William Paul Mitchell (born March 21, 1972), better known by the stage name of Large Professor (also Extra P. and Large Pro), is an American rapper and music producer. Based in New York City, he is known as a founding member of the

underground hip hop Underground hip hop (also known as underground rap or simply underground) traditionally refers to hip hop music that is outside the general mainstream canon or counter-cultural in nature, usually with a heavy emphasis on emotion, lyricism, and/or ...

group Main Source and as a mentor and frequent collaborator of

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...

ranked Large Professor at No. 13 on its Top 25 Hip-Hop Producers list.

Early life and education

William Paul Mitchell was born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, and raised in

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...

, New York City, where he attended

IS 237 I.S. 237 or Rachel Carson Intermediate School 237Q is a public middle school in Flushing, Queens in New York City serving grades 6 - 8. The school is located at 46-21 Colden Street and is part of NYCDOE District 25. Judith Friedman is the princi ...

and John Bowne High School. Large Professor Biographyat Allmusic.com

Career

Large Professor started making his earliest beats with two turntables, a

Casio SK-1 The Casio SK-1 is a small sampling keyboard made by Casio in 1985. It has 32 small sized piano keys, four-note polyphony, with a sampling bit depth of 8 bit PCM and a sample rate of 9.38 kHz for 1.4 seconds, a built-in microphone and line level ...

sampler, and pause-tape cassettes before his mentor

Paul C Paul C. McKasty (September 20, 1964July 17, 1989), better known as Paul C, was an American East Coast hip hop pioneer, producer, engineer, and mixer in the 1980s.Pritt Kalsi McKasty gained recognition for his work with notable artists such as De ...

taught him how to use an

E-mu SP-1200 The E-mu SP-1200 is a sampling drum machine designed by Dave Rossum and released in August 1987 by E-mu Systems. Like its predecessor, the SP-12, it was designed as a drum machine featuring user sampling. The distinctive character of its so ...

. During his pause tape phase he noted that some of his techniques were different than those of other producers. "I was trying to catch it from a different part of the record. I would catch it from the hi-hat when dudes were just catching it from the one kick. I would catch it from the third hi-hat and be flipping it." In 1989, he joined the group Main Source, which also included

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

natives K-Cut and Sir Scratch. In 1990 Large produced three tracks for Eric B. & Rakim's ''

Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em ''Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em'' is the third studio album by hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, released on June 19, 1990. The production ranges from soulful tracks such as "In the Ghetto" to the hard-edged assault of the title track "Let the Rhythm Hi ...

'', including "In the Ghetto". To make "In the Ghetto", he sampled directly off of a cassette tape of sample ideas Paul C had made for Rakim. 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 featured

' first public appearance on a track called "Live at the Barbeque", along with Akinyele and Joe Fatal. Large Professor now considers "Looking at the Front Door" one of the most emotional records of his career, later saying "That's a deep record. At that time in life, I was eighteen years old. It was a kid with a pure heart, just writing, and putting his soul out there for the world." In 1992, their success allowed them to record " Fakin' the Funk", a track on the ''

White Men Can't Jump ''White Men Can't Jump'' is a 1992 American Sports film, sports comedy film written and directed by Ron Shelton. It stars Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson as streetball Hustling, hustlers. The film was released in the United States on March 27 ...

'' motion-picture soundtrack. Because of business differences, Large and Main Source quietly parted ways and Large went on to sign with

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

. During and after his tenure with Main Source, he worked with

Pete Rock & CL Smooth Pete Rock & CL Smooth were an American hip hop duo from Mount Vernon, New York. They made their debut with their 1991 EP, '' All Souled Out'' and followed that with their 1992 LP ''Mecca and the Soul Brother''. Career 1991–1994: The Golden Ag ...

, and he produced a number of tracks for Nas,

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

Masta Ace Duval Clear (born December 4, 1966), better known by his stage name Masta Ace, is an American rapper and record producer from New York City. A lead member of Mr. Magic's hip hop collective Juice Crew, he is best known for his guest appearance alo ...

The X-Ecutioners The X-Ecutioners, originally known as X-Men, are a group of American hip hop DJs/ turntablists from New York City, New York. The group formed in 1989 and currently consists of three DJs, including Total Eclipse, DJ Boogie Blind, and DJ Precis ...

Tragedy Khadafi Percy Lee Chapman (born August 13, 1971), known by his stage name Tragedy Khadafi (formerly Intelligent Hoodlum), is an American rapper and record producer. Hailing from the Queensbridge Housing Projects in Queens, New York City,Brown, Marisa. ...

