and got on it].

“Yo, it’s crazy, my Pops, that song and ‘Baseball’ being in Boyz n the Hood, he would always sit there and beam with pride. He’d be like, ‘Yo, your song gettin’ ready to come on in the movie.’ In Boyz n the Hood it’s where they’re on Crenshaw, and the dude lets off the Tec, and Ice Cube and all of them get up outta there—you can hear it playing. And then, yeah, in White Men Can’t Jump, it’s when Wesley Snipes is in the car [pulling in to where he’s meeting a client for work].”

Main Source “How My Man Went Down In The Game” (1992)

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Main Source “How My Man Went Down In The Game” (1992)

Album: Wild Pitch Classics (released in 1994)

Label: Wild Pitch

Producer: Main Source

Large Professor: “I used that for a Biz [Markie] record too. That was kind of like the craze, when someone would find an ill sample and everyone would hop on it. That was the loop of that time, like, ‘Yo, that loop is crazy.’ I looped it up, but this is before [Kool G. Rap’s ‘Ill Street Blues’ came out]. I took pride in, ‘Yo, I rocked it first.’ That was my thing. I definitely [would fall back on using a sample if I heard someone else use it before me].

“That was me working after Breaking Atoms. I got real heavy into production, and the guy in the studio was like, ‘Yo, I’m just gonna give you a whole bunch of time. Just come in and work.’ So that song came out of that.


 

[I wasn’t mad when Trackmasters made ‘Ill Street Blues’] because we were all going to the same record conventions... Once it was discovered that there was something on a record, it just caught wildfire all over.


 

“That was just me being a young dude, and searching for who I was. Dudes taking different paths, dudes already married, this dude is having a kid. Just putting some wild shit out there. [Laughs.] It’s funny to me, man, when I listen to it. It marks that time to me. It’s not like a ‘Front Door’ that still resonates. It’s like, ‘Aiight, I was young.’ [Laughs.] That’s not a song I would be trying to perform. That’s one of those time-capsule songs like, ‘Aiight, that’s the shit you was on.’

“[I wasn’t mad when Trackmasters made ‘Ill Street Blues’] because we were all going to the same record conventions, so if it was like, ‘Yo, you got this loop?’ It was easy for someone to just buy a copy. Once it was discovered that there was something on a [particular] record, it just caught wildfire all over.

“That was a nice scene [those record conventions]. It was records, and it was digging, and B-Boys, beats playing loud. Kool Herc would be in there [and other legendary hip-hop figures]. That was crazy.”

Gang Starr “Gotta Get Over (Taking Loot) (Remix)” (1992)

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Gang Starr “Gotta Get Over (Taking Loot) (Remix)” (1992)

Album: “Gotta Get Over (Taking Loot)”/”Flip The Script” 12 Inch

Label: Chrysalis

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “That was dope, because I think I’m the only one to remix a Gang Starr record. I might be wrong. We were all EMI at that time, and Rush Management was like, ‘We need you to do a Gang Starr remix.’ And they sent me the files. I remember that I just wanted my remix to be on some dark, cave shit, compared to the slick loop that Premier had. That’s how I tried to approach that. And it came out aiight. I remember I heard a Kid Capri tape, and he was cuttin’ it up, and I was like, ‘Yo, that’s crazy.’


 

Premier and Guru, those dudes, when we first started with Main Source and were getting out there, they were a step ahead. They already had ‘Manifest’ out there, and they were always a step ahead.


 

“Premier and Guru, those dudes—when we first started with Main Source and were getting out there—they were a step ahead. They already had ‘Manifest’ out there, and they were always a step ahead, and maintained that. They were business savvy, and they really knew what it was. I always had respect for their business and work ethic.

“Premier was a workaholic at that time, he was always working hard. One day, it just clicked for him. I think it was around the first Jeru The Damaja album, it was like, he figured something out. And he was getting ready to mass produce.

“I met those guys when they were both sharing a studio apartment up in the Bronx. Premier had all his records in boxes, and Guru was there living in the same spot. And they grew it to where it had to go. At the time [I did the remix] they were staying with Wynton Marsalis in Brooklyn.

“They were the perfect balance of work and skill. They had their business right, and they were still skillful and the art was right. When I first met Guru, he was doing the music, but he was also a social worker, doing that on the side. Guru was mad cool. He’s in my first video, ‘Watch Roger Do His Thing.’ I’m just honored to [have worked with them], and proud of them, how they fought after getting off Wild Pitch to get on Chrysalis.”

