In the early 1990s, New York was the hip-hop hub, and Large Professor was one of its most promising producers. He was known for his gritty and horn-saturated sound, which resulted in him being mentored by Main Source, who, in turn, was mentoring a young Nas when he wrote what would become ‘Halftime’.
The beat was forged in his apartment using a blend of drum loops and looping brass riffs. It was pure boom-bap, the type of sound that reverberated through Queens park jams and tape decks. Yet before Nas could come in there and get his hands on it, the instrumental was sampled by another emcee entirely, Busta Rhymes.
At the time, Busta was still a member of Leaders of the New School, and his animated style was turning heads throughout Brooklyn. Professor Large created the Halftime beat in front of him, and for a moment, it seemed like the sound of New York rap could change drastically. Busta later said that he was going to give it to me at the time. He loved it, he tried to write to it, but ran into a wall. The words would not come. For once, the voicebox of the loudest man in the room was closed. It was his first encounter with writer’s block that cost him one of the best beats of his time…