Large Professor Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records (Part 2)

During Nas Week, we gave you Part 1 of our Large Professor Tells All interview, in which he broke down the stories behind his contributions to Illmatic, his early work with Main Source, Rakim, and Kool G Rap, as well as his Midnight Marauders collaboration with A Tribe Called Quest.

In Part 2, we pick up where we left off with Extra P—in 1996, as he transitioned into his solo career with “The Mad Scientist,” continued his chemistry with Nas on Stillmatic, and produced his first song featuring Wu-Tang Clan MCs. He also talks about the making of three tracks on his new solo album Professor @ Large, which drops on June 26 (you can pre-order here)—including the premiere of two new joints with Busta Rhymes and Fame of M.O.P. Class is in session.

As told to Daniel Isenberg (@StanIpcus)

Also check out Large Professor on Complex TV's The Combat Jack Show Ep. 1 below. 

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Mad Skillz f/ Large Professor and Q-Tip “Extra Abstract Skillz” (1996)

Album: From Where???

Label: Big Beat

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor:“Reef and Matty [two A&Rs that I was cool with] were reaching out a lot at that time. And Reef was like, ‘Yo, I got Skillz, I wanna bring him by.’ And they actually came out to Flushing and sat down with me. We were going over beats and stuff like that. And I gave them the ‘Skills in ‘95’ beat. And they were like, ‘This is dope.’ And he recorded his vocals.

“But then, they were like, ‘Let’s rock something different. Let’s do another joint.’ Me and Tip were hanging out tough then, and they wanted to get something from Tip, or something like that. Everybody was connected at that point.

“For that record, we were in Unique. And I hooked up the beat. And they wanted me to rhyme. And I was like, ‘Damn,’ because I didn’t have an idea. That’s why my verse is kind of choppy. And there was a bit of a deadline, too. So I said, ‘Well, I’m gonna put my part down, and then get back to it.’

“So I put my little piece down. Then Skillz laid a crazy verse. Tip came in and he threw his joint down. And at the end of the night, it was like, ‘Yo, let’s wrap it up like this.’ And it was, ‘Extra Abstract Skillz.’ [Laughs.] It was a nice little piece of entertainment.”

Lord Finesse f/ Sadat X, Large Professor, and Grand Puba “Actual Facts” (1996)

Album: The Awakening

Label: Penalty

Producer: Myke Loe & Jesse West

Large Professor: “That was dope. Yeah, Finesse called me up, he was on Penalty. We were cool, we were always cool. He said, ‘Yo, roll through to the studio, I wanna put you on this joint.’

“I came through to the studio, and Sadat was just finishing up his verse. Finesse was sitting there, and was like, ‘Yo, jump on this. You can write right now.’ So I wrote my joint up, got in the booth, knocked it out. And I was like, ‘You like that joint right there? That shit was aiight?’ And everybody in the room was like, ‘Hell yeah!’ And I was like, ‘No doubt.’ Nas was the king of that. He would be like, ‘Yo man, that was aiight?’ And we’d be like, ‘Hell yeah!’ We’d always be buggin’ [even though he wasn’t sure if we would like it].

“Then, Finesse dropped his rhyme. Puba wasn’t there, which is why I was like, ‘He’s probably somewhere out in Aruba.’ He was always missing. That was a little inside joke.

“Then, we did the video [where we were all rocking on stage at the club with the old school mic]. That was nice, man. That was a booster for me, because that was in between projects, right when I was getting that Geffen project together.”

Large Professor & Pete Rock “In The World” (1996)

Album: High School High Soundtrack

Label: Big Beat/Atlantic

Producer: Large Professor & Pete Rock

Large Professor: “He did the whole beat. He had the beat a certain way at first. Pete is infamous for that—at least, at that time. He’d have the beat one way, and you’d say your rhyme over it. And Pete would go in and flip the beat so ill, and it would come back sounding so much iller. And that’s what he did with that. We rhymed over a basic track of that, and he came back, and that shit had all these drum rolls and kick drops. That shit was dope.

