The Whole Delivery

On Large Professor’s beat, it was his debut single of his career for the 92 movie Zebrahead. And fittingly enough, it was wisely placed in the middle of Illmatic. And it worked out perfectly with the flow in arguably the best crafted song of his first album in terms of harmony with Large Professor production. “These are the lyrics of a man, you can’t near it understand/Cause in the streets, I’m well known like the number man/“ It’s of course “Halftime”, Track 5 on Illmatic.

It’s the special silver anniversary of one of music all-time debuts, from a Queensbridge savant that didn’t just include him, but also put some of QB’s finest collection of talent together ever in AZ & L.E.S, along with the rest of the city in Pete Rock, Large Professor & AZ producing. And after “The Genesis” intro with AZ & Fab 5 Freedy, sir Nasir Jones set the tone for this timeless classic celebrated on this Good Friday with a “New York State of Mind.”