Large Professor

William Paul Mitchell (born March 21, 1972 in Flushing, Queens, New York), best known as Large Professor, also as Large Pro and the Extra P, is a New York based hip hop record producer and MC. He is best known as a member of the influential underground hip hop group Main Source, and for discovering popular rapper Nas.

Biography

Early Career

His production career started early in his adolescence. As a young teenager, he would make 'pause tapes' which he would pause a beat and blend it in with other sequences. Eventually, he mananged to own a Casio SK-1 sampling keyboard which allowed him to make his beats at the comfort of his own home. He became a protege of the late Paul C, a record producer and musician, with whom he credits for teaching him virtually everything he knows about record production as well as the associated technology used for making music. Paul C was doing production work with Eric B. and Rakim and then at age 17, Large was given the opportunity to program beats for Eric B. & Rakim's Let the Rhythm Hit Em' album while still attending high school. While working with Eric B. and Rakim, he discovered Nas. Nas got a deal with Serchlite Publishing (headed by MC Serch from former group 3rd Bass) and Large began to produce three tracks on Nas's debut album Illmatic. His work with Eric B. and Rakim album eventually led him to work on Kool G. Rap's Wanted Dead or Alive.

Career with Main Source

In 1989, he joined the group Main Source, which also consisted of K-Cut and Sir Scratch from Toronto. Main Source recorded one album with Large called Breaking Atoms which was released in 1991. It included hits such as "Just Hangin' Out", "Looking at the Front Door", and Nas makes his first public appearance on a track called "Live at the Barbeque" along with Akinyele and Joe Fatal. In 1992, their success allowed them to record "Fakin' the Funk", a track on the White Men Can't Jump motion picture soundtrack. Due to business differences, Large and Main Source quietly parted ways and Large went on to sign to Geffen Records. During and after his tenure with Main Source, he produced for Pete Rock & CL Smooth, a number of tracks with Nas, Busta Rhymes, Masta Ace, The X-Ecutioners, Tragedy Khadafi, Big Daddy Kane, Mobb Deep, and others during the 1990's.

Solo Career

In 1996, he released two singles under Geffen Records called "Ijuswannachill" and "The Mad Scientist", which videos were directed for both tracks. He was to have his highly anticipated solo album The LP released around the same time, but was never released. Geffen and Large Professor eventually parted ways and signed to Matador Records, which generally specifies in marketing and promoting contemporary rock and alternative tracks as well as electronic music. His anticipated album, The LP it was released on the internet along with the purchase of another solo hip hop album 1st Class, which was originally released the previous year on Matador Records. Although 1st Class did not receive mainstream acceptance, it gained favorable reviews by fans and critics. The album includes guest appearances by Nas, Busta Rhymes, and Q-Tip. The album also includes the moderate street hit "Radioactive".

Large's publishing company is named 'Paul Sea Productions' as a homage to his late mentor.

For many years, people thought that Large Professor directly taught DJ Premier how to use the Emu SP-1200 drum/sampling machine, which Large used to help program many of his beats in the 1990s. However, according to Large Professor, he just showed DJ Premier to enhance what he already had. This is an excerpt from the November/December issue of Scratch Magazine:

Since people see 'professor' they say, 'He taught Preemo'. Nah, what happened was that we traded off. Preem showmed an ill beat and at the time I was filtering records like taking the bassline out of a record and filtering. I showed him how to do that on the Akai S-950. Premier does even use the 1200, he's never used the 1200. Just people throughout the years take sh*t and run with it. We just traded off. He shown me the "Brethren" (break) beat and I showed him how to muffle out the bassline. That's all it was"

Large Professor DJ's at clubs, parties, and events worldwide and still engages in music production. He released an instrumental LP called Beatz Vol. 1 last year which is on sale at the Red Line Music Distributiononline store. He's currently doing production work for rappers Jin, Cormega, U-God, and Jurassic 5.

Discography

Albums

• 1991: Breaking Atoms (with Main Source)
• 2002: The LP
• 2002: 1st Class
• 2006: Beatz Volume 1 (instrumentals)
• 2007: Beatz Volume 2 (instrumentals) (Upcoming)

Production

• 1990: "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (Various songs on album by Kool G Rap & DJ Polo)
• 1993: Vagina Diner" (Album by Akinyele)
• 1993: "Niggaz Never Learn" (from the Big Daddy Kane album Looks Like a Job For...)
• 1994: "One Time 4 Your Mind", "Halftime", "It Ain't Hard To Tell" (from the Nas album Illmatic)
• 1996: "Extra Abstract Skillz" (from the Mad Skillz album From Where???)
• 2000: "The Heist" (from the Busta Rhymes album Anarchy)
• 2001: "You're Da Man", "Rewind" (from the Nas album Stillmatic)
• 2002: "The Come Up" (from the Cormega album The True Meaning)
• 2002: "We Are the Future" (from the Non Phixion album The Future Is Now)
• 2004: "What They Want" (from The UN album UN Or U Out)
• 2006: "World Wide" (from the Boot Camp Clik album The Last Stand)
• 2006: "Right 2 Know" (From the Prince Po album Prettyblack)
• 2006: "I Be Thuggin'" b/w "Mack of the Year" (Grand Daddy IU Single)
• 2007: "What Makes You Think", "I'm Up Now" (from the Mic Geronimo album Alive)

Appears on

• 2002: "Hip Hop On Way" (Rob Swift album Sound Event)
• 2000: "The Last Shall Be First" (Cella Dwellas album The True Meaning)

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