“Then, I was like, ‘Yo, throw this in there.’ And that was the vocal samples on the hook. That’s another movie, High School High, when I see the scene that was in and I crack a smile. That’s cool. [Having] songs in a movie, that shit is crazy.”

Large Professor f/ Nas “One Plus One” (1996)

Album: The LP (shelved, then officially released in 2009)

Label: Geffen

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “It was sad, man. It was sad for me. I kind of knew that they were getting ready to drop me. We were starting to go from different studio to different studio. They were like, ‘Well, maybe it’s the studio. Maybe it’s the engineer.’ But it was like, ‘Nah, I’m good. I’m just recording my shit.’

“So we were going to different studios, and that day I was at Battery. I was actually getting ready to record that, and then, all of a sudden, Nas pops into the studio. And I’m like, ‘Oh shit. What’s up?’ He was really good at that point. That was right after It Was Written and everything, so he was good.

“So he was like, ‘Yo, I’m here, man, what’s up? Let me hear what you’re working on.’ And I was kind of like, ‘Yo, who told you to come here? What’s going on?’ But either way, I’m like, ‘Yo, bust what I’m working with.’ So I played it, and he was like, ‘Oh, that’s hot. I gotta write something to this.’

“So he sat down and wrote. And I had my rhyme already, and was like, ‘Yo, this is the kind of shit that I’m talking about.’ He was like, ‘Aiight, cool.’ Then he laid it down, and it was me, him, and Grand Wiz in there. And I was like, ‘Yo, that shit is crazy.’

“But that song is really sad to me, because I knew they were getting ready [to drop me], and I was alone. Before Nas and Grand Wiz came in the studio, I was alone. I was for self. It was just crazy where I was. When I started working, I had a lot of people around. And it seemed like the people were slowly fading away. And now, I’m not at my [regular] studio, I’m at this other studio. It was kind of on some problem shit, [which you can hear me express in my verse]. Then Nas comes in, and he’s problem free, like, ‘Yo, smoke heavily..’ and that type of shit. And I’m sitting there ready to get dropped from the label! [Laughs.] I was on some other shit.

“That was a sad time for me, man. I love the song now, when I listen to it, and think about how I survived the times. But it always brings that back fresh. I know the listeners, they don’t know that part of it. But for me personally, that’s a sad one. But it was a nice joint.”

Large Professor “The Mad Scientist” (1996)

Album: “The Mad Scientist”/“Spacey” 12 Inch

Label: Geffen

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “To this day, I love performing that song. And people [still say], ‘That shit is ill.’ I found that loop out in Jersey. It was me, Q-Tip, and JuJu [from The Beatnuts] going through these records at this factory. I found that loop, and I was like, ‘Yo, I’m gonna use this.’ So I went back and hooked it up.

“This is when I was starting to work on my solo stuff, right after Main Source. I was still on Wild Pitch, and [they] were like, ‘Well, if you’re not going to do Main Source, we still want you to do a solo project.’ And [K-Cut and Sir Scratch] went on to do the Fuck What You Think album.

“I felt like Main Source was very broad, and I wanted to get more into who I was and how I came up. So [this record] was almost like an introductory type of thing. Basically, I just tried to keep it B-boy hip-hop. At that time, there was a different movement getting ready to come up. Everybody was jiggy, and nothing was wrong, like, ‘I got all the flyest cars.’ And here I am like, ‘Never had a basement, never had an attic.’ I’m kind of belly-aching and shit, and dudes are like, ‘Aiight, aiight.’ Meanwhile B.I.G. is like, ‘I got the 5 Series Benz’ and all that. It was just a different time. I wanted to get deeper into the style, but a different wave was happening.

“The laughs on that are from ‘Thriller.’ That’s the Vincent Price laugh. On some real mad scientist shit. That song came out in the jiggy era, but I come from when we were getting kicked out of hallways for breakdancing. I come from the rebellious era of hip-hop. So I created that feeling, where it was edgy, but it was danceable, and putting the laugh and the strings to create that vibe, that’s what I wanted to do.

