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Breaking Atoms
Main Source
Wild Pitch, 1991
REVIEW BY: Ben Ehrenreich
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 07/17/2007
Main Source will forever be forgotten as an early pioneer of hip-hop. Their monumental debut goes largely unnoticed because, quite frankly, very few people remember who they are.
To wit: Main Source contains MC/Producer Large Professor, who contributed greatly to Illmatic, and two DJs, K-Cut and Sir Scratch. Main Source is largely a Large Professor show, but K-Cut and Sir Scratch provide enough effects to add a very authentic atmosphere to this disc, not to mention their excellent showcase track, “Scratch & Kut”.
Breaking Atoms is an important hip-hop record because it is whole-heartedly positive. Large Professor makes it cool to do the right thing and doesn’t come across as preachy, which can sometimes be KRS-One’s weakness. In “Peace Is Not The Word To Play,” Large Professor lets his peers know that peace “means the absence of all confusion / Not the oozing and bruising.” Large Professor continues to kick knowledge in “Watch Roger Do His Thing” in which he narrates a story about a man who lives a positive life despite the pressures of the ghetto.
In addition to many positive tracks, Breaking Atoms also includes some lyrical assaults. “Just A Friendly Game Of Baseball” contains a metaphor worthy of “I Used To Love H.E.R.”-type recognition, while “Live At The Barbecue” is the highlight of the album and includes an absolutely vicious verse by then-rookie Nas. Both tracks display Large Professor’s superior lyrical ability, especially “Baseball” for its intricate comparison of police treatment of African-Americans and a game of baseball.
Breaking Atoms is almost flawless but falters slightly with the unnecessary extra remix of "Baseball” and the average “He Got So Much Soul.”
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