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Large Professor Breaks Down His Classic Records

blame it on JES7 May 23, 2012

Daniel Isenberg recently sat down with the legendary Xtra P to pick his brain and pull stories from his mental vault on some of his most classic productions. On producing Nas’ Halftime:

That’s funny, because when I made that beat, Busta Rhymes wanted that beat, right after I made it. My house after a while became like a little hangout for dudes. Busta Rhymes, coming from Long Island, he would always pass through Queens and come to the crib. And that beat right there, he was writing to it and everything. But he was in between deals though—this was after the Leaders [of the New School] shit, and before his Elektra deal.

“But Nas was right there, ready to go with [MC] Serch and Ruffhouse. It was always a toss up, kind of like Jamaican reggae style, where I would play it for everybody, and whoever gets ill on it can get busy. And Nas was like, ‘Yeah, I can get busy on that.’ And he was like, ‘I’m gonna say this rhyme with that [and put it down].

“That was a nice session, because we had been in so [many of] Eric B.’s sessions and other people’s sessions, and this was finally his own session. So he had his weed ready, he had the crew coming through, his books [of rhymes], the fresh gear, sittin’ back and shit with a freshly rolled, and another one being rolled, like, ‘Yo, play the beat. Nah yo, play the other beat.’ [Laughs.] Now Nas was control. That was nice, man. That was really nice. [Laughs.]

READ: Complex: Large Professor Breaks Down His Classic Records
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