“When you’re working with a bigger machine, things have to turn around in a timely fashion. With me taking my time with that album, and really getting it to my liking, and being one man, whereas with Main Source I was like, ‘Yo, you scratch this,’ it took a little bit longer for me to put it together.

“When it did come together, I don’t think it was getting the response they wanted at Geffen. I think they signed me off the strength of, ‘You heard about this guy Large Professor?’ And they had the bread, so they were like, ‘OK, Large Professor. Here.’ But after a while, when ‘Mad Scientist’ came out, and it wasn’t blowing off of the shelves like crazy, they were like, ‘Well, we’re not going to bail on you just yet. Let’s drop another single.’

Large Professor “Ijuswannachill” (1996)

Album: “Ijuswannachill”/“Hard!” 12 Inch

Label: Geffen

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “I wasn’t really talking too jiggy, and I was mulling through how the industry was getting to me as an artist, and ‘Ijustwannachill’ wasn’t that broad of a [record]. It was more for underground radio and small clubs, and it wasn’t getting much airplay altogether. They burned the video up crazy, but other than that, it really wasn’t poppin’ off. And they just lost faith in the shit.

“That would’ve been a good record for an indie, but when there’s big bucks, and you’re on Geffen, they’re like, ‘Nah, you can take that little indie shit somewhere else.’ At that time, I wasn’t in the right mind frame for the level I had gotten to. I was still on that, ‘Yo, 40s and a blunt’ kind of shit [which is reflected in the title of the song]. I wasn’t thinking business-wise. I wasn’t thinking, ‘You’re on Geffen now, and you have this big machine behind you, and you should be making records like this.’ I was just like, ‘I’m gonna do the hip-hop that I know and love.’”

“Once this single dropped, they were like, ‘This isn’t ringin’ off like this. We don’t even want to go any further with the album.’ It was different than what was popular. Then the lawyer called me one day and was like, ‘Yo Paul, they told me they’re gonna have to let you go.’ So they shelved the whole project.”

Pete Rock f/ Large Professor and Kool G Rap “Truly Yours ’98” (1998)

Album: Soul Survivor

Label: Loud/RCA/BMG

Producer: Pete Rock & Marley Marl

Large Professor: “I think originally Cormega was on it too. You know, Pete was like, ‘Yo, get down on this.’ And I heard it, and I was like, ‘Yeah, definitely.’ So I did my twist on how I thought it should sound.

“Yeah, Pete hooked it up, and G Rap too. That was cool, because at that time with the rhymes, I felt like I was getting a little bit better at how I was trying to flip things.

“At that time, I was done with Geffen, and doing spot production, and just really trying to hold my life together. It was a lot of learning during that time, on some man shit. I was kind of in a rebuilding stage at that time. Everything had fallen, and I wasn’t really going into the circles. I was just trying to get my man shit together.

“[These types of looks were good for me at that time to stay out there], for sure. I always listened to Future Flavas [with Pete and Marley], so I was always connected with that. But as far as trying to go out there and schmooze, I wasn’t into that. So when Pete was like, ‘Yo, I got this project I want you to get on.’ I was like, ‘Definitely, I’ll rock with that.’”

Slick Rick “I Sparkle” (1999)

Album: Wild Wild West (Soundtrack)

Label: Interscope

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “Slick Rick was [recording] in Woodstock. The studio was dope, because it was like a log cabin. You could just go out, and it would be the forest, right there. So [I got a call], and I drove up there one night. It was like three hours or something like that. Slick Rick was there—he had just came home jail—and was chillin’. I played him some beats, and he liked the ‘I Sparkle’ beat. He was very meticulous. That dude is real sharp. And he honed in on that one. And I was like, ‘Aiight, cool.’

“I made that trip again, and he had all the vocals ready this time. That was the first time I had seen someone sit down and do their vocals. After that, I saw a bunch of people do it. But he sat down, all smooth, chillin’. And I was like, ‘Ah, that’s dope.’ Just to see him work, and do all those different voices and sounds. Him and Busta Rhymes, they’re top notch on the mic end—just constructing it.

