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.’
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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].”
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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.]”
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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.”
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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.”
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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!”
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