Big L “Unexpected Flava” (1992)

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Big L “Unexpected Flava” (1992)

Album: Return of the Devil’s Son (released in 2010)

Label: SMC

Producer: Large Professor/Lord Finesse

Large Professor: “Lord Finesse brought Big L through to my rest. This was way before his first album was out. And Finesse [introduced us], and Big L was just standing there quiet—until the beat came on. And I always keep a hand held mic, [and he just got busy].

“I remember one day, they had a session, and it was the same day as the ‘Check The Rhime’ video, and it was the same day I was doing something with them. Maybe mixing something? I don’t exactly remember, but I was like, ‘I’m gonna go to this ‘Check The Rhime’ video.’


 

Lord Finesse brought Big L through to my rest. This was way before his first album was out. And Finesse [introduced us], and Big L was just standing there quiet—until the beat came on.


 

“But the ‘Unexpected Flava’ was a remix for a Lord Finesse song [‘Isn’t He Something’] from Return of the Funky Man. L rhymed on it. He just got in the booth, and did his thing. That dude was incredible. For real.

“Man, Lord Finesse has all kinds of things in the stash [which is why it probably never came out back in the day]. [Laughs.] He got mad gems, man. I think that just came out like two years ago, [and somebody told me it was on the Internet]. That’s how it goes. Yeah, Finesse got them jewels.

“We always respected each other on a skill level. We had big respect for all the D.I.T.C. dudes. I always had mad respect for Show and A.G., Finesse, and especially Diamond D.”

Nas “Halftime” (1992)

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Nas “Halftime” (1992)

Album: Zebrahead Soundtrack

Label: Ruffhouse/Sony

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “That’s funny, because when I made that beat, Busta Rhymes wanted that beat, right after I made it. My house after a while became like a little hangout for dudes. Busta Rhymes, coming from Long Island, he would always pass through Queens and come to the crib. And that beat right there, he was writing to it and everything. But he was in between deals though—this was after the Leaders [of the New School] shit, and before his Elektra deal.


 

This was finally [Nas'] own session. So he had his weed ready, he had the crew coming through, his books [of rhymes], the fresh gear, sittin’ back with a freshly rolled, and another one being rolled, like, ‘Yo, play the beat... Nah yo, play the other beat.’


 

“But Nas was right there, ready to go with [MC] Serch and Ruffhouse. It was always a toss up, kind of like Jamaican reggae style, where I would play it for everybody, and whoever gets ill on it can get busy. And Nas was like, ‘Yeah, I can get busy on that.’ And he was like, ‘I’m gonna say this rhyme with that [and put it down].

“That was a nice session, because we had been in so [many of] Eric B.’s sessions and other people’s sessions, and this was finally his own session. So he had his weed ready, he had the crew coming through, his books [of rhymes], the fresh gear, sittin’ back and shit with a freshly rolled, and another one being rolled, like, ‘Yo, play the beat. Nah yo, play the other beat.’ [Laughs.] Now Nas was control. That was nice, man. That was really nice. [Laughs.]

“But he already had the work ethic from the Eric B. sessions. He knew, like, ‘Yo, we’re in here to get this done.’ But you could see where he was really trying to feel the amenities a little bit more, like, ‘Yo, turn that up a little bit more for me?’ [Laughs.] Whereas before, he would just be like, ‘Aiight.’ Now he was starting to spread his wings.

“We had an original version of ‘It Ain’t Hard To Tell,’ but ‘Halftime’ was the first song [we finished for Illmatic] and the first to hit the airwaves.”

Mobb Deep “Peer Pressure (Remix)” (1993)

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Mobb Deep “Peer Pressure (Remix)” (1993)

Album: Juvenile Hell

Label: 4th & B’way/Island/PolyGram

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “Mine was [actually] the original, and Premier did the remix. But I think at that time, 4th and B’way felt the Premier version was stronger. It’s funny because, my version now is seeing the light of day, where people are like, ‘Oh shit!’

“That was a dope session because when they got their budget, they came through to see me at my house. P had his car, I think he had an Acura or something like that. They came upstairs, and I was starting to make the beat. And Hav was sitting there, and he would always roll by, and sit for five or ten minutes, and be like, ‘Aiight yo, we’ll be back.’ But he would always watch what I did.