“They had it where you could lodge there, but I was like, ‘Nah, I’m just gonna jet back.’ So I made that mission back. Then they gave me a call like, ‘Yo, we’re coming down to mix it.’ So we mixed it down.

“That was crazy, because I had a lot of things going on in my life at that time. I had my son, and just all kinds of things going on. And I remember it was on the Wild Wild West soundtrack. And I was doing kind of bad monetarily, so that was a highlight, that it was on that there. So I would throw that in, and it would be like, ‘Yo, I got my song on here.’ Because it was summer, and it feels bad when you’re doing bad right in the beginning of summer. So that was like an ill highlight, like, ‘This is nice. At least I’m somewhere [aligned] with the energy that’s going on.’ That was cool.”

Busta Rhymes f/ Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, and Roc Marciano “The Heist” (2000)

Album: Anarchy

Label: Flipmode/Elektra

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “My boy Rashad Smith, he came to me one day, and this was right after my father had passed away. And he said, ‘Bust wanna see you in the studio tomorrow.’ I guess he had told Bust that my Pops passed. Everyone was cool with my father, because when they would come through to the crib, he would be there. Like he’d even be puffin’ Ls—you know, come in the room like, ‘What you boys doing?’ [Laughs.]

“So Bust was like, ‘Yo, Rashad told me everything that was going on with you, you know. Play me some tracks.’ And that’s when he had the Wall Street studio, under the Brooklyn Bridge. And he would be going in between rooms, and I was playing beats, and he’d have one ear to that. He was truly multi-tasking.

“So I played the beat for ‘The Heist.’ And Roc Marc, who was Bust’s man from L.I., was sitting there with me, like, ‘Yo, that shit is dope.’ Roc kind of spearheaded using that beat for the ‘Heist.’ He was like, ‘Yo, play that when Busta comes in.’ Then Bust came in, like, ‘Yo, play that shit again!’ And I played it, and he was like, ‘Yo, lay that one.’

“It was crazy, because there was an MTV Cribs where they were doing Wu-Tang Clan in Cali, and Bust is a visitor. And he’s playing ‘The Heist’ beat [during the episode]. He’s like, auditioning it for them. Because when he first heard the beat, he was like, ‘Yo, I’m gonna get Ghost and Rae on this. Watch.’ So I saw the Cribs shit, and he’s playing ‘The Heist’ beat, and this is before the shit was done, so I’m like, ‘Oh shit. This is crazy.’ [Laughs.]

“Next call was like, ‘Yo, come to the studio to mix this joint down. I got the vocals.’ And that was it. To hear that, [being such a Wu-Tang fan], it was crazy.”

Biz Markie “It’s Da Biz” (2001)

Album: “It’s On”/“It’s Da Biz” 12 Inch

Label: Down Low

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “The first time I worked with Biz was with Paul C. I made the beats when Paul lent me that drum machine for those two weeks. Paul asked me to play them for him when he came to pick it up. And he took a few of the beats with him. And then he calls me up, maybe a week later, like, ‘Yo, Biz likes one of your beats. Roll through to the studio.’ I’m like, ‘Oh shit.’

“So I go to the studio. And that’s when Biz was working on [The Biz Never Sleeps]. I go in, and Biz is there, like, ‘Yo, you made that beat? Yo, that’s tough. I like that. I wanna use that!’ It was a beat that he never [ended up doing] anything to, but he liked the beat.

“After the session, he was like, ‘Yo, you need a ride? I’ll bring you back to the crib.’ And he brought me back to the rest, and came up stairs, and saw my records, and was like, ‘Yo, you’re good with the beats.’

“By this time, years and years had passed, through the G Rap situation and everything, and whenever I would see Biz, he would always have some good pointers. And he’d always big me up, like, ‘He’s the master with the beats!’

“When this record came about, Akinyele was down with The Flip Squad, and he was supposed to be writing a song for Biz, doing the lyrics. And it was just a throw-up, it wasn’t like there was any plan. It was like, ‘We’re gonna have LP come through with some beats, and it will be for Biz, and Ak will write it. And the girl singing on ‘It’s The Biz’ is the girl from Akinyele’s ‘Put It In Your Mouth.’ That’s Kia singing on there.

