Large Professor

Large Professor
Large Professor performing at the Rahzel & Friends - Brooklyn Bowl in 2016.
Background information
Birth name William Paul Mitchell
Also known as Large Pro, Extra P.
Born (1973-03-21) March 21, 1973
Harlem, New York City, New York, US
Origin Queens, New York City, United States, US
Genres Hip hop
Occupation(s) MC, producer, DJ, musician
Instruments Turntable, sampler
Years active 1988–present
Labels Wild Pitch//EMI Records
Geffen/MCA Records
Matador Records, Gold Dust Media, Red Line Music Distribution Inc., Fat Beats
Associated acts Main Source, Skillz, Akinyele, Eric B. & Rakim, Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, Intelligent Hoodlum, A Tribe Called Quest, Pete Rock, Nas, Common, Cormega, DJ Premier, AZ, Jeru The Damaja

Large Professor is the stage name of William Paul Mitchell (born March 21, 1973),[1] an American hip hop rapper and record producer also known as Large Pro and Extra P. Based in New York City, he is known as a founding member of the underground hip hop group Main Source and as mentor and frequent collaborator of Nas.[2] About.com ranked Large Professor #13 on its Top 25 Hip-Hop Producers list.[3]

Early life

William Paul Mitchell was born in Harlem, New York City, New York[1] and raised in Queens, New York.

Career

Large Professor started making his earliest beats with two turntables, a Casio SK-1 sampler, and pause-tape cassettes before his mentor Paul C taught him how to use an SP-1200.[4] In 1989 he joined the group Main Source, which also included K-Cut and Sir Scratch from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 1990 Large produced several tracks for Eric B & Rakim's Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em, including "In The Ghetto".[4] To make "In The Ghetto", he sampled directly off of a cassette tape of sample ideas Paul C had made for Rakim.[4]

Main Source recorded one album with Large called Breaking Atoms, which was released in 1991. It included hits such as "Just Hangin' Out", "Looking at the Front Door," and featured Nas' first public appearance on a track called "Live at the Barbeque", along with Akinyele and Joe Fatal.[1] Large Professor now considers "Looking at the Front Door" one of the most emotional records of his career, later saying "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."

In 1992, their success allowed them to record "Fakin' the Funk", a track on the White Men Can't Jump motion-picture soundtrack. Because of business differences, Large and Main Source quietly parted ways and Large went on to sign with Geffen/MCA Records.

During and after his tenure with Main Source, he worked with Pete Rock & CL Smooth, and he produced a number of tracks for Nas, Busta Rhymes, Masta Ace, The X-Ecutioners, Tragedy Khadafi, Big Daddy Kane, Mobb Deep, A Tribe Called Quest, and others during the 1990s. During this time he handled a significant amount of production on several projects for other artists. In 1993 he produced Akinyele's entire Vagina Diner album, which experienced some modest commercial success at the time of its release.[5] Though the album did well at first, The Source later wrote an article criticizing the song "I Luh Huh", in which Akinyele considers pushing his pregnant girlfriend down the stairs as a form of abortion.[6] The ensuing backlash for the controversial lyrics hurt the album's performance.[7] Akinyele wrote a response in the next issue defending the song and pointing out that the violent ideas in the songs are just thoughts, and he ends the song by saying "Just cause I talk this shit don't get me wrong, Yo, I still luh hur."[6]

Large Professor also produced "Keep It Rollin'" on A Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders not long after he left Main Source. This was a major moment in his career that helped him reach a new level of credibility and exposure as a solo artist.[8]

In 1994 Large Professor produced three of the ten songs on Nas's Illmatic ("Halftime", "One Time 4 Your Mind", and "It Ain't Hard To Tell"), the most of any producer involved with the album. According to an interview with Busta Rhymes, the "Halftime" beat was originally intended for him.[9] Thought he liked the beat, he didn't end up using it and later regretted it after hearing "Halftime".[9] While describing the making of the song in an interview Large Pro said, "I mean, we just wanted to put something gritty out there to the world, and those drums—that's what it was at that time. It was that gritty, muffled out, because the Hip Hop that we grew up with… We grew up with park jam tapes and things like the fidelity of these tapes."[10] He was so instrumental in the making of Illmatic that Nas wanted to give him an executive producer credit, but he refused.[10]

In 1996 Large Professor completed his debut solo album The LP for Geffen Records. After several delays, the album was shelved[11] and later released as a bootleg version in 2002. An official release of the album finally came out in 2009, thirteen years after its original intended release date.[11]

In 2001 Large Pro produced "You're Da Man" and "Rewind" for Nas's Stillmatic album. He first played Nas the beat for "You're Da Man" while Nas was working on Nastradamus a few years prior.[12] Nas chose the beat but decided to save it for a later project.[12] Large Professor also used the same vocal sample from the chorus on the song "The Man" from his 1st Class album.

Discography

Albums

Large Professor mixing turntables
With Main Source
Solo albums
Collaboration albums
  • 1993: Vagina Diner (With Akinyele)
  • 2003: Exotic's Raw (With Neek the Exotic) "Album majority, minus 6 tracks"
  • 2008: Spiritual Intelligence (With L.E.O)[14]
  • 2010: Exotic Species (album)|Exotic Species (With Neek the Exotic) "Album majority, minus 4 tracks"
  • 2011: Still On The Hustle (With Neek the Exotic) "Album majority, minus 5 tracks"
  • 2014: Mega Philosophy (With Cormega)[15]
Instrumental albums
  • 2006: Beatz Volume 1
  • 2007: Beatz Volume 2

Production

Vocal appearances

References

  1. 1 2 3 Large Professor Biography at Allmusic.com
  2. ↑ "Large Professor". Matador Records. Archived from the original on 2013-07-23.
  3. ↑ Henry Adaso; Ivan Rott; Renato P.; Bhaskar S.; Henry A. "Top 50 Hip-Hop Producers". About.com.
  4. 1 2 3 "Large Professor Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records (Part 1) Eric B. & Rakim "In The Ghetto" (1990)". Complex.com. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  5. ↑ Dining out. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1993-09-04.
  6. 1 2 Mofokeng, Thabiso (2009-03-30). "Dear Ak, Editorial in The Source + Answer letter (1993-94)". Press Rewind If I Haven't... Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  7. ↑ "Large Professor Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records (Part 1) Akinyele "The Bomb" (1993)". Complex.com. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  8. ↑ "Large Professor Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records (Part 1) A Tribe Called Quest f/ Large Professor "Keep It Rollin'" (1993)". Complex.com. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  9. 1 2 Powers, Ann; Carr, Daphne (2010-11-09). Best Music Writing 2010. Da Capo Press. ISBN 9780306819254.
  10. 1 2 Grant, Andre. "Large Professor Confirms Refusing 'Illmatic' Executive Producer Credit". HipHopDX.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  11. 1 2 Bogazianos, Dimitri A. (2011-12-01). 5 Grams: Crack Cocaine, Rap Music, and the War on Drugs. NYU Press. ISBN 9780814723067.
  12. 1 2 "Large Professor Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records (Part 2) Nas "You're Da Man" (2001)". Complex.com. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  13. ↑ Frydenlund, Zach (September 14, 2014). "Premiere: Listen to Large Professor's "In the Scrolls" f/ G Wiz". Complex.com. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  14. ↑ "L.E.O. – Spiritual Intelligence". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  15. ↑ "New Music: Cormega 'Industry'". Vibe.com. 2014-05-19. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
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