 

Hav came over to my house a lot, and he had that ‘eye of the tiger.’ He just absorbed the reality that someone could have a beat machine in [their] room... He knew where to take it from there, definitely.


 

“That was their first session I think for their record. It was dope. P’s grandmother rolled through, Neek was there, we were just all chillin’, gettin’ our puff on. P was like, ‘Yo, let’s wait, ‘cause my Grandmoms is gonna come by.’ Yo, Ms. Johnson was [legendary] and for real with her business. And she came by, and was like, ‘Alright, you boys are doing good by yourselves. Keep doing good.’ Then she left, and it was like, ‘Roll up fast!’ [Laughs.] But that was a good session, because they were in the big Power Play [Studios room], and they were finally doing their own thing.

“Fatal would have Hav come over to my house a lot, and he had that ‘eye of the tiger.’ He just absorbed the reality that someone could have a beat machine in [their] room. Like, ‘Oh shit, you got a beat machine? And you [made that beat right here]?’ It wasn’t like I was like, ‘You press this button to do this.’ He just heard the sounds, and was like, ‘Yo, you filtered that? And you got the drum machine hooked up to the speakers?’ Then he knew where to take it from there, definitely.

“Mobb Deep is pretty much in house, [which is why I haven’t done much other work with them as a group]. And those dudes are serious. At the time, I wasn’t as serious as everyone else. I was more like, ‘This is something I do.’ I wasn’t like, ‘Yo, we gonna get money.’

“And I was content. And with that came not really wanting to be around the element where dudes were coming into the game that weren’t necessarily skilled or just had a street legacy. You had to have skills, which P and Hav, they had. Those are music dudes. But they had that little bit of street knowledge that they enhanced to really blow it out [and be successful].

“I had my street shit, but I didn’t want to brag about it. They caught me early, so I was more on some therapeutic shit, like, ‘This is what I do to escape all that.’ [I got busted as a kid], so all of that shit was out of my system. It made me more on the laid-back tip.”

Big Daddy Kane “Niggaz Never Learn” (1993)

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Big Daddy Kane “Niggaz Never Learn” (1993)

Album: Looks Like a Job For...

Label: Cold Chillin’/Reprise/Warner Bros.

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “That was originally supposed to be a remix for ‘Prince of Darkness,’ I think. That’s a funny story. That was when I was puffin’ mad weed. Rush Management was like, ‘Go to the studio, they want you to do a remix for Kane.’ But I had to get my weed before then.

“So I had to go to Palmetto. I was in the cab, and I brought Neek with me. And I was like two hours late. So I got to the studio, and when I came, I had my drum machine, my weed, and everything I needed. And Mister Cee, he was at the door. And he was like, ‘Yo, you’re a little late. Let’s get to work.’


 

I got in the door, and Kane was sitting on the couch. He had on a hoodie, with the hood on, his fuckin’ boxers, and a 64 ounce of beer.


 

“And I got in the door, and Kane was sitting on the couch. He had on a hoodie, with the hood on, his fuckin’ boxers, and a 64 ounce of beer. [Laughs.] Yo! I came in, and I said, ‘Yo man, I here. I’m ready to go.’ I didn’t know him. I was up at Cold Chillin’ so we knew of each other, but I had never met him.

“So I’m starting to hook shit up. And he’s like, ‘Yo, turn that shit off for a minute.’ Kane was dead serious, like, ‘What the fuck happened, man? I been in here [for a while]. What’s up?’ I’m like, ‘Yo, my bad, man. I had to go over here, and go over there and shit.’ And he was like, ‘Yo, don’t fuck around. I’m not that nigga.’ He was on some real shit! All I could say was, ‘My bad, man.’ He was like, ‘Yo, I’m telling you, I’m gonna call Francesca [at Rush], and I’m gonna let her know.’

“So I said some shit like, ‘Yo man, Are we gonna work or what?’ And he was like, ‘Go ahead. But I’m gonna let Fran know.’ But yo! [Laughs.] He had the hoodie on with the boxers, and the 64-ounce beer. Kane was flamboyant. He was comfortable at all times.

“I wish it would have been a better, bigger collaboration. I put it together, [thinking] it was for the ‘Prince of Darkness’ remix. But he flipped it, and made it a new song. Then Mister Cee [put all the vocal samples on the hook].

“Everything was smooth, and everything was compensated, but that was crazy, man. I never [had a chance to laugh about it with him, though]. I saw him at Rock Steady one time, and I was standing next to him, and he was like, ‘Yo, what up man. Lookin’ good.’ And that was it, like, ‘Yo, Big Daddy.’ [Laughs.]