“I had the beat going one way. And Biz was like, ‘Nah, make it go [this way].’ So I hooked it up. Then he did his rhyme [instead of having Ak write it]. He was like, ‘Nah, I wanna just say this rhyme.’ And it just came about, man.

“It was crazy, because it was one of those later joints that was nice, but it was during that time period where things like that slipped through the cracks majorly. But in retrospect, when everyone goes through and starts rehashing, they’re like, ‘Yo, this was an ill sleeper.’ You get those purists that are like, ‘Yo, I got this joint!’

“I’ve learned a lot about the test of time through the industry. Just because something might not rock right then and there, you’ll see that later on, it might rock in a whole other way. [Or it might get big] in Japan or something. Word!”

Nas “You’re Da Man” (2001)

Album: Stillmatic

Label: Ill Will/Columbia

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: ““The album Nastradamus was before Stillmatic. And I was in those sessions. I went to those sessions, and that’s when I gave him the beat for ‘You’re Da Man.’ I threw the beat on, and we were in there rhyming with the hand-held, and just rockin’. I had totally forgot about it.

“That was a nice summer around the time of Stillmatic, when we were recording for that. I was coming out of that funk from ‘98 and ‘99, and I was kind of stable again. It was right on the edge of the summer, and Nas was like, ‘Yo, I’m at the studio out on Long Island. Roll through.’ And we were just in there, building. There was a lot going on. You know, Hov was getting at him, his Moms was sick, so we were building a lot, getting a lot of work done. Those times were crazy, too. It was good to get back up with him.

“That song was great, man. I was in my crib one time, laying on the bed chillin’, watching TV. And I heard ‘You’re Da Man’ playing. Someone was playing it from outside, or from a car or some shit. I was like, ‘Yo, that’s dope.’ I rarely got those [moments], so that was nice.

“Nas has an instinct. His antenna is connected on some ill shit, where he’s like, ‘Yeah, this, right there.’ So that was my first taste of him kind of chillin’ on a beat [that I gave him a while back, and then being like], ‘Aiight, now.’ That was dope how he chilled on that, and then brought it back when everything was going on.

“Yeah, my ‘The Man,’ that was my version [for my solo album 1st Class]. He got his version, I got my version. It’s versions, like how the dreads do it.”

Nas “Rewind” (2001)

Album: Stillmatic

Label: Ill Will/Columbia

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “Nas likes to build. The session is not like, ‘Let’s play the beat and knock this out.’ We’ll sit there and talk, for hours. We’ll be going through shit, and the times, and shit we don’t even know about, like Motown, and I’d bring in magazines with Diana Ross or something, and we’d be like, ‘Oh shit, look at this.’ Just sitting there, talking. Wild shit. And then for ‘Rewind,’ [after all that talking], he was like, ‘Yo, play that beat again.’ [Laughs.] So I played the beat, and he was like, ‘Aiight, cool. Let’s jet.’

“Then the next day, we went back to the studio. He came in, and the whole fuckin’ song was written.[Laughs.] He didn’t [tell us the concept or anything about writing a story in reverse]. He was just like, ‘Yo, throw that beat up.’ And he went in, and did his rhyme, and then came out in regular Nas fashion, like, ‘Yo, that shit is aiight?’ And we’re in there like, ‘Yo, this shit is crazy!’ [Laughs.]

“There’s always, like, a warm-up period for us. After not talking, we gotta kind of talk for a little while and reconnect. But by this time, we had already got back and clicked. ‘You’re Da Man’ was done. We had even knocked out the ‘Stay Chisel’ joint. And then, ‘Rewind’ is really where he spread his wings, with the crazy, crazy ill mind-twister.’

“I had one loop in there on some Jamaica shit. I had this Lillo Thomas record in there at first. We were vibing off that shit, like, ‘Yeah, this shit is ill,’ with the ‘It’s Yours’ drums. It sounded like a Jamaican blend, like a Grandmaster Vic blend.

