Large Professor – Happy Days ‘R Here



The Illusion was a rock group out of Long Island, New York. They found their home on the extremely short-lived label Steed Records. Steed was founded by Jeff Barry, who also produced the group’s first (and only) 3 albums. Why is that relevant? Jeff Barry was partners with musical genius/pyscho Phil Spector. If you don’t already know, he also wrote some of the biggest hits in the history of music. Unfortunately, The Illusion was not part of that legacy.

Legendary producer and dope MC, Large Professor recently released his new album “Professor @ Large“. Extra P used The Illusion track “Happy Days” for his similiary named cut “Happy Days ‘R Here” featuring Lil Fame of M.O.P. The album is extremely dope and if you’re a fan of raw, New York Hip-Hop I recommend copping.

I found this sample easily, because I made a beat using the same one in 2005. Great minds think alike huh? lol. Check out the cut and go out there and support Large Pro!

That Kind of Fire



The Facts of Life (not to be confused with Tudey and Miss Garrett) were an up-tempo soul/disco group out of New York/Chicago. One of the hottest female Soul acts, Millie Jackson acted as the group’s manager and producer (conflict of interest much?). Because Millie Jackson was “behind the boards” the album was backed by the Muscle Shoal Sound.

That Kind of Fire” (the intro and the main loop) was used for the M.O.P. cut “Background N*****s” off the clssic album “Warriorz” produced by D.R. Period. Check it out.

Calm Down



Warriorz is my favorite album by M.O.P.. The beats were hard (shot out to DJ Premier) and the energy was where it needed to be. “Calm Down” is one of the dopest cuts on the album is actually produced by Fizzy Womack. However, based on the drums it sounds like he had a little help from DJ Premier.

Nona Hendryx was from New Jersey (holla!) and was 1/3 of the trio Labelle. She’s a little Grace Jones-ish on the album cover and her solo career had a lot of 80′s synth garbage. However, the song “Design for Living” has an incredibly dope intro showcasing her vocal talent. Check it out for the sample for “Calm Down“.