“That shit really had my heart beating [though when it happened]. It was like, ‘Oh shit, I pissed Kane off. I got Kane mad right now. He’s upset with me. Damn, man.’ But we just worked, got puffed out and everything. That was a long session. I probably got there at like [midnight], but we broke up out of there at like seven in the morning.”

Akinyele “The Bomb” (1993)

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Akinyele “The Bomb” (1993)

Album: Vagina Diner

Label: Interscope/Atlantic

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor:“I was trying to chop up Rick James' ‘Mary Jane.’ But for some reason, I couldn’t get the phrase out of it, or I did get the phrase out of it, but for some reason, I was like, ‘Yo, we need to play this over, because it will bang more if we play it over.’ So my dude Anton hooked up the bass. And the ‘Mary Jane’ little guitar lick [is still lingering in the background]. That was dope how it came together, especially that horn sample, because that’s from an abstract jazz record, but it fit nice.


 

Ak, to this day, is a real lyrical guy. His freestyles average a hundred bars. You gotta kind of tell Ak to stop rhyming. He’ll kinda OD a little bit.


 

“Ak, to this day, is a real lyrical guy. His freestyles average a hundred bars. You gotta kind of tell Ak to stop rhyming. He’ll kinda OD a little bit. [Laughs.] Ak just always came with crazy rhymes and styles. And [that chorus] came from that same ‘Barbeque’ energy we had in the studio. We were always yelling on the mic, gettin’ busy, putting those ‘call and response’ hooks on the record.

“[The reason I produced that whole album] was because of Ak, and his loyalty. He was like, ‘Yo, you got me here, so I’m gonna gamble on you all day, like how you gambled on me. I don’t really rock with these other dudes.’ If you got a Ak on your team, you got a solid dude on your side.

“After a while, you see what’s going on [and why albums get slept on]. Like, ‘Oh, I see, this is a popularity contest. A marketing contest. This is not about skills, or the art.’ That’s what I felt after that.

“But The Source, which was the everything at that time, they came down hard on that album, because of the song ‘I Luh Huh.’ They wrote a specific editorial [about that song]. It wasn’t even a review. They were like, ‘We’re addressing this song.’

“The song was like, ‘My girl’s pregnant, she gotta get an abortion.’ And he was going through all the thoughts in his head, like, ‘Yo, I might push her down the stairs.’ [Laughs.] So, you know, it was us being young dudes, just expressing how we feel at the time. And The Source came down hard on it. That was huge. And Ak was one of the first dudes on the east coast that was signed to Interscope.

“Once that happened with The Source, a lot of the momentum was gone. Because we kind of came out poppin’ like, ‘Aiight, you got the video. Shit is playing all the time.’ Shit was good. And it was a female that wrote [the editorial at The Source], like, ‘Oh, you’re gonna take my black baby and do this?’ It was off from there.”

A Tribe Called Quest f/ Large Professor “Keep It Rollin’” (1993)

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A Tribe Called Quest f/ Large Professor “Keep It Rollin’” (1993)

Album: Midnight Marauders

Label: Jive/BMG

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “That’s when Tip had his equipment in Phife’s basement. We used to just go through records. We would go record shopping, go to Phife’s basement, throw the needles on the records, whatever. So we would go through our batch of the stuff we got that day.

“So there was this joint, and I looped it up. And my boy Tony Rome, and Yusef, they had looped it up a while ago, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that shit is hot.’ But I never really knew what it was. But when I threw that record up there, I was like, ‘Oh shit, [I remember this joint].’ Then Tip was like, ‘Yo, that’s dope!’ Then I threw the drums to it, and it was cool.


 

That’s when Tip had his equipment in Phife’s basement. We would go record shopping, go to Phife’s basement, throw the needles on the records, whatever.


 

“I didn’t think they were gonna use it. It was crazy. He was like, ‘Yo, I’m in the studio, and I got that joint that you looped up. Come on, let’s rhyme over it.’ And you know, we were going record shopping together while he was working, so it was like, I would hear the work he was doing in his sessions. He’d come through like, ‘Yo, check this out,’ and play me ‘Lyrics To Go,’ and I’d be like, ‘Yo, that shit is crazy.’