“Then I flipped the loop, because the loop on that reminded me of the loop on ‘Represent.’ It reminded me of that same instrument from ‘Represent.’ And since he was doing Stillmatic, I was trying to search for something that felt like that.

“Then he put the rhyme down, and then they started going to the City to mix and stuff like that. So I fell back, and he started doing ‘One Mic’ and all of those types of joints. Then I came to the studio, and he was like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to mix it down.’ And shit was going backwards, with all those finishing touches and [sound effects].’ And I was like, ‘Ohhh!’ And that was all Nas. That was him, working with an engineer.

“That record, whooooooo>! You gotta really lock your brain [in when you’re listening to it to truly appreciate it], with the continuity and everything [that’s happening in reverse].”

Large Professor f/ Nas “Stay Chisel” (2002)

Album: 1st Class

Label: Matador

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “We always joke around. Nas would be like, ‘You large professor face.’ We’d always bug out like that. So I know he got that ‘Stay Chisel’ title on some, ‘Yo, we gonna be sharp on this.’ That dude is very particular, very sharp. I’m like that with beats, but he’s like that with words and lyrics, and the timing of lyrics.

“Yeah, so he had that song. And I was like, ‘Are you gonna use it?’ And he was like, ‘I don’t know.’ And I’d come back like, ‘Yo, are you gonna use it?!?!’ [Laughs.] I’m going in sessions, like, ‘Yo, let me get that Stay Chisel.’ So finally, he was like, to the engineer, ‘Yo, can you give Large Professor the ‘Stay Chisel’ sessions please, so he can get off my back?’ [Laughs.] We joke around like that. Then, I put it together [with my rhymes], and he heard it, and he was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah.’

“There’s a solo version [floating around] with him on all three of the verses. It’s [dope]. I did a remix version [for my album], and somehow the original version, with [just him rapping on it], got out there.”

Cormega f/ Large Professor “The Come Up” (2002)

Album: The True Meaning

Label: Legal Hustle

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: ““J-Love kind of brokered that. He told me he was going to the studio with Cormega, and I should come through and bring some beats. I knew Cormega from a while ago from Nas. And then everything happened with him getting locked up. But even then, when I met him, it was brief. It wasn’t like we really got to chop it up like that.

“So when I went to the studio, I told him that I liked The Realness and I auditioned some beats. I threw on some joints, and his boy was like, ‘Yeah, that’s kinda tough right there.’ And Mega was like, ‘Yeah, I like that.’

“So he went in, did the vocals, and we mixed it right then and there, on the spot. We did a video for it too, that was nice. Me and Mega work very well together, on some, ‘Get it done, knock it out.’ It’s real smooth when I work with him. It’s real systematic.

“I’ve always been neutral, and was the one trying to [if anything get Cormega and Nas back together]. It was kind of awkward for me, because I would hear this, and then go hear that. But that’s what let you know that there was love between them, because someone like me could go in between them and be like, ‘Yo, I was just talking to Nas,’ or, ‘Yo, I was just talking to Mega.’ There was no, ‘Yo, don’t [fuck with him].’ It was just like, ‘Aiight, cool.’”

The Beatnuts f/ Large Professor “Originate” (2002)

Album: The Originators

Label: Landspeed

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “Those are my dudes. I love The Beatnuts. We were in there just hangin’ out, going through beats and records. I was like, ‘Yo, y’all gonna be in here tomorrow?’ And they were like, ‘Yeah.’

“So I brought in that beat, and played it for them. They were like, ‘Aiight, cool.’ So I laid it down, and we just bugged out on it. I was reminiscing on the days when we would be nabbing records from the record shops. A record would be like two million dollars, and we would [just take it]. That was kind of the subject matter, just the dudes that make the ill beats. I’m really happy with how that turned out.

“That was JuJu or Les [who put in that Greg Nice sample]. Yeah, [a good vocal sample can really make a record].”

