Large Professor
1st Class
Matador Records

Large Professor is a study in hip-hop minimalism. In the late '80s and early '90s, a teenage Extra P, as he is sometimes called, crafted tracks for Eric B & Rakim and Kool G Rap. The husky sound of his signature, the EMU SP1200 drum kit, is all over 1991's Breaking Atoms, the only album he made with Main Source. The SP1200 was all about heavy drums and bass — there were no frills in Professor's production, no noodling. His production technique continued to develop on albums by A Tribe Called Quest, Big Daddy Kane, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth and Nas (most notably on Nas' powerful debut album Illmatic). His sound has remained remarkably consistent — stripped down, spartan beats tailored to the strengths of the featured MC.

But Large gave up on his progress behind the soundboards. After a fractious relationship with Geffen was terminated in 1997, he disappeared from the music scene. Since then, Large's life has been not unlike his production. He retreated to his native Queens, where he lived off the sales of beats to Loud Records, most of them for demos and remixes (few of which ever saw the light of day). Extra P has insisted in interviews that this (mostly) voluntary exile was instrumental in clearing his head and strengthening his vision. 1st Class, his new album for Matador, is meant to prove the life of a neo-Luddite makes for better hip-hop than the life of, say, Ja Rule.

As it turns out, time has stood still for Extra P. He's upgraded his resampling production studio, swapping the SP1200 for the more sophisticated ASR-X Pro, but 1st Class could have emerged from Large Professor's teen years. Again, emphasis is on spare, pounding beats fitted to the MC. His production efforts achieve mixed results. "Stay Chisel" has a groove as smooth as anything off a Brothers Johnson album, and the ominous and drum-heavy riff on "The Man" and loping, Caribbean-flavored "On" are standouts. But Extra P betrays an uncertain, possibly rusty hand on some tracks. "Born to Ball" and "Blaze Rhymez" are casualties of bland and uninspired beats, and "Brand New Sound," with its stale retro '80s samples, fails to live up to its boasting title.

Large has been heralded for tailormaking beats for the MC, but the main problem with 1st Class is that the MC these tracks are fitted to is the Professor himself. As a lyricist and rapper, his delivery lacks the power and the vocal richness of great MCs, and his lyrics are not nearly as clever or intricate as the modern rappers he disdains. On "Alive in Stereo," he offers this tepid boast:

I believe I can fly through the universe, doing my verse, and land on any continent without getting hurt.

Earlier on the disc, on "Kool," he details the joys of being Extra P:

Spinning round and round with my potion, like Smokey Robinson, kid, I got the notion.

These are dry lyrics, dryly delivered. Large Professor isn't the only rapper on 1st Class — he's recruited Nas, Busta Rhymes, Akinyele and Q-Tip for several tracks. They're all welcome, and Q-Tip's assured vocals, along with Professor's clever use of a classical sample, make "In the Sun" 1st Class' standout track. The guest contributions, however, are ultimately only good enough to further illuminate Large's vocal inadequacies — his rhyming has more in common with rap's P. Diddys than its Fab Five Freddys.

Large Professor is a significant figure in the world of hip-hop, and if 1st Class is not a glorious return to his early '90s form, perhaps his next Matador release will find him in his comfort zone. Hold out for that next record — 1st Class simply reveals that, while Extra P was on hiatus, he didn't consign himself to a clandestine studio in Queens and spend countless hours refining his production and building on the promise of his younger days. He just wasn't working.

— Christopher Hickman (hickatz at mindspring dot com)