“So I rolled through the studio. And I think at that time with Tip, he knew it was right when all the Main Source shit disintegrated, [which is why I’m like, ‘Fuck those two DJs’ on my verse]. He was like, ‘Yo, just get it out. We got your back.’

“At that time I was really going through a whole lot, with the breakup of the group, and just myself growing as a person, and now Nas is doing his thing, and like, ‘Oh shit, now I’m a solo artist.’ So Tip was like, ‘Yo, just come roll with us for a moment.’ That’s why all throughout that album he was kind of biggin’ me up, trying to get me to straighten up.

“I was torn up over that Main Source shit. I hadn’t planned on being a solo artist. I was the one saying the rhymes, but it was still like, ‘Yo, scratch this,’ or, ‘Yo, scratch that.’ So ‘Keep It Rollin’’ was nice, because it was it pretty much like, ‘Yo, keep it rollin’, man.’ For real.

“That [appearance] brought me to a whole other level. A lot of people were like, ‘Who is this guy?’ And then [they’d go back to my Main Source stuff and connect the dots].

“I like The Low End Theory [over Midnight Marauders]. I just like that time better. The Low End Theory, that’s when I was out in Jersey, and I’d be with the girls or whatever. And the girl, she would be driving me around. And I’d be like, ‘Yo, you ain’t got that A Tribe Called Quest The Low End Theory?’ Next day, she’d have that shit like, ‘Yo, yeah, this shit is so dope!’ All the girls I would be coolin’ out with, I’d be like, ‘You gotta get that A Tribe Called Quest shit.’ That was a nice time.

“And then musically, it had a lot of them ‘rock you to sleep’ loops. ‘Verses from the Abstract’ with the live bass. It was real ill. And then even ‘Butter.’ They were still tricky in Midnight Marauders, but The Low End Theory [was crazy]. And I was kind of involved in The Low End Theory, because that’s when we really first started clickin’. He would let me hear stuff. I was there when he just had the drum loop for ‘Check The Rhime.’ And he threw the other loop in there [with the bass line in front of me], and I was like, ‘Yo, that’s crazy!’”

Nas “One Time 4 Your Mind” (1994)

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Nas “One Time 4 Your Mind” (1994)

Album: Illmatic

Label: Columbia

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor:“I did that in the studio right on the spot. Nas was starting to get into his groove. He was like, ‘Yo, I got some more time. Hook something up live.’ That’s why it’s as nonchalant as it is, because it was something extra. It’s not a concentrated joint. It’s just like, ‘Then I send a shorty from the block to the store for Phillies.’ Day to day.


 

That album is as successful as it is because of Nas, not really the beats. The beats were a good backdrop for him, but it’s because of his lyricism that that album did what it did.


 

“It was another one of those sessions where we just had fun. Nas’ boy from Bravehearts, Grand Wiz, was on the hook, and Nas was just now getting into his own sessions. He was just chillin’, like, ‘Yo, hook this up.’ He started getting into his production niche, like how rappers want [to hear things]. So he was starting to give that a try.

“That was another one where he already had the rhymes. Like I said, Nas had a lot of rhymes. A lot of rhymes. There were [throwaways] that we did at the crib for Illmatic, but not at the studio.

“That album is as successful as it is because of Nas, not really the beats. The beats were a good backdrop for him, but it’s because of his lyricism that that album did what it did. The lyrics on that album are crazy. Even to this day. I talked to him a few days ago, and it’s like, ‘Yo, Illmatic is a really lyrical album.’ It’s the lyrics.”

Nas “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” (1994)

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Nas “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” (1994)

Album: Illmatic

Label: Columbia

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “That’s another song like ‘Barbeque’ that we had before, and then when it was album time, we had to redo it and get it right. [Using the Michael Jackson ‘Human Nature’ sample was smooth] because [they were both under] Columbia. It was kind of in-house. That was nice, because people knew it as a familiar tune, but we gritty’d it up and made it hood. I always called it a ‘hood bottle poppin’ song.’ Like, not too shiny. We’re poppin’ bottles, but in the hood—not in the club.


 

I always called it a ‘hood bottle poppin’ song.’ Like, not too shiny. We’re poppin’ bottles, but in the hood—not in the club.


 

“Just the spirit of that. A lot of joints that I do, I have different ways of describing them. But that, it’s not the most hardest, hardcore beat. It’s a more spiritually uplifting kind of [vibe]. Then when he threw the next layer on there [with the lyrics], it was like, ‘Aiight, we there.’

