First ever Manchester concert! Band on the Wall and More Bounce present New York hip hop supremos Large Professor and Cormega live!
Founding member of the groundbreaking hip hop group Main Source, Large Professor is widely recognised, alongside DJ Premier, Pete Rock and Marly Marl, as being one of the all-time New York Hip Hop greats.
Main Source’s album Breaking Atoms was released in 1991 and was hailed as an album that took hip hop productionto new levels. Featuring the massive hits Lookin At The Front Door , Just Hangin Out and Peace Is Not The Word To Play, Breaking Atoms propelled Large Professor on to produce and collaborate with artists such as A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, Common, Eric B & Rakim, Organised Konfusion, Mobb Deep, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap and of course Nas.
Famously credited with introducing Nas to the world on the legendary Queens NYC posse-cut Live From The Barbeque (featuring Akinyele, Joe Fatal and Large Pro himself). This connection would soon be cemented with the classic singles Halftime and It Ain’t Hard To Tell which both featured on Nas’debut album Illmatic (1993) – undoubtedly one of the finest hip hop albums of all time.
Following this, Large Pro would sign a solo deal with Geffen/MCA Records to release his own debut LP. Large Pro would release the singles Mad Scientist and Ijuswannachill, which received heavy rotation in NYC and the world over.The L.P became one of the most anticipated album releases ever in hip hop due and, due to the huge demand for it, The L.P found itself heavily bootlegged for years, finally resulting in an official release in 2009.
Priot to this Large Professor’s contribution to hip hop was consistently dope. Production duties for artists such as Nas (You’re A Man, Rewind), Non-Phixion and Busta Rhymes as well as studio albums First Class and Main Source featuring the likes of Q-Tip, Jeru The Damaja, AZ and Styles P ensured that despite record label politics, Large Professor is a name that will forever be respected amongst hip hop purists the world over.
This June Large Professor released his latest album Professor At Large which features Busta Rhymes, M.O.P, Cormega, Action Bronson and Roc Marciano. Also, look out for him featured on the track Loco-Motive with Nas off his brand new album Life Is Good.
Cormega
Growing up in the same housing projects as fellow Queensbridge MC Nas (who famously shouts out Cormega on his Q-Tip assisted cut from Illmatic – One Love), Cormega is a true student of the golden era of hip hop. A listener and observer of 80s era rap when lyric were everything.
In 1996, Cormega was set to release his highly anticipated debut album Testament on Def Jam but this was disappointingly shelved due to management/label politics. At the time Mega was also set to appear alongside Nas, Az and Foxy Brown as the 4th member of hip hop supergroup The Firm which also fell through due to the same management issues. It seems Large Pro wasn’t the only Queens MC being short changed in ’96.
In the face of adversity, Cormega has gone on to carve out the a very successful career abd has built up one of the most loyal fan bases in hip hop, releasing cult classic albums The Realness, The True Meaning and Born And Raised while working alongside respected artists/producers such as Large Professor, Alchemist, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Buckwild, Ghostface and KRS-One along the way.
Large Professor and Cormega will release their collaborative album Mega Philosophy later this year.
Doors open at 7.30pm but our Picturehouse Cafe Bar is open earlier for drinks and good times.