Hip-Hop trio Main Source released an acclaimed 1991 debut album in Breaking Atoms. Large Professor, Sir Scratch, and K-Cut teamed with The Wild Pitch Records to release earned a coveted four-and-a-half mic rating from The Source magazine upon release for an LP that introduced the world to Nas (as well as Akinyele), along with delivering video singles “Looking At The Front Door” and “Just Hangin’ Out.”

Large Professor, having already worked with Eric B. & Rakim, Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, and The Intelligent Hoodlum, watched his production (and guest MC) demands increase. While helping Nas shape what would become Illmatic, Extra P aligned with Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Diamond D, and others. In 1994, when Main Source returned with F*ck What You Think, the group’s lead MC was now Queens, New York veteran Mickey D. That LP, including appearances from Jadakiss and Sheek Louch, became a swan song for a talented but short-lived group. However, between 1991 and 1994, there were additional Large Professor, Sir Scratch, and K-Cut recordings that Hip-Hop Heads never got to hear.

Main Source Discuss The Impact Of Breaking Atoms, 25 Years Later (Video)

P-VINE RECORDS/Light In The Attic has officially released The Science, a collection of Main Source songs reportedly intended to be the sophomore album. “The original trio’s first and only album Breaking Atoms, was released in 1991 to critical and commercial acclaim, before Large Professor left the group. They recorded a second album, The Science, and even ran ads for it in The Source, before the group’s breakup led to its indefinite shelving. Until now,” says a Light In The Attic press release. “P-VINE RECORDS is proud to announce that we’re giving The Science its long-deserved official release, almost three decades after it was initially set for release. This gem among gems of ’90s Hip-Hop, which had never seen so much as a bootleg release, is going to be released on analog vinyl.“

The Science features early ’90s time capsule Hip-Hop songs including “Bootlegging,” “Raise Up, “Time (Alternate Mix),” and the TV-condemning “Hella Vision,” taken from master tapes owned by the three original members. On “Bootlegging,” Large Pro raps, “I lamp on the corner sellin’ bootleg tapes / Rappers collect breaks so that I make papes / I don’t give a f__k about Kane or Biz / Finally somebody beats The Wiz / And that somebody is me / Catch me ’round three / I be busy as a muthaf__kin’ bee / Call 5-0 and let ’em know I’m sellin’ bootlegged tapes / And they’ll say, ‘So?’” Moments later, he jokes that his specialty is bootlegging Wild Pitch Records product. There are also alternate mixes of Main Source gems like “Lookin’ At The Front Door” and “Fakin’ The Funk,” as well as the White Men Can’t Jump version. The songs feature Large Professor manipulating samples with dexterity, including some sources that popped up in other places in the early 1990s.

Large Professor Broke More Than Atoms 25 Years Ago. He Broke New Ground.

Notably, the original three members of Main Source have reunited in the mid-2010s in celebration of 25 years of Breaking Atoms. Large Pro, who had titled a 2008 solo album Main Source (which featured his group replacement Mikey D), revealed in late 2018, that the group was planning to make new music.

In 2009, Large Professor self-released his acclaimed solo debut, The LP. That was 13 years after the Nas-featuring album was intended to arrive on Geffen Records. While Extra P has a decorated solo career, Sir Scratch and K-Cut worked with Big Pun, Choclair, and others.

Relive The First Time Main Source, Nas, Akinyele & Fatal Performed Live At The BBQ (Video)

Last year, Large Professor produced songs on Cormega’s The Realness 2—named among Ambrosia For Heads Top Albums Of 2022. Before that, he has recently worked with DJ Duke, Truth and Tragedy Khadafi, and B Leafs featuring Elzhi, Ras Kass, and M-Dot.