Last Song - Lord Large ft. Dean Parrish 'Left, Right and Centre'
‘Lord Large’ sounds like the sort of artist that appeared on Tuff City or Tommy Boy Records around ’87. With a DJ called something like ‘Mr Cuts’. His LP cover would have him sat on the bonnet (‘hood’) of a Mercedes 190E in an MCM tracksuit and a Kangol hat. Granted, Dean Parrish doesn’t quite have the same hip hop flavour as names go, although Man Parish didn’t do too bad in that regard.
Those names alone meant the link had to be to a hip hop tune. And there is arguably no better hip hop tune than Main Source’s ‘Just Hanging Out’.
It’s such a simple tune in many ways. But it has that element all great hip hop songs need. Flow.
Everything about the tune is just right. The samples, the drums.
The ‘link’ here is the real genius behind the song. ‘Large Professor’.
I say genius deliberately. A lot of producers in hip hop overdo things. Shock value has its place, but this song has an understated subtlety. He just does it all so well.
It is one for just hanging out with your friends as the lyrics say. A perfect Summer day record.
This song also passes the ultimate challenge for any hip hop tune. The head nod test. You can’t play this and not nod your head along to that sweet, rolling rhythm. The sample is pure genius, letting the groove of the original speak for itself.
From that rising drum fill intro to the ‘Bam Bam’ stabs from Sister Nancy, it just fits.
The album it’s taken from, ‘Breaking Atoms’, is a classic too. Main Source never received the accolades that the likes of the Def Jam stable did. And yet, ‘Nasty Nas’ as he was back then made his ‘on record’ debut on this and Wild Pitch Records, the label it came out on, released some of the best of the ‘Golden Age’ like Gang Starr and Lord Finesse.
Large Professor went on to produce tracks for heavyweights like Busta Rhymes, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, Mobb Deep and, perhaps most notably, A Tribe Called Quest. The latter’s ‘Midnight Marauders’ LP saw his ‘dissing’ his former bandmates on the song ‘Keep It Rollin’.
The group reconciled eventually.
He still produces, he still makes his own records. But, sadly, he’ll always be one of those that only aficionados talk about.
