By Kevin Smith
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thursday October 3, 2002
1st Class
The grass is always greener, huh? Has there ever been a successful hip-hop producer to cross over and become a respected lyricist? RZA and El-P were always both. Dr. Dre (minus contributions from Jay-Z and Ice Cube)? Puffy? Timbaland? JD? Big Tymers? Nah.
So here comes Large Professor, a well known beat-head who has produced for The Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, Eric B. and Rakim, Busta Rhymes, and on and on. Now it's his turn to rock the mic, right? Wrong. He should've gotten a ghostwriter on these tracks because he comes off like a poor man's Will Smith.
One example is enough. First track, second and third bar: "Straight out the gate with another hot song/Keepin' it real though, gonna last long." That's all you need. That's the album.
Not surprisingly, the beats are there, and it shows when Prof's guests (Nas, Busta, Q-Tip) come on and effortlessly burn him like a match to kerosene on every track. The Prof should've done all guest spots, DJ Clue-style, because he just embarrasses himself repeatedly. It's like watching someone trip over and over because both his shoelaces are tied together. However, the beats could be salvaged, and if the Prof were smart he'd release an instrumental version and try to recoup his losses. Either that, or write this one off because he was high.
