luke mcgarry

Stream: Large Professor “Hot (Sizzling, Scorching, Torching, Blazing)”

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(from Main Source on Gold Dust)

Large Professor gave Nas his first appearance on an album on the landmark Main Source release Breaking Atoms, one of the purest production pieces in hip-hop in the 1990s. After a shelved (and then barely if at all released) solo album on Geffen and another on Matador, he returns with a new LP (called Main Source) and a show in Orange County. He speaks now during a break from the studio. This interview by Charlie Dial.

On the cover of this record you have your bag and on the last one you have a crate—what are you carrying around?
Just records, man. All kinds of tools—like drum machines. It’s just to let people know that I’m not just standing there. I come equipped. You know what I’m saying? I got records, mics, I got my tools with me. My tools are just as important. I just let them know that the tools are just as important as the instrument. Like, ‘All right, cool—I’m putting all this stuff together, but I need the records and I need the mic and all of that stuff.’ So I give them light too.
There was a Main Source reunion in Canada in 2003—what happened?
We—myself and K-Cut—the Canada guys were like, ‘Yo, come do the show.’ And we just went and knocked it out. I’ve always been cool with K-Cut. It was no problem. From there we did a few in Japan, but I had to rock with my dude Rashad Smith. But, I mean I’m always cool with K-Cut. I did Breaking Atoms —basically that was it. At that time I had went into a little bit of the 1st Class album, but mostly it was the Main Source stuff.
Why do you think you were the first person to put Nas on a record?
I guess it’s just dudes not really seeing the potential. You gotta really be able to see the potential in a guy, and I always saw the potential in Nas. I was adamant about getting that dude on. When he came with his lyrics—I mean, Nas is really cool, a real cool guy, and he has a meticulous work ethic. When he goes in, it’s not like he’s a sloppy guy—he really goes in there and really tries to be on point and get it done right. That’s a pleasure to work with someone like that.
You’ve said Slick Rick is the best MC you ever worked with—why?
Slick Rick has all of the departments covered. He can get gangster, he can be very lyrical, he can come up with some crazy words, then he can sing—it’s like he has all of the departments covered. So definitely—Slick Rick is that dude.
How do you feel about the Geffen situation? How did that put you where you are now?
The Geffen situation helped me grow into a stronger man in this industry. The Geffen situation really taught me about this industry. I was still keeping it real—everything was going as scheduled, as planned, and a lot of that marketing and just industry stuff came into play and that’s not my strong point. I like the music. I like doing the music and putting the music down, so it let me know about this industry and about business. It’s show business—‘business’ is the big word in that. One thing that I’d do differently with Geffen now—one thing that I did wrong with them is we released a single before the album was done. We had ‘The Mad Scientist’ first and then we had ‘ijuswannachill.’ Today I would rather just give them the whole album and then the album would come out and then we put the singles out. But that’s just all in the gist of like—what comes first, the chicken or the egg? It was all that industry stuff. Me, I just like to focus on the music.
What’s the best environment for you to start putting tracks together?
I like to be able to be comfortable and put in long hours if I’m gonna be there. I’ve carried crates on trains, I’ve carried drum machines on trains—en route to the studio with two crates of records on the train. Now I try to be a little more organized—better with the plan of how I’m gonna go about doing things. A lot of today’s technology makes it easier. In those early days I did it the hard way—big machines on trains. I’m at a point now where now I wanna be able to have—like the machine I was using was the MPC1000, and you can almost stick that in your back pocket. As long as it’s comfortable and just like a cool little small set-up, I’m good.
How did you get hooked up with Presto? He’s a local.
One day we were DJing along side each other in Brooklyn and he was like, ‘Yo, I got this project I’m working on and I make beats and everything.’ He let me hear a beat, and me, I’m a guy who respects skills—so when I heard that, I was like, ‘Alright, cool.’ Once I heard what he was working with, I was like, ‘Yeah, I can add on to that.’ And so we made it happen.
No hassle, no politics?
Naw, that’s Geffen—that’s the politics. You know—there was one time when I had a demo and I wanted someone to listen to my demo, and they would put me through all the politics. And I always swore to myself that I wouldn’t be like that.
What is your favorite biography you’ve ever read?
Marvin Gaye. His story was real ill. I’m still finding out stuff about him.
You’ve said you’ve always got a vision in mind of the guys in the old days with the sheepskin jackets, and if they wouldn’t feel the music you’re making, you move to something else. Where does that come from?
You have visions in your mind when your playing a beat and you can see that its moving—me personally, I’ll go back to that stuff and it’s just like, ‘Oh yeah, this is that type of beat.’ I guess me coming up in Harlem and everything and just seeing the older dudes with their Kangols on. I just try to nail it—to get it right from the beginning. ‘Yo, I gotta make ‘em move—I gotta make that guy move.’

ABSTRACT WORKSHOP PRESENTS LARGE PROFESSOR WITH J. ROCC AND DJ COCOE ON FRI., FEB. 27, AT DETROIT BAR, 843 W. 19TH ST., COSTA MESA. 10 PM / $15 / 21+. DETROITBAR.COM. LARGE PROFESSOR’S MAIN SOURCE IS OUT NOW ON GOLD DUST. VISIT LARGE PROFESSOR AT LARGEPROFESSOR-MAINSOURCE.COM OR MYSPACE.COM/THELARGEPROFESSOR.