“I was kind of sort of like [an executive producer for Illmatic]. Because Nas would be like, ‘Yo, you think I could get a beat from Q-Tip?’ And I would be like, ‘Yeah, yeah, hell yeah.’ Because that’s when I was hangin’ tough with Q-Tip. And [I was connected to Pete Rock and Premier] so it just made it a little easier. I think he sought Premier out on his own, but I just made it easier to get connected to him. I made it easier to get in contact with those dudes, like, ‘Yo, Nas is trying to get in contact with you.’ And they already had respect for him, so they’d say, ‘Yo, give him all my numbers.’

“Faith Newman, [who was the A&R for the album], was the one who spearheaded [using ‘It Ain’t Hard To Tell’ as the lead single]. Like, ‘This is what we’re rollin’ with.’”

The Beastie Boys “Sure Shot (Large Professor Remix)” (1994)

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The Beastie Boys “Sure Shot (Large Professor Remix)” (1994)

Album: “Sure Shot” 12 Inch

Label: Capital

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “That was another long-ass session, where I came out of the studio early in the morning. That was a nice session, because I had the idea already when Rush told me [about the remix], and they got me the files and everything. It was like, ‘Yo, I wanna take this and do my little beat thing to it.’ I didn’t want it to be all over-produced. I just wanted to filter my bass line, put my drums in there, and get busy. I did that at Greene Street Studios. That was nice.

“It was a work-for-hire kind of thing. I just wanted to blaze it. And that was the perks of being down with Rush. You were in a pool of producers and top-notch artists. It would be like, ‘Well, we could get Large Professor...’ And they’d say, ‘Oh word? Alright, let me hear how that would sound.’ The budget was good, everything was great, so it was like, ‘Yo, knock it out.’


 

MCA had a dope voice, and dope rhymes. When it came out that he had the cancer, everyone pulled together like family. As hip-hop, we all sent out our spiritual blessings.


 

“Rush made it so easy [to do remixes]. It was like, ‘Just tell us what you need.’ And you’d go in the studio, and whatever you needed, whether it was the files, or the reel, or if you needed a copy early, it was all there.”

“I thought it was MCA, but then I remembered it was Mike D who reached out for that. I never met MCA, but I always loved his voice. He had a dope voice, and dope rhymes. When it came out that he had the cancer, everyone pulled together like family. As hip-hop, we all sent out our spiritual blessings. Damn, man. But he’s in a better place now.

“I always a fan of the Beastie Boys. I was out on Long Island when their [first] album came out. It was an ill craze that was happening with the Beastie Boys and their acceptance in the hood. It was all natural, and they were really some of the pioneers in hip-hop and putting together hip-hop songs.

“This is funny. My first time hearing Beastie Boys, I would jet off of WBLS and Kiss FM to all these different stations sometimes, and one time I turned the dial all the way down to somewhere in the 80s, and I heard this song, and they were cursing on the song and everything, so I just started taping it. It was early Beastie Boys, the “Cooky Puss” joint. So I had caught that on tape.

“At the same time, it might have been 4th or 5th Grade, we were learning through SRA [in school], which was a system where you would get the lesson on a tape, and you would hear the story, and then you would go get a card and it would ask you questions about the story. So I took the tape out real quick and switched it, and I put the tape I made of “Cooky Puss” in. [Laughs.] And to my little table, I was like, ‘Yo, y’all wanna hear something?’ And we just bugged. We were laughing, and I had to turn it kind of low because they were cursing on the song.”

Organized Konfusion f/ Large Professor “Stress (Remix)” (1994)

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Organized Konfusion f/ Large Professor “Stress (Remix)” (1994)

Album: “Stress”/”Keep It Koming” 12 Inch

Label: Hollywood BASIC

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor:“That was a nice joint. When we were getting it together, they rolled through to my crib, and I kind of had something already hooked up. And we kept going over it like, ‘Maybe this, maybe not. Let’s see.’


 

I was thinking about the whole Main Source situation, and was kind of just drifting around, doing different production for different people, and not really knowing where I was going as an artist. That’s why I rhyme the way I do on that one.


 

“Then, the time came in the studio, and it was like, ‘Let’s go. We gotta make it happen.’ And I had that beat, and I had just made that beat too. I played it for them, and they were like, ‘Yo, that’s [dope].’ And I told them I was thinking about that for the remix.