Large Professor f/ Q-Tip “In The Sun” (2002)

Album: 1st Class

Label: Matador

Producer: Xplicit

Large Professor: ““That beat was crazy. I was going through my memory bank, thinking about all that wild shit from back in the days and school, like, ‘Yo, we still here, in the sun.’

“And with Tip, I had done an article in XXL, and was talking about when I was with Geffen, Tip had came to the sessions, but we’d never gotten anything done, and Geffen was looking at me kind of funny about that. So Tip came through on that album. He was like, ‘Yo, I wanna make sure I come through on this album.’

“He made that happen. That’s a good song for both of us. It got him ‘Rhyme Of The Month’ in The Source. So that was good while he was doing his solo thing. The song is dope. To this day, I like it.

“That album 1st Class was bittersweet, because I got my new machine, I had my ASR-X Pro, and I was putting my beats together on that, trying to give the people something different. People would be like, ‘Yo, you don’t do nothing new.’ So I gave the people that, and then they were like, ‘We only like you with the samples.’ It was some, ‘Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.’

“It was cool, though. I like that album. But it was coming from the [9/11] time, so it had that soot on it.”

Nas “Star Wars” (2004)

Album: Illmatic (10th Anniversary Edition)

Label: Columbia

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “We did ‘Star Wars’ during the Stillmatic sessions. Then it got released on the 10th anniversary album of Illmatic. That was a real flavor joint. He was sitting there, and I played him that beat, like, ‘Yo, you gotta use this beat.’ And he wrote that write there on the spot.

That was on some flavor shit, talking about Wild Style. That’s why he’s saying, ‘She remembers Busy Bee battles when it was peace.’ And it had [the Star Wars kind of sounds, but it was also talking about the stars of rap going at each other too]. We were in the studio, and the studio was really nice. And the weather was nice. That was a good time.

“I think Nas had so much stuff, and always does, [which is why this wasn’t on Stillmatic]. I heard his new album, and dude got so many tracks. I was asking him, ‘How are you going to narrow those down?’ There are so many joints. But he has an instinct. It just works out right.

“In a way, it was better that ‘Star Wars’ came out by itself, and was showcased by itself. It added importance to the 10th anniversary project. I heard dudes like, ‘Yo, I gotta get that because it got ‘Star Wars’ on it.’”

Large Professor f/ AZ and Styles P “The Hardest” (2008)

Album: Main Source

Label: Gold Dust

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “Damn, ‘The Hardest.’ That was originally supposed to be a remix for Styles. We were working over there in Bob Perry’s studio in Williamsburg, the Chop Shop. At the time, when I did the remix for Styles, we had an ill conglomerate in there of dudes like Fame from M.O.P., AZ, Cormega, and J. Waxx Garfield. They were in there just yayin’ and nayin’ shit. And when I did that remix, everybody was raving, like, ‘That shit is crazy!’

“So Styles was in that day, and I was like, ‘Yo, you gotta put some new rhymes to this.’ And Bob Perry was like, ‘Yo, I wanna get AZ on this.’ And he gave it to A, and A is a perfectionist, so it took a minute for A to roll through. We were almost like, ‘We need to get Rakim on this,’ because A took a minute! We even did the chorus over, saying, ‘Rakim, The G-O-D.’ And right when I was doing the chorus over, A came in, and just laced it with his verse. And it was like, ‘Yes! This is what I’m talking about.’

“How that came about was nice. Late too, late in the game. That’s what surprised me. There can still be something that sounds right late in the game. I see a lot of comments like, ‘If this came out in the ’90s...’ But [we need it now]. I’m very proud of how that joint came out.”

Cormega f/ Sadat X, Large Professor, and O.C. “Da Journey (Remix)” (2010)

Album: N/A

Label: N/A

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “Me and Mega were in the lab, just listening to records. That’s how it always starts with me, listening to records on some appreciation shit. And then it’s like, ‘Yo, did you hear that?’ Then I just went in and started chopping it, and caught it. It was ill how I caught it too.

