To say Large Professor is a legend in the game is like saying Lebron was aight in the Finals. From Main Source to his work with Nas to his solo work, as well as being one of the only producers from the Golden Era that had a legit flow on the mic, Large Professor has more than paid his dues. Yet he’s not really on the radar. Sure, he gets the love from the websites and blogs, but he should be treated like hip-hop royalty the same way Premier, Pete Rock, and Diamond D should be. But what’s refreshing about Re: Living, Extra P’s first album in three years, is that he’s not focused on that, nor is he bitter about his place in the game.
On the title track “Re: Living,” Extra P briefly ventures into grumpy old man territory before moving on without another mention:
“Rock with golden school excellence/
A lot of what y’all call rap, I call excrement.”
But seriously, with what’s passed for music lately, I don’t think anyone can truly hold it against the man. While there are many talented artists on the come up, there’s a lot of rappers that are just unlistenable by most standards.
It’s also important to note that Large Pro is still doing this. One of the reasons I can rock with him is that he comes and goes, kind of as he wants, but when he comes back, it’s official. Most MCs from his era make an entire album sounding like a mixture of a kid who can’t grow up and an old head reminiscing on how much better it used to be back in the day. Large Pro doesn’t do that though. He acknowledges his age and the stripes he’s earned in the game, but it’s not his focal point and he’s not asking you to like or respect him because of that. Instead, it’s more of a statement, like on “New Train Ole Route.”
“In the Scrolls” with G-Wiz is a concept I wish we heard more of in general, and not just to Nas. J. Cole did it on “Let Nas Down” and Kanye rocked to Jay on “Big Brother,” but for the most part, giving props in hip-hop is akin to admitting you have feelings beyond lust, hate, and anger – it’s possible, but it doesn’t happen too often. Large Pro talks about one hand washing the other, as Marley Marl helped him while he helped Nas. It’s an idea that doesn’t happen as much anymore, as everything has a price tag attached to it. But how many times do you hear about someone just putting someone else on a song because they’re dope? Not because they have a ton of Soundcloud followers and they’ll repost it to their stream, or they have a huge team that RTs the shit out of their tweets? Doing it just because. And not beacuse an intricate management contract was signed or there’s going to be a finder’s fee attached. I don’t hear about it happening too often anymore. Maybe I’m wrong.
Large Pro acknowledging that he gave Nas a shot made me think about Nas and what his legacy is going to be. While him and Jay-Z will go down as the greatest MCs of their generation, their legacy of putting others on is questionable. Jay was always known for working with artists who would draw a crowd but would never outshine him. J. Cole is probably Hov’s best assist. But Nas has never really been able to lend an assist to another artist, and it’s easy to argue that he shouldn’t have to. But still, at the end of the day, if he puts someone dope on, it still benefits him. The Bravehearts were never quite what they could have been. Quan was super-talented but never got the release date from Atlantic. Unfortunately his greatest material lives on rare mixtapes. While Nas is working on Mass Appeal Records now and they have a talented stable of artists, whether any of them can truly breakthrough to the level of success that working with someone like Nas should bring is questionable. Boldy James is dope, but I think he’s going to struggle to gain a fanbase beyond the blogs. Fashawn is dope, but his album came and went, despite its greatness.
Putting other artists on just isn’t Nas’s thing, especially when you consider that his best find was AZ on “Life’s a Bitch.” But the idea of spreading the love is something that can not be forgotten.
The other part I love about “In the Scrolls” is that Extra P isn’t afraid to give props where props are due. There is absolutely nothing wrong with paying tribute to someone who deserves it. The praise comes off as geniune as LP shows his humility, another rare quality in hip-hop. And every rapper has someone they idolize in the game or else they wouldn’t be doing it. Say thank-you while you can and stop frontin’ like Rachel Dolezal.
On “Dreams Don’t Die,” LP takes a trip down memory lane talking about running into Busta getting a chip phone. It seems like a Busta Rhymes phone commercial is going to be one of the big missed opportunities from the late ‘90s and early 2000s, when you couldn’t go more than twenty feet without hearing Busta on a new remix. I have at least five different treatments in my head right now for how Busta and I can sell some phones to the world.
The instrumental interludes are dope as hell. When “Earn” and “NDN” both start off during the first listen, you’re like, “Ahh, he’s gonna kill this one.” And then the beat just rides out. Instrumental interludes are always dope and it’s a great way for the producer to flex, like, ‘I know this is crazy and I don’t even have to rap over it.’ Jedi Mind Tricks do a great job with that and there are some instrumentals on that new Czarface that you know Deck and Eso would have straight up killed.
But Large Pro needs to do an instrumental project. I’m sure he can make a better project off his throwaways from ten years ago than most producers could make of those A-list beats they keep in secret folders because one day Rich Homie Quan’s gonna need a banger.
Also, just a litle reminder – Large Pro produced Cormega’s entire Mega Philosophy project last summer. It was a collab album that was marketed and billed as a Cormega project, as Large Pro did little to no press for it and didn’t receive much shine from the press for his contributions to the album. ‘Mega shouted him out in the interviews and talked about the creative process and what it was like working with the legend, but I was really surprised Large Pro wasn’t more in demand after producing what was, to a lot of the real heads, the album of the year.
And like Mega Philosophy, Re: Living clocks in well under forty minutes, but with no filler, the album moves quickly and doesn’t have the songs you’d want to take off the playlist or hit the skip button. Large Pro also does a great job sequencing it, definitely a nod to his skill as a DJ. Avoiding filler and properly sequencing the album is a lot harder to do than throwing a gang of songs on the album and letting the listener decide what to make of the mess.
Maybe it’ll be another three years for Large Pro to drop a new project. Maybe he’ll pop up on some more albums or produce another album with a dope MC. Maybe he’ll just chill and make some beats and enjoy his legendary status. Whatever the case, appreciate this half-hour of dopeness Large Pro blessed us with.
