DX: A record like “In The Sun” is chicken noodle soup for the soul, man. Even “Looking At The Front Door” has this quality. But when you put humanity and sensitivity on records, do you feel you’ve gotten the reaction you deserve?
Large Professor: It’s coming from the hobby. Like Nas, that’s how he writes. It’s like a hobby. You put it together and it turns into a song. You be writin’ something, and – back then, that’s when I was in school, so you do everything but your school work [laughing], so I’m in the classroom writin’ rhymes. Just that zone, man. If it’s real, the people will feel it.

DX: You mentioned doing research and reporting in rhymes. You’re a private person, and I want to respect that. But beyond music, what does Large Professor pull from as his muses?
Large Professor: The sun, man. The streets. Just to be out in the streets. I like to bike ride a lot. Just get out. I like the Internet, just different stories, building on the history of things, like the record industry. I read a lot peoples’ [biographies]: Teddy Pendergrass and all these things. And I listen to records. I go diggin’ for old records and I listen to ‘em, just always building on that. And I read The Lessons, the Five Percent Nation of Islam Lessons.

DX: You’ve made two five mic albums, and I believe that the shelved album LP was equally of that level. With that ear for quality, how do you know when something is done?
Large Professor: I’m better now. It’s easier now. When we did the original Breaking Atoms, it was different. [We were unsure of whether we needed] more or less or what. Now, you get a batch. Especially now that I’ve been deejaying, it’s like you get a batch. “Aiight, this a well-rounded batch. Not too much, not too little.” I’m seasoned now. I just want to feed them more often, that’s my only thing.

DX: People have written a great deal about your being mentored by Paul C. Out of respect for him and your legacy, I’m not gonna go there. Certainly though, you’ve named your publishing Paul Sea and kept his name and legacy alive. Recently, you’ve seemingly mentored Marco Polo, Presto and others. How important is mentorship to keeping this thing of ours special?
Large Professor: That’s what it’s all about, man! From the beginning, with Hip Hop, it was the same, each one teach one. You had your incidents where deejays would black-out the records or…you had to be initiated. Like I said, it’s street, so it’s comin’ from gangs and stuff like that. You have to be initiated and accepted to the gang. But once you got in, it was each one teach one. This is ours right here. This is what we do. This is not a corporate thing, man. Even to this day, even though it’s all industrialized, it’s still ours to me.

So when I see someone comin’ up, and you see in their eyes, what they’re trying to do, it’s, “Yo, help that man out.” If it’s like, “Yo, you press this button right here, boom, boom, boom,”…even on a broader scale, just in life in general, but especially in Hip Hop. I was once a student. My whole thing from then on was, “Yo, I’ll never be a sucka ass nigga and try to front on people and all of that.” ‘Cause I had been fronted on. So I always wanted to stick to that. So if someone comes to me, and it’s just not any and everybody, but you see people when they’re serious about what they’re trying to do. You can hear the amount of questions, you know what it is. Boom. “Nah, real quick...” That’s nothin’! You have your hands in the future.

Like Nas. Eric B & Rakim had the golden opportunity to put Nas out. They didn’t. They didn’t. I put Nas on the Main Source joint [“Live at the Barbeque”][click to read], and boom. Now, years later, people are like “Yo! Yo! Yo!” Eric B & Rakim had that opportunity to put Nas out, and they didn’t. Who knows what that could’ve sparked for them? They could have probably still been on top or whatever. You can’t get too crazy with this industry, man. You’ve got to keep that base foundation.

DX: DJ Premier, Freddie Foxxx, D.I.T.C., Onyx and a lot of ‘90s greats are putting out unheard material. It’s always been rumored that you had a lot go to the cutting-room floor. Will we ever hear it?
Large Professor: I mean, if I could get my hands on some of that stuff. [Laughs] A lot of that stuff, I just let it fly. My old girlfriends have tapes and stuff like that. I don’t know. I spoke to one of my old girls, and she was like, “Remember that Def Jam jacket?...” So I gotta get with them. [Laughs] I just keep it movin’, man. I’m straight forward. I just throw people the files or whatever. I have a little bit of it. Even then, I like to keep that stuff sacred. I’m not going crazy for tryin’ to put any of that stuff out. If the time is right, maybe. Continued on page 4 »