The beat for Nas‘ 1992 debut single, “Halftime,” was originally produced by Large Professor for Busta Rhymes.
During a 2009 XXL feature on the making of Illmatic, Busta Rhymes revealed he was in the room in 1992 when the beat for “Halftime” was being created and Large Professor offered him the beat but he didn’t know what to do with it.
“I went over [to Large Professor’s house], and he made the “Halftime” beat in front of me, and he was gonna give it to me at the time. I didn’t know what to do with it. I didn’t know why I didn’t know what to do with it, because I loved the shit out the beat. Then I heard it on “Halftime,” and I was like, Goddamn, I was a stupid ass for not touching this beat!“ Busta Rhymes told XXL
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