Big Daddy Kane Antonio Hardy (born September 10, 1968), better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American Rapping, rapper, producer and actor who began his career in 1986 as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely regarded as one of the most influe ...

Mobb Deep Mobb Deep was an American Hip-hop, hip hop duo formed in Queens, New York (state), New York in 1990. Consisting of rappers/songwriters/record producers Prodigy (rapper), Prodigy and Havoc (musician), Havoc, they are considered to be among the pr ...

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip< ...

, and others during the 1990s. During this time he handled a significant amount of production on several projects for other artists. In 1993 he produced Akinyele's entire '' Vagina Diner'' album, which experienced some modest commercial success at the time of its release. Though the album did well at first, ''

The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...

'' later wrote an article criticizing the song "I Luh Huh", in which Akinyele considers pushing his pregnant girlfriend down the stairs as a form of abortion. The ensuing backlash for the controversial lyrics hurt the album's performance. Akinyele wrote a response in the next issue defending the song and pointing out that the violent ideas in the songs are just thoughts, and he ends the song by saying "Just cause I talk this shit don't get me wrong, Yo, I still luh hur." Large Professor also produced "Keep It Rollin'" on A Tribe Called Quest's ''

Midnight Marauders ''Midnight Marauders'' is the third studio album by American hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released on November 9, 1993, by Jive Records. Recording sessions for the album occurred at Battery Studios, Platinum Island Studios and Scorcerer Sou ...

'' not long after he left Main Source. This was a major moment in his career that helped him reach a new level of credibility and exposure as a solo artist. In 1994, Large Professor produced three of the ten songs on Nas's ''

Illmatic ''Illmatic'' (stylized in lowercase) is the debut studio album by the American rapper Nas, released on April 19, 1994, by Columbia Records. After signing with the label with the help of MC Serch, Nas recorded the album in 1992 and 1993 at Chung ...

'' ("

Halftime In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

", " One Time 4 Your Mind", and " It Ain't Hard to Tell"), making him tied with DJ Premier for the most songs produced on the album. According to an interview with Busta Rhymes, the "Halftime" beat was originally intended for him. Though he liked the beat, he didn't end up using it and later regretted it after hearing "Halftime". While describing the making of the song in an interview Large Pro said, "I mean, we just wanted to put something gritty out there to the world, and those drums—that's what it was at that time. It was that gritty, muffled out, because the Hip Hop that we grew up with… We grew up with park jam tapes and things like the fidelity of these tapes." He was so instrumental in the making of ''Illmatic'' that Nas wanted to give him an executive producer credit, but he refused. In 1996, Large Professor completed his debut solo album '' The LP'' for Geffen Records. It was promoted by the singles " The Mad Scientist" and " I Juswannachill". After several delays, the album was shelved and later released as a bootleg version in 2002. An official release of the album finally came out in 2009, thirteen years after its original intended release date. In 2001, Large Pro produced "You're da Man" and "Rewind" for Nas's ''

Stillmatic ''Stillmatic'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper Nas, released on December 18, 2001, by Ill Will and Columbia Records. In contrast to his previous work's gangsta rap themes, the album contains socially conscious and philosophical them ...

'' album. He first played Nas the beat for "You're da Man" while Nas was working on ''

Nastradamus ''Nastradamus'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper Nas, released on November 23, 1999, by Ill Will and Columbia Records. It was originally intended to be composed entirely of material from sessions for '' I Am...'' and released Oct ...

'' a few years prior. Nas chose the beat but decided to save it for a later project. Large Professor also used the same vocal sample from the chorus on the song "The Man" for his '' 1st Class'' album. On December 22, 2002, at a concert in Toronto, the original members of Main Source performed together for the first time in nearly 10 years.

Discography

Albums

;with Main Source * 1991: '' Breaking Atoms'' ;Solo albums * 1996: '' The LP'' (shelved; promo release in 2002 and officially released in 2009) * 2002: '' 1st Class'' * 2008: '' Main Source'' * 2012: '' Professor @ Large'' * 2015: '' Re:Living'' ;Collaboration albums *1993: '' Vagina Diner'' (with Akinyele) *2014: '' Mega Philosophy'' (with

Cormega Corey McKay, better known by his stage name Cormega, is an American rapper. Early life Cormega was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens. He was childhood friends with Nas, Havoc and Capone, who all went on to become successful rappers. A ...

) ;Instrumental albums * 2006: ''Beatz Volume 1'' * 2007: ''Beatz Volume 2'' * 2022: ''Beatz Volume 3''

Guest appearances

*1990: "Money in the Bank" (

Kool G Rap Nathaniel Thomas Wilson (born July 20, 1968), better known by his stage name Kool G Rap (or simply G Rap), is an American rapper. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as a member of the Juice Cr ...

