Breaking Down Nas’ “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” | Large Professor
46,301
Published 2024-04-19
That video is twice as long and has things that can't make this cut.
Today is the 30th anniversary of Nas’ Illmatic. So today, we’re gonna talk about yet ANOTHER incredible producer who worked on this album: Large Professor. He produced multiple songs on this album, but today we’re looking specifically at the last song on the album “It Ain’t Hard To Tell”. This song has it’s own journey as there are multiple version of this song, but… well the easiest way to navigate this is to… use a metaphor.
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SOURCES
Original Demo: • Video
Interview with Large Professor: • Large Professor on Doing 3 Songs on I...
Nas Quote: www.xxlmag.com/making-of-nas-illmatic/?utm_source=…
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TOPICS COVERED
Nas
Illmatic
Large Professor
30th Anniversary
It Ain't Hard To Tell
Nas Will Prevail
Remix
Chopped
#nas #illmatic #hiphop
All Comments (21)
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Watch the full, extended edit of this video by becoming a FREE DTG member at www.patreon.com/diggingthegreats That video is twice as long and has things that can't make this cut.
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That Michael Jackson flip is one of my favorite sample flips of all time. Can’t believe this album is 30 and still sounds so fresh
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Human nature is written by Steve Porcaro, dug up by Quincy Jones and retexted by John Bettis and sung by Michael Jackson. Toto was the backing group. But that is just a detail.
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"It Ain't Hard to Tell" was my first lesson in timing. I considered "Human Nature" a slow song because the kick and snare happen on the 1 and 3 respectively. Then Large Pro flips it and I'm like, "Oh, it's actually mid-tempo."
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East Coast hip hop hits different on cloudy days for some reason… ☁️🔥🔥🔥
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This is the song that made me fall in love with this album and ultimately call it the Greatest Album of All Times.
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Happy 30 to Illmatic. The Hip-Hop Bible.
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The perfect outro to the perfect album. I love the progression of this record: it goes from dark, dour, gritty (NY State of Mind) to light, playful, maybe even a little optimistic (It Ain’t Hard to Tell). I genuinely think it’s the best hip-hop album ever recorded and it actually gets better with time. 10/10
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The remix has the greatest vocal sample of ALL TIME! Extra P made Biz Markie saying "recognized" sound like he's saying "Nas"!
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The way Large Pro flipped that MJ beat… maaaannnnnn!! He was definitely on another level when he made that beat 🙌🏼🙌🏼
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When I first heard this I was 16 painting fences outside. It was middle of the whole pandemic and I make it sound like a long time ago but to me listening to this with sweat off my back in a really bad neighborhood it felt like the music was speaking to me. Forever grateful for Illmatic and ofc Digging The Greats 🙏🏼
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Man, I just finished listening to the album, and I can’t believe it’s 30 years old today.
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common digging the greats w
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Gotta give a shout out to the Large Professor. Thought I lost his number but I left it on my dresser.
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Large Professor was definitely inspired by Grandmaster Vic (veteran and creator of the blend tape) when he made this beat.
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Happy 30th Illmatic 💐
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Large Pro is so underrated. Breaking Atoms is one of the best hip hop albums of all time. It’s aged so well over the years
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Dj premier, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, Large professor, and LES one hell of a production team for a debut album
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Been in my Nas bag all day, you're right on time! 30 year anniversary + a new Nas and Preemo track today + a digging the greats Nas drop?! LFG!
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Just got my Illmatic Cd in the mail. Gonna watch this and bump it. Happy 30th🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
