Comments on: Large Professor Feature for XXL (March 2002)

By: The Funkologist

The Funkologist — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:02:59 +0000

Pete Rock’s new beats are sterile as fuck, fuck you talkin’ about?? If anybody fell of it was Pete imo. Besides Paul’s Breakin’ Atoms sound was way more sample-driven compared to his Geffen period. After that he switched it up when he started workin’ more intensely with Neek, evolving into the more spaced out boom bap of 1st Class. Even his more recent production work is different.

By: SH

SH — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:53:55 +0000

@Ru: I may have understated my love for Large Pro’s work. He has classics. No question. “Baseball” is my shhhhiz too.

I guess I didn’t well enough portray the annui I feel when looking at Extra P’s situation.I’m not(knowingly at least) placing blame or anything, just trying to explain his situation without falling into a kids-these-days-don’t-know-jack or a the-industry-is-unreceptive-to-his-music outlook. I guess my point is not so much that he should’ve conformed to some kind of sound but when I look at the gang of top-notch producers of his era–the Illmatic Dream Team as I refer to it–LP stands out as somehow stuck. Tip, Premier, Pete Rock have all somehow been able to keep their music interesting (with varying degrees of success) whereas Large Pro has somehow remained…in 94,as Noah’s article reports.

This too is a product of a formulism which you ascribe to “industry A&R thinking.” I think remaining stylistically and technically static is a formulism that also borders on an orthodoxy which I personally find to be troubling in spite of my respect and love of any artist’s early output. (Sidebar: Perhaps this discussion could benefit from some engagement with thinking about what the literary theorist Edward Said called “late style” in the context of hip hop.) I guess a useful though by no means 100% parallel example could be Ski, who like Extra P was a SP-1200 and S950 producer. He has evolved into using Ableton Live and has recently, with his work on Curren$y’s album and the tracks from his new Karate School album, experienced a Renaissance, in my view. Now I’m not sure but I’d be hardpressed to call the change in Ski’s sound a function of some A&R plan.It seems more like a product of someone experimenting with their sound.

Just my thoughts.

PS. Noah, keep uploading these great pieces. Gems I tell you.

By: Ru

Ru — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:33:23 +0000

LP, I remember seeing the video for “watch roger do his thing” and thinking… who the f*** is this? Then the album dropped and I was hooked, “vamoose”… was a banger for me, “baseball”… classic. If it’s a matter of being relevant, then who should he be relevant to? His sound is classic and why should we lose that to trends? I hear wack new songs daily… why would I give up a good classic sound for that? I say thank you LP for keeping it consistent! The view espoused by “SH” that this is what integrity will get you seems like the perfect example why an artist can’t be free to do his works. Imagine this is the attitudes of the people who are “A&R’s” and how much affect they have on your ears and secondarily your tastes?! “Keep it real” is just that, the level by witch you maintain a standard you set yourself. Gotta respect that in itself cause very few people can do that and still be ok with there self… so if you’re not able to pull it off don’t knock those that can. At the end of it all… you only have you.

By: OLVFD

OLVFD — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:24:27 +0000

That was an amazing break down. Thank you.

By: 1978

1978 — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:08:01 +0000

Interesting topic and great site btw, glad to see it up. I can see why Lp would stick to his guns bc alot of artist from his era are that way. They may drift off for an album or 2(maybe more) but for the most part cater to their core audience that bought them their original sales. Everyone wants to sell more and broaden their audience, but there are those that have a formula and stick to it and I guess it seems to work and they enjoy it at the same time because they are being true to who they are.

By: The Fresh Addict

The Fresh Addict — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:30:55 +0000

The Craziest thing about most of these articles, I remember vividly where I was when I read them…Much respect never knew all these classics had the same author…

By: SH

SH — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:18:03 +0000

It seems that that the trajectory of Extra P is a study in “When staying true goes wrong.” Look, I’m a huge fan of Large Pro. I even have both volumes of his Beatz collection (which is great by the way). But there has been very little evolution in his sound. I think the same can be said of Pete Rock but to a lesser extent. Paradoxically, the stick-to-my-guns attitude has been the fuel behind the engine of his underground/beatmaker/Queens-enthusiast legend-status as well as his utter inability to make music that young people want to listen to today. I’m not talking about “commercial success” by any means. Even the blog posts that he garners for a recent interview or something feel a bit motivated by: “It’s Lage Pro, so we HAVE to show him respect.” But there is very little existing interest in his music, or at least there is very little evidence for such. Admittedly, if I meet him, I’ll be geeked out and nag him about snares equalization and the like. But it’ll undoubtedly be tinged with a dose of sadness. Rather ironic when Extra P is credited by Q-Tip as the one who told him to never say the year on records in order to create a sense of permanent relevance, don’t you think?

By: Marcus "Can I Live?" Troy

Marcus "Can I Live?" Troy — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:46:17 +0000

Amazing! Thanks for sharing.