Freddie Gibbs and Ghostface Killah have been listed as features on Large Professor‘s upcoming album Down South Up Top.
Large Pro spoke about the project in an interview with Rolling Stone, where he said the new LP would be a joint effort with Raw Wattage.
“We taking a different approach with this album,” Large Professor said. “Instead of just recording it and putting it out, we’ve recorded it, and we hit the road with it. So now we going around and we making moves with that, hitting the stage with it and getting the crowd’s feedback, and yo, it’s dope so far.”
He continued by saying the concept for the project is to bring the South and New York together, and listed off a few big name acts that are gonna help him realize his goal.
“We got Ghostface Killah, Freddie Gibbs,” Large Professor added. “We doing a lot of bridging of the Southern and East Coast artists, but it’s all boom bap, it’s all relentless ill, boom bap.”
Down South Up Top will be the Main Source founding member’s first release since 2020’s Rap Professionals with J-Love. As Hip Hop celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, Large Professor added that rap’s power was always being able to keep people feeling young.
“Hip Hop is a genre of music that always kept us young. It always keeps us young. The world should all embrace hip-hop from the old to the young, boom-bap original New York Hip Hop,” he said. “Come to New York and see what that life is about. Go Uptown, go to the Bronx, and check it out. It’ll keep you young for life, and it’s the only genre.
“It is one of the only genres that can do that. It keeps you young. Break dancing, graffiti, all of that. It all goes hand in hand through all generations from the seventies, eighties, and nineties; it’s forever. So let’s embrace that and concentrate and just get better and better at it. Word.”
While Freddie Gibbs hasn’t ever worked with Ghostface Killah, he did show Wu-Tang Clan serious love on his Rick Ross-assisted single “Ice Cream” last year. The track put a new spin on Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx classic “Ice Cream,” turning it into a modern-day trap anthem.
The track was used to help roll out Gibb’s latest release, $oul $old $eperately.