BREAKING ATOMS Ultimate Collectors Edition released by Main Source
The Queens hip-hop group's landmark album includes classics featuring Nas, alongside rarities and alternate recordings.
More than three decades after it reshaped the sound of hip-hop, Breaking Atoms, the debut album from Queens group Main Source, is back in its most complete form yet. The just-released Breaking Atoms (Ultimate Collectors Edition) presents the original 1991 classic album, alongside a treasure trove of rarities, including previously unreleased tracks, B-Sides, remixes, soundtrack cuts ('Fakin The Funk') and collaborations ('Bonafide Funk' with Brand New Heavies); offering the definitive portrait of one of hip-hop's most influential groups. Together, these recordings trace the full arc of Main Source's creative moment and the culture they helped shape.
'Breaking Atoms is a statement of the time,' says Large Professor. This edition preserves that statement and widens the frame around it.
Released in 1991, Breaking Atoms became a cornerstone of hip-hop history. Driven by innovative production, sophisticated sampling, sharp lyricism, and vivid observations of street life and society, the album helped redefine the sound of hip-hop. Its influence reached far beyond Queens, establishing Main Source as one of the era's most important groups.
The album features classics like 'Just Hangin' Out,' 'Looking at the Front Door' and 'Live at the Barbeque,' the posse cut that introduced a young Nas in his first recorded appearance, alongside Joe Fatal and Akinyele.
Main Source formed in Queens, New York, in 1988, built around K-Cut, Large Professor, and Sir Scratch. Toronto-born K-Cut moved to New York City with his mother and brother in the early 1970s. He and Sir Scratch grew up in Corona, Queens, and attended John Bowne High School in Flushing.
Through a mutual friend, Savander Parker, K-Cut was introduced to Large Professor, and the two began developing the foundation of what would become Main Source. Shortly after the group came together, K-Cut coined the name.
K-Cut's search for a recording home led the group to Studio 1212 in Jamaica, Queens, where they connected with legendary engineer and producer Paul C. Paul C became an important mentor to all three members, helping shape the group's early sound, recording approach, and development.
Main Source's early singles, 'Think' / 'Atom' and 'Watch Roger Do His Thing' / 'Large Professor,' carried the group's music from the studio to the streets. The latter was funded by K-Cut's mother and the group's manager, Sandra McKenzie, who personally invested in the group's future. That momentum soon drew the attention of record labels and led the group to Wild Pitch Records, founded by Stu Fine and Amy Fine, where K-Cut, Large Professor, and Sir Scratch created Breaking Atoms.
Main Source's story begins in Queens, with K-Cut, Large Professor, and Sir Scratch, and its influence continues to resonate through generations of hip-hop.
Main Source's Breaking Atoms (Ultimate Collectors Edition) is now available via DNA Music. It can be purchased and streamed at https://lnk.site/1/breakingatons.
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