& DJ Polo; '' Wanted: Dead or Alive'') *--``--:: "Gots Ta Get This" (Powerule; ''Volume 1'') *1992: "Apparantly Nothin'" (Large Pro Mix) ( Young Disciples; 12") *1993: "Keep It Rollin'" (

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip< ...

; ''

'') *1994: "Stress (Remix)" ( Organized Konfusion; 12") *1995: "To Each His Own" (INI; '' Lost & Found: Hip Hop Underground Soul Classics)'' *1996: "Extra Abtract Skillz" (

Mad Skillz Donnie Shaquan Lewis (born June 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Skillz (or Mad Skillz), is an American rapper. He first became known for his debut album '' From Where???'' (1996), titularly in reference to his origins in Virginia, co ...

; '' From Where???'') *--``--:: "Actual Facts" ( Lord Finesse; ''The Awakening'') *--``--:: "The Rap World" ete Rock; ''High School High (soundtrack)">High_School_High_(soundtrack).html" ;"title="ete Rock; ''High School High (soundtrack)">ete Rock; ''High School High (soundtrack)' *1998: "Truly Yours '98" (Pete Rock; Soul Survivor (Pete Rock album), ''Soul Survivor'') *--``--:: "Exotic's Raw" (Neek the Exotic; 12") *1999: "Dope on Plastic" (Large Professor Remix) (

Rob Swift Rob Swift (born Robert Aguilar; May 14, 1972) is an American hip hop DJ and turntablist. He was an original member of the turntablist group The X-Ecutioners until 2004. Over his career, he has released numerous solo albums and collaborated w ...

; 12") *--``--:: "Hardcore"; "Rhyme Mania" (Neek the Exotic; 12") *--``--:: "CT to Queens (Uncut Action) (Chris Lowe; 12" *--``--:: "Yo Yo" (Street Smartz; ''Bottom Line, Vol. 1'') *2000: "The Last Shall Be First" ( Cella Dwellas; '' The Last Shall Be First'') *2002: "XL" (

; '' Built from Scratch'') *--``--:: "Hip Hop on Wax" (

; ''

Sound Event ''Sound Event'' is a 2002 studio album by American turntablist Rob Swift. It was released on Tableturns. Critical reception Tom Semioli of AllMusic gave the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, calling it "an explosive and intelligent collection of wicked ...

'') *--``--:: "Originate" (

The Beatnuts The Beatnuts is an American hip hop group and production duo from New York City. Its current members are JuJu and Psycho Les. JuJu (born Jerry Tineo on December 14, 1968) is a Dominican American from Corona and Psycho Les (born Lester Fernandez ...

; ''The Originators'') *--``--:: "The Come Up" (

; '' The True Meaning'') *--``--:: "Love Is Love" (

Craig G Craig Curry (born March 24, 1973),Hess, Mickey (2009) ''Hip Hop in America: a Regional Guide: Volume 1 - East Coast and West Coast'', Greenwood Publishing Group, , p. 55Bry, David (2001) "Something in the Water", ''Vibe'', March 2001, p. 80 bette ...

; '' This Is Now!!!)'' *2004: "Sugar Ray and Hearns" (

; '' Legal Hustle'') *--``--:: "Out da Box" ( Tony Touch; ''The Piece Maker 2'') *2005: "Another Friendly Game of Baseball...Xtra Innings" (Rob Swift; ''War Games'') *2006: "United" (

MF Grimm Percy Carey (born June 11, 1970), also known by the stage names MF Grimm, Grimm Reaper, GM Grimm and originally Build and Destroy, is an American underground rapper, music producer, CEO, and Eisner Award-nominated comic book writer from New Yor ...

; ''

American Hunger ''American Hunger'' is a triple album released on CD. It was released in 2006 by Manhattan, New York rap artist MF Grimm. It is also the first triple album in hip-hop history. It was originally planned for release on July 4, 2004, however multip ...

'') *2007: "The Radar" (

Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...

; ''

Port Authority A port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate ports and other transportation infrastructure. ...

'') *--``--:: "Did What We Had to Do (Showoff Mix) (

Statik Selektah Patrick Owen Baril (born January 23, 1982), professionally known as Statik Selektah, is an American record producer, disc jockey (DJ) and radio personality originally from the Boston, Massachusetts area. He is also the founder of Showoff Records ...