“That was Mega who brought them together. We had the track together, and an original version of ‘Journey’ that was just Cormega. And Mega is just like that; he likes to get other people involved. Realistically, if we got that beat playing, other people can rock. He kind of sets it up for the stage, where if dudes are there, they can get on it and rock. That kind of ‘pass the mic’ thing.

“So O came through, and Sadat. We’re all in the same circle, so you would see them in the studio. It was just like, ‘Come on, man.’ Just to keep it natural, and show people this is how we really rock. That’s gonna be on the Mega Philosophy album.”

Large Professor f/ Cormega, Action Bronson, Roc Marciano, and Saigon “M.A.R.S.” (2012)

Album: Professor @ Large

Label: Fat Beats/Distrolord Digital

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “That was Mega’s idea. Originally, I played him the beat. And he was like, ‘Yeah, that’s ill right there.’ And he wrote a verse to it. And he was like, ‘I want to include some other people, and make like an acronym kind of song.’ So I was like, ‘Aiight, no doubt.’

“So we were going through mad options. I reached out to Action, then we threw it out to Roc Marc. And originally, we had Sean P on it. Sean P did a verse, but for some reason it didn’t work out—with the delivery date or whatever. So Mega had also sent it to Saigon, and he came through on it and nailed it up. So we mixed it, and Mega was like, ‘This is dope. Yo, your album is almost finished, just throw that on there. I got other things I can do.’ So he blessed me with that right there. But that was spearheaded by Cormega.

“Action Bronson, that dude is clever, witty, and he’s got that Flushing shit too, where he doesn’t really care. That’s why I always grab him like, ‘Come on, you gotta start caring about what you’re doing. This is an industry, this is business.’ He has that Flushing [attitude] like, ‘There’s more where that comes from.’ And with the combination of the rapping and being a chef, he’s a rap personality. He’s top notch. We had to enlist him. His flow is crazy too. He got that traditional, ill flow—and then his knowledge of food and life and different cultures. Bronson is that dude.

“I don’t know [if there will be more M.A.R.S. joints]. The future is open to that. Right now, we’re completing the Mega Philosophy project, which has a few surprises. We’ll see how it goes down.”

Large Professor f/ Fame “Happy Days R Here” (2012)

Album: Professor @ Large

Label: Fat Beats/Distrolord Digital

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “Fame comes in the studio, and I’m mixing these other songs, and he’s like, ‘Yo, you working on something?’ We both work in the Chop Shop. So I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’d love to finally get you on something,’ because I was supposed to have him on my last album. He was like, ‘Nah, I’m gonna come through on this one.’

“So I knocked the joint out, and I play him the beat. So he knocks out his verse—the verse is fire! Fuckin’ fire! So I’m going to the mastering house, because I’m finally finished with the album, and I get on the phone with Fame, and he goes, ‘When you gonna let me do my verse over?’ [Laughs.] I don’t know, he just wanted to do it over. Wow. So we went back in the studio, and Fame did his verse over. [Laughs.] He ripped it on both of them, so that was nice.”

Large Professor f/ Busta Rhymes “Straight From The Golden” (2012)

Album: Professor @ Large

Label: Fat Beats/Distrolord Digital

Producer: Large Professor

Large Professor: “The joint with Busta is nice too, because it’s me trying that double-time flow. I tried my hand at the quick flow. I had the beat, and it’s kind of the New York style of that. I wasn’t trying to go deep into those snare rolls and all of that crazy shit, but it does have that tempo.

“I was kind of uncertain, because I tried it [but didn’t know how people would react to it]. So I sent it to Bust. And he was like, ‘Yo, that shit is hot, what you said on there.’ And I was like, ‘Oh shit, Bust is feeling it.’ But then he took it to another level, like, ‘I like what you said, but I’m about to go in!’ [Laughs.]

“This album came together nice. It kind of flowed. I didn’t have a deadline on it or anything, so I had a chance to marinate on it. The project as a whole has a nice light on it. It finally feels like I’m out of the dark stages of my solo career. It feels like I’m finally out to the light. I’m just happy to be here and do what I do.”