Large Professor: 1st Class (2LP+7") [HIGH RISE]

Why you'll love it

This High Rise edition adds a bonus 7-inch of "Stay Chisel" backed with its instrumental. The album brings in Nas, Q-Tip, Busta Rhymes and Akinyele, and its lead single "'Bout That Time" reached No. 38 on Billboard's Hot Rap Songs.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Bonus 7" of "Stay Chisel" with instrumental

About the album

Large Professor's beats were behind some of the most loved rap records to come out of Queens, so it says something that his own albums arrived so rarely. 1st Class, his second full-length, came out on Matador in October 2002, recorded at Bang'n Studios and C Mo' Greens Studio in his home borough.

He handles most of the production himself, with Hill, J-Love and Xplicit chipping in, and keeps it all crisp, soulful and head-nodding. "'Bout That Time" sets the tone, "Stay Chisel" reunites him with Nas, "In the Sun" brings in Q-Tip, and "Akinyele" does what it says on the label. "Kool," "Large Pro" and "Radioactive," the second single, keep the boom-bap rolling right to the end.

It reached No. 52 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 21 on both the Independent and Heatseekers charts. He spent years building beats for other rappers before stepping up for his own records, which is what's known in the trade as patience.

Also at Kops: more Large Professor on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Listen

On High Rise Records & Films (cat# HRR003), a reissue of the 2002 album.