; '' Spell My Name Right: The Album'') *--``--:: "The Purist" ( Polyrhythm Addicts; ''Break Glass'') *--``--:: "Overseas with Officials" (Tommy Tee; ''No Studio No Time he Wait'' *--``--:: "Front Lines" (Killa Sha; ''Gods Walk on Water'') *2008: "Conquer Mentally" (Presto; ''

State of the Art The state of the art (SOTA or SotA, sometimes cutting edge, leading edge, or bleeding edge) refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time. However, in some contex ...

'') *--``--:: "Chill" (Deal; Changes of Atmosphere) *--``--:: "The Hardest" (AZ; ''Undeniable'') *2009: "Fans" (Masta Ace & Edo G; ''Arts & Entertainment'') *--``--:: "Same Old Drama" (

Grand Puba Maxwell Dixon (born William Brewster Dixon III; March 4, 1966), known professionally as Grand Puba, is an American rapper and record producer, best known as a member of Brand Nubian from New Rochelle, New York. He was formerly a member of Mast ...

; Retroactive) *--``--:: "New Classic" (U-God; ''Dopium'') *--``--:: "Sweet 16s" (Satchel Page; ''Young Patriarch'') *--``--:: "Like This" (DJ JS-1; ''No Sellout: Ground Original 2)'' *2011: "Beats by the Pound" (Soulbrotha; ''The Connexion EP'') *--``--:: "The Quickening" (

Funkoars The Funkoars are an Australian hip hop act from Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The group is part of the Certified Wise crew of hip hop artists from South Australia (including the Hilltop Hoods, and Vents), who also collaborated on variou ...

; ''The Quickening'') *--``--:: "Through Good & Bad" (The Funk League; ''Funky As Usual'') *2012: "Forever" (Gensu Dean; ''Lo-Fi Fingahz'') *--``--:: "When You Sleep" (DJ Nu-Mark; ''Broken Sunlight'') *--``--:: "Loco-Motive" (

; '' Life Is Good'') *--``--:: "Catch the Thrown" (

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

; ''

Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp ''Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp'' is the eleventh studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on July 13, 2012, by Slam Jamz. It was sold exclusively at the iTunes Store before its release to other retailers. ...

'') *--``--:: "Back & 4th Scrambler" (Yu Mamiya) *2013: "Built Pyramids" (

N.O.R.E. Victor James Santiago Jr. (born September 6, 1977), better known by his stage name, stage names N.O.R.E. (an acronym for Nigga On the Run Eating) and Noreaga, is an American rapper, singer and podcaster. Santiago first rose to prominence as one ...

; '' Student of the Game'') *--``--:: "Astonishing" (

; '' PA2: The Director's Cut'') *2014: "Naturally Born" (

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; 12") *2015: "World Premier" (

Czarface Czarface (; often stylized in all caps) is an American Hip hop music, hip hop Supergroup (music), supergroup formed in 2013 by underground hip hop duo 7L & Esoteric and Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck. They released their acclaimed debut album ...

; ''

Every Hero Needs a Villain ''Every Hero Needs a Villain'' is the second studio album by American hip hop trio Czarface, which consists of rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck and underground hip hop duo 7L & Esoteric. The album was released on June 16, 2015, by Br ...

'') *2016: "Glorify N Praise" (Powerule; ''The Anomaly'') *--``--:: "Everybody Everywhere" (Mighty Mi; ''Everybody Everywhere'') *--``--:: "Here We Go" (Southpaw Chop; 12") *--``--:: "We Are One" (Loading; ) *2017: "Come a Long Way + Remix" (Son of Sam; Cinder Hill) 2 * 2019 "TNT" (REMIX) ft. Tragedy Khadafi (Truth; The Fight for Survival) *2019: "We All About" (Royal Flush; ''The Governor)'' *--``--:: "Hard As Steel" (DJ Duke; ) *--``--:: "Everybody in the Place" (The Good People; Good for Nuthin') *2021: "Legendary" ( Grand Daddy I.U.; ''The Essence'') *2022: "Entourage"; "Attack" (Truth; ''For All Intents and Purposes'') *--``--:: "Talk About It" (Paul Wall; ''Start Finish Repeat)'' *2024: "Number One Set & Sound" (Silver Skylarks; "")

References

External links

*
Biography Sketch
at Matador Records website
Large Professor's at Beatbuggy
* {{Authority control 1972 births Living people Rappers from Queens, New York American hip-hop record producers African-American record producers African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers American hip-hop DJs Five percenters Rappers from Manhattan Musicians from New York (state) People from Harlem Geffen Records artists Matador Records artists East Coast hip-hop musicians 21st-century American rappers Record producers from New York (state) 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians