Everything about Large Professor totally explained
William Paul Mitchell (born
March 21,
1972), best known as
Large Professor, also as
Large Pro and
Xtra P, is a
New York based
hip hop record producer and emcee. He is also best known as a member of the influential
underground hip hop group
Main Source, and for discovering popular emcee
Nas.
Biography
Early life and career
Mitchell was born in 1972 in
Harlem,
New York City. He moved, in his early childhood, to
Flushing Queens were he was raised. His production career started early in his adolescence. As a young teenager, he'd make pause tapes, in which he'd pause a beat and blend it in with other sequences. Eventually, he mananged to own a
Casio SK-1 sampling keyboard that allowed him to make his beats in the comfort of his own home. He became a protégé of the late
Paul C, a record producer and musician, with whom he credits for teaching him virtually everything he knows about record production as well as the associated technology used for making hip-hop music. Paul C was doing production work with Eric B. & Rakim and Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud, and then at age 17, Large was given the opportunity to program beats for
Eric B. & Rakim's
Let the Rhythm Hit Em album while still attending high school. While working with Eric B. & Rakim, he discovered Nas. Nas got a management deal with Serchlite Publishing (headed by
MC Serch from former group
3rd Bass) and Large produced three tracks on Nas's debut album
Illmatic after he was signed by
Columbia Records. His work with Eric B. & Rakim album eventually led him to work on
Kool G. Rap &
DJ Polo's .
Career with Main Source
In
1989, he joined the group
Main Source, which was also comprised of K-Cut and Sir Scratch from
Toronto. 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 Nas makes his first public appearance on a track called
"Live at the Barbeque," along with
Akinyele and Joe Fatal. In 1992, its success allowed it 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, and others during the 1990s.
Solo career
In
1996, he released two singles for
Geffen/
MCA Records,
"Ijuswannachill" and
"The Mad Scientist", for which videos were produced for both tracks. He was to have his highly anticipated solo album
The LP released around the same time, but it was never released because of label politics. Geffen and Large Professor eventually parted ways, and he signed with
Matador Records, which generally specialized in marketing and promoting contemporary rock and alternative tracks as well as electronic music. Although his album for Matador,
1st Class didn't receive mainstream acceptance, it gained favorable reviews by fans and critics. The album included guest appearances by
Nas,
Busta Rhymes, and
Q-Tip. The album also included the moderate street hit
"Radioactive."
Large's
publishing company is named Paul Sea Productions as an homage to his late mentor.
For many years, people thought that Large Professor directly taught
DJ Premier how to use the Emu SP-1200 sampling drum machine, which Large used to help program many of his beats during the 1990s. However, according to Large Professor, he just showed DJ Premier to enhance what he already had. This is an excerpt from the November/December issue of
Scratch Magazine:
Large Professor DJs at clubs, parties, and events worldwide and still engages in music production. He released an instrumental LP in 2006 called
Beatz Vol. 1. Its sequel,
Beats Vol. 2, was released in 2007. He is currently doing production work for emceess
Jin,
Cormega,
U-God, and
Jurassic 5.
Discography
Albums
Production
1990: "" (Various songs on album by Kool G Rap & DJ Polo)
1993: Vagina Diner (Album by Akinyele)
1993: Keep It Moving (from the A Tribe Called Quest album Midnight Marauders
1993: "Niggaz Never Learn" (from the Big Daddy Kane album Looks Like a Job For…)
1994: "Stress (Remix)" (from the Organized Konfusion 12" Stress)
1994: "One Time 4 Your Mind", "Halftime", "It Ain't Hard To Tell" (from the Nas album Illmatic)
1995: "Resurrection '95" Extra P Remix (from the Common (Sense) 12" Resurrection)
1995: "Resurrection '95" Large Professor Remix (from the Common (Sense) 12" Resurrection)
1996: "Extra Abstract Skillz" (from the Mad Skillz album From Where???)
2000: "The Heist" (from the Busta Rhymes album Anarchy)
2001: "You're Da Man", "Rewind" (from the Nas album Stillmatic)
2002: "The Come Up" (from the Cormega album The True Meaning)
2002: "We Are the Future," "It's Us," and "Drug Music" (from the Non Phixion album The Future Is Now)
2004: "What They Want" (from The UN album UN Or U Out)
2006: "World Wide" (from the Boot Camp Clik album The Last Stand)
2006: "Right 2 Know" (From the Prince Po album Prettyblack)
2006: "I Be Thuggin'" b/w "Mack of the Year" (Grand Daddy IU Single)
2007: "What Makes You Think", "I'm Up Now" (from the Mic Geronimo album Alive)
2008: "L.E.O (Love Equals Omnipotence) - Spirtual Intelligence / All tracks produced by Large Professor.
Appears on
1990: "Money In The Bank" (Kool G Rap & DJ Polo album "Wanted Dead or Alive")
1993: "Keep It Rollin'" (A Tribe Called Quest album "Midnight Marauders")
1994: "Stress (Remix)" Organized Konfusion 12" Stress)
2000: "The Last Shall Be First" (Cella Dwellas album The True Meaning)
2002: "XL" (The X-Ecutioners album Built from Scratch)
2002: "Hip Hop On Wax" (Rob Swift album Sound Event)
2002: "The Come Up" (Cormega album The True Meaning)
2004: "Sugar Ray and Hearns" (Cormega album Legal Hustle)
2006: "United" (MF Grimm album American Hunger)
2007: "The Radar" (Marco Polo album Port Authority (album))
2007: "The Purist" (Polyrhythm Addicts album Break Glass)
2008: "Conquer Mentally" (Presto album State Of The Art)Further Information
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