“And that’s where I was, on some somber shit. Like, I was thinking about the whole Main Source situation, and was kind of just drifting around, floating around, doing different production for different people, and not really knowing where I was going as an artist. That’s why I rhyme the way I do on that one.

“But I like that sometimes, where everything’s not all good, and shit ain’t all happy-go-lucky. That’s how I like to lay it on some of the tracks. Word is bond.”

“Resurrection (Extra P. Remix)” (1995) / Common Sense “Resurrection (Large Professor Remix)” (1995)

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Common Sense “Resurrection (Large Professor Remix)” & “Resurrection (Extra P. Remix)” (1995)

Album: “Resurrection” 12 Inch

Label: Relativity

Producer: Large Professor

Common Sense “Resurrection (Extra P. Remix)”

Common Sense “Resurrection (Large Professor Remix)”

Large Professor:“The one that everyone likes I think is the ‘Extra P. Remix’ with the long movement. What happened was, I did the other one, with the Jungle Brothers cut, ‘That’s what it is,’ and Com got back to me, and was like, ‘I like it. But I want something different. [This remix you just did] is more B-Boy, hip-hop. I want something in an iller zone.’


 

Com got back to me, and was like, ‘I like it. But I want something different. [This remix you just did] is more B-Boy, hip-hop. I want something in an iller zone.’


 

“So I was like, ‘Aiight, cool.’ So I went back, and came back with some crazy, zoned-out movement shit. And I sent that one, and he was like, ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about.’ So I was happy, man, [that I met the challenge and Com liked it].

“And that was when I first met him. He rolled through for the remix. We were in the City. That was dope. That was a nice session. He did the vocals over, and flipped the verse [with a few different lyrics]. He signed my album, like, I was in there in fan mode. Yeah, [New York] definitely [embraced him].

“I like the second [remix] better. It was on some zoned-out shit, and that’s where I was at that time.”

Tragedy f/ Havoc and Large Professor “Da Funk Mode” (1995)

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Tragedy f/ Havoc and Large Professor “Da Funk Mode” (1995)

Album: ”Pass Da Tek”/“Da Funk Mode” 12 Inch

Label: 25 To Life

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “That was dope. I had that beat, and Trag came through and heard it, and was like, ‘I gotta use that beat.’ I was having fun in the studio. That’s me talkin’ and [introducing everyone]. Trag was like, ‘Do some ad-lib type shit.’ We were drinking 40s, just buggin’ out, so I was just talkin’ shit. And them guys, they went in on the mic. We were vibin’.

“That could’ve been Trag or Hav [that gave that song to DJ Clue?]. And Clue? was crafty too. Sometimes you didn’t know how he got it. That was ill too. When he started, that’s when ‘Fakin’ The Funk’ was ringin’ off. Him, Dirty Harry—that was that new movement that was happening. For sure, [we were excited to have that song on mixtapes].”

Nas f/ AZ and Biz Markie “Understanding” (1995)

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Nas f/ AZ and Biz Markie “Understanding” (1995)

Album: N/A

Label: N/A

Producer:  Large Professor

Large Professor: “I was involved in an earlier version of [‘Life is Like a Dice Game’] where he didn’t actually name it ‘Dice Game.’ We did it over the same sample as Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s ‘Get Money,’ the original [version]. It was earlier though. I had hooked it up. Everyone was [still] going to those record conventions, so records would come in waves. And I was catching a lot of those records earlier, and knowing to freak them early. But it never [was released with that beat]. I think that’s the same session we did 'Understanding.'


 

Biz called me one day, and was like, ‘Yo! You know what would be dope? To get Nas to rhyme over that Grover Washington joint.’ And I was like, ‘Word? You think so?’ And then I called Nas, and was like, ‘Yo, this is what Biz said.’ And he was like, ‘Then we gotta do it.’


 

“That [sample] was Biz’s idea. Biz called me one day, and was like, ‘Yo! You know what would be dope? To get Nas to rhyme over that Grover Washington joint.’ And I was like, ‘Word? You think so?’ And then I called Nas, and was like, ‘Yo, this is what Biz said.’ And he was like, ‘Then we gotta do it.’

“So I hooked the beat up, and we went to the Greene Street Studios, and knocked it out. We never mixed it or took it through the whole process, it was just a flinger. But Grandmaster Vic was there, Biz was there, AZ. Raekwon came through [to hang out]. Nas was just starting to work on It Was Written. Those were sessions between Illmatic and It Was Written. That was one of the first sessions when he started getting in the swing of working again.”

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