Gang Starr may have said it best calling their seminal fourth album Hard To Earn. All great things truly are. Such is the case in an interview with Large Professor. Seven years after the quest began, this editor was able to conversate with the man responsible for the intricate, timeless songwriting on joints like "Looking At The Front Door" and "The Sun" and the carefully seasoned "original recipe" production on Nas' "Halftime" and Kool G Rap's "Money In The Bank."

Just over two weeks away from his long awaited, nostalgic return to album-making, Main Source, a nod to Large Pro's classic '90s group, the contender for "best producer on the mic" status emerges to discuss his past, present and future. Walking through the album, The Extra P describes his philosophies on mentoring a new breed of producers, Eric B. & Rakim's missed opportunity in Nasir Jones and how he switched from using the instrument he made famous, to more contemporary tools of greatness. It is with patience, honor and heroic respect that HipHopDX features Large Professor.

HipHopDX: My first question for you starts on the intro, “The Entrance” [click to listen]. On it, you have a line where you say, “Nah on the interview.” I, myself, have been patiently waiting for like seven years to interview you. What has made you avoid the limelight so much in an era where producers and emcees scream, “Talk to me.”?
Large Professor: Right. There’s a quality issue with interviewing. Like, how you come across to me so far, like yo, you’re a vintage dude – you really check for what you believe in and what you think is right. You honor that and you show respect and things like that. A lot of things with the media nowadays, man, it’s just like…I’ve done interviews with people who don’t know the name, don’t really know anything. It’s just degrading. There’s a degradation in the quality, man. I just flipped that in there real just to kind of deter the people who are not really into it. The real dudes is gonna come through anyway.

DX: Pete Rock and DJ Premier seem to have done the same. Do you think avoiding the light has added to your mystique?
Large Professor: Yo. [Laughs] I don’t know man. I just put it down. Word up. [Laughs]

DX: There has always been rumblings that you’ve isolated yourself from the Main Source era. I had heard that for some time, you were not even performing “Looking At The Front Door.” If that’s true, was it a personal challenge to develop a theme and a title for this album in Main Source?
Large Professor: Not really. I want to put it out there, ‘cause people, sometimes, I think feel that I’m trying to distance myself or get away from ever being affiliated with Main Source. Nah, I embrace that. I want to let people know, yeah Large Professor is Main Source kinda thing. That was one statement I wanted to do. Also, with the way everything’s going with the music right, it’s outta this world right now. When it came to real Hip Hop or what I feel is traditional Hip Hop, I wanted to kinda put myself out there as – if not thee main source, as one of the main sources of traditional, real Hip Hop.

DX: In the video trailer for this album, you talked about revisiting that classic recipe and classic formula. You’ve rhymed about it yourself. A lot of people closely associate you with the SP-12 sampler. Revisiting that approach, did you use the classic technology?
Large Professor: Nah. I used the MPC 1000 on this one – which I [consider] is like the MPC [version of the] 1200. I can finagle it just like SP and get it right, man. When EMU abandoned [the SP], it was like, “Damn. The company that makes this joint don’t even back it no more.” [Laughs] Like, I’m sittin’ here with an SP-1200 and they not doing nothing to upgrade it or anything; this joint still got floppy discs, so it was like, “Yo, time to move on.”

DX: You have a song on the album “In The Ghetto,” with a wonderful stream-of-consciousness delivery. Anybody that’s never been to or lived in the ghetto could feel this. As Hip Hop moves towards the Internet and towards the suburbs over the last 20 years, what can we do to keep it in the ghetto?
Large Professor: It has to be presented to the people. In media, we need some legends. We need some icons in media. Like a Don Cornelius was a legend, an icon in media. He would present. We need people who know. A lot of people who are in that position, who know, they’re acting like they don’t know, and this is what’s hurting the game. I don’t want to name any names, but there’s big dogs out there, who came up in the same time – who came up from the beginning pretty much. If a Large Professor comes up and has a new record or whatever, they won’t play it! [Laughs] What is that costing you, yo? Just throw it on, and let the people decide! That’s what it is. A lot of people, they just want to ride this wave, and the wave is fluff. Nah man, we already know – the streets is what this is. The streets is where this comes from. I’m not cool with getting all glamorous, prim and proper and industrialized and whatever. You don’t want that M.O.P. joint to come on and just smash everything, and you get caught out there with your pants too tight. Come on! We know what this is. As the generations move on, if the big dogs don’t say, “Yo, this is what it really is,” the new generation don’t even know – they don’t care. There are trendsetters, there are people who jump up and say, “Yo, I’m interested in that right there.” I meet young kids who are like, “Yo, your joints are hot.” But if it’s not being presented right – if it’s, “Okay, we’re gonna take you back to the old school…” Nah, nah, nah. Don’t present my shit like that. Just play it, and let it rock. And let them decide. So we need some icons and moguls and media to really step up and play they part – like a Don Cornelius. Don Cornelius had an excellent run. He presented old, new, all of that. Continued on page 2 »