Large Professor

Main Source

(Gold Dust Media)

Some hiphop artists can reinvent themselves. For example, Marky Mark, the Fresh Prince, and Queen Latifah began as rappers and ended as Hollywood stars. The ease with which they made the transition from one mode (hiphop) to another (films) was made possible by the fact that opportunity (rather than the art itself) was (and still is) at the center of their careers. From the perspective of this situation, hiphop is one vehicle to fame, and Hollywood is another vehicle to (even more) fame. Some hiphop artists, however, are by nature inflexible. Large Professor is such an artist. His perspective is limited to just one mode: hiphop. He could never switch from rapping and making beats to acting in a movie or hosting a talk show.

This is why his new album, which is named after the crew that established his name in the early '90s, Main Source, has nothing in it but the stuff of hiphop. The titles of three cuts on Main Source say it all: "Hardcore Hip Hop," "Rockin' Hip Hop," and "The Hardest." One cut, the brutally short "Ru Dope" (it runs for a minute and one fucking second—and half of it has no beats!), features the hiphop warrior Jeru Tha Damaja. Another track, "Large Pro Says," is a pure burst of hiphop joy, a rapper's delight—LP tells all the "little misses" to "bounce... like you from down south," and all of the boys "to make noise, make noise." True, Main Source is not LP's best work, but you will find in it moments of pleasure ("Sewin' Love"), courage ("Maica Living"), and intelligence ("In the Ghetto"). Large Professor is forever committed to the founding truths of rapping and rocking.

Large Professor performs Fri Nov 14, Nectar, 9 pm, $10, 21+.

Professor

Skipper

Gilligan

Mr. Howell