# Breaking Atoms

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{{Infobox album
| name         = Breaking Atoms
| type         = studio
| artist       = [Main Source](/source/Main_Source)
| cover        = Breakingatoms.jpg
| alt          = 
| released     = {{start date|1991|7|23}}
| recorded     = 1990–1991
| studio       = Homeboy, Power Play, Libra Digital <br />([New York, New York](/source/New_York%2C_New_York))
| genre        = [Hip-hop](/source/Hip-hop)
| length       = 46:14
| label        = {{hlist|[Wild Pitch](/source/Wild_Pitch_Records)|[EMI](/source/EMI)}}
| producer     = {{hlist|Main Source|[Pete Rock](/source/Pete_Rock)}}
| prev_title   = 
| prev_year    = 
| next_title   = [Fuck What You Think](/source/Fuck_What_You_Think)
| next_year    = 1994
| misc         = {{Singles
 | name        = Breaking Atoms
 | type        = studio
 | single1     = Watch Roger Do His Thing
 | single1date = 1990
 | single2     = [Looking at the Front Door](/source/Looking_at_the_Front_Door)
 | single2date = October 25, 1990
 | single3     = Just Hangin' Out
 | single3date = May 14, 1991
 | single4     = Peace Is Not the Word to Play
 | single4date = October 22, 1991
}}
}}

'''''Breaking Atoms''''' is the first album by American/Canadian [hip-hop](/source/hip-hop) group [Main Source](/source/Main_Source), released on July 23, 1991,<ref>{{cite news|last=Patch|first=Nick|date=2016-08-15|title=Main Source: A hip-hop classic with Toronto ties turns 25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815153846/https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2016/08/15/main-source-a-hip-hop-classic-with-toronto-ties-turns-25.html|archive-date=August 15, 2016|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2016/08/15/main-source-a-hip-hop-classic-with-toronto-ties-turns-25.html|access-date=January 5, 2026|work=[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)|language=en}}</ref> through [Wild Pitch Records](/source/Wild_Pitch_Records). It was produced by the group, primarily by member [Large Professor](/source/Large_Professor), with recording sessions taking place during 1990–1991 at Homeboy Studio, Power Play Studios, and Libra Digital in [New York City](/source/New_York_City). ''Breaking Atoms'' is distinguished stylistically by its incorporation of [jazz](/source/jazz) and [soul music](/source/soul_music) [samples](/source/Sampling_(music)).<ref name="Huey"/> The album has been highly regarded by music writers due mostly to its production, whose heavy and original use of sampling influenced hip-hop producers for a considerable portion of the 1990s.

The album has been widely regarded by writers and music critics as a significantly influential album and has been noted for debuting rapper [Nasty Nas](/source/Nas), who appears on the track "Live at the Barbeque".<ref name="Hoard"/><ref name="Scholtes">Scholtes, Peter S. [http://www.citypages.com/1998-01-07/music/true-mcs/ Review: ''Breaking Atoms''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100226014711/http://www.citypages.com/1998-01-07/music/true-mcs/ |date=February 26, 2010 }}. ''[City Pages](/source/City_Pages)''. Retrieved on 2009-08-15.</ref> His contribution to the song was sampled on "The Genesis", the intro track to his debut album ''[Illmatic](/source/Illmatic)'' (1994). ''Breaking Atoms'' has been recognized as one of the most important records in hip-hop history, and was out of print in the United States after the demise of Wild Pitch Records in 1997. It was reissued on April 22, 2008, through Fontana Distribution.

==Music==
''Breaking Atoms'' was produced using the [E-mu SP-1200](/source/E-mu_SP-1200).<ref name="Huey"/> [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)'s Steve Huey writes that the album's acclaim lies mostly in its production, which popularized a number of now widely imitated techniques. Huey describes that the "intricately constructed tracks are filled with jazz and soul samples, layered percussion, off-kilter sampling effects, and an overall sonic richness."<ref name="Huey"/> ''RapReviews'' also notes that the beats are the cornerstone of the record.<ref name="Mennella"/> Dan Nishimoto of ''[PopMatters](/source/PopMatters)'' considers the album's sampling to be "neatly layered, its subject matter is modest, and its overall tone is simply well executed fun."<ref name="Nishimoto"/> In his book ''Classic Material: The Hip-Hop Album Guide'', Oliver Wang writes that [Large Professor](/source/Large_Professor) as a producer "thinks in complete song structure, never focusing on one single element—a [loop](/source/Music_loop), a [break](/source/Break_(music))—but always juggling them in unison."<ref name=guide>Wang, Oliver, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ighxbRRgk6sC Classic Material: The Hip-Hop Album Guide] (published 2003), p. 34, {{ISBN|1-55022-561-8}}</ref>

==Reception==
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)
| rev1score = {{rating|5|5}}<ref name="Huey">{{cite web|last=Jacobs|first=Qa'id|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/breaking-atoms-mw0000262514|title=''Breaking Atoms'' – Main Source|publisher=[AllMusic](/source/AllMusic)|accessdate=August 15, 2009}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)''
| rev2score = B+<ref name="Bernard">{{cite journal|last=Bernard|first=James|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,314052,00.html|title=''Breaking Atoms''|work=[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)|date=April 19, 1991|accessdate=August 15, 2009|archive-date=April 21, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421202030/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,314052,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''RapReviews''
| rev3score = 10/10<ref name="Mennella">{{cite web|last=Mennella|first=Dan|url=http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/BTTL_breakingatoms.html|title=Main Source :: ''Breaking Atoms'' :: Wild Pitch Records|work=RapReviews|date=June 22, 2004|accessdate=August 15, 2009}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[The Rolling Stone Album Guide](/source/The_Rolling_Stone_Album_Guide)''
| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="Hoard">{{cite book|chapter=Main Source|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lRgtYCC6OUwC&pg=PA510|accessdate=August 15, 2009|last=Relic|first=Peter|title=[The New Rolling Stone Album Guide](/source/The_Rolling_Stone_Album_Guide)|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|publisher=[Simon & Schuster](/source/Simon_%26_Schuster)|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/510 510]}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[The Source](/source/The_Source_(magazine))''
| rev5score = {{rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="Sultan">{{cite journal|first=Jonathan "J the Sultan"|last=Shecter|author-link=Jonathan Shecter|title=Main Source: ''Breaking Atoms''|work=[The Source](/source/The_Source_(magazine))|issue=20|date=May 1991|page=56}}</ref>
<!--
| rev4 = ''[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel](/source/Milwaukee_Journal_Sentinel)''
| rev4score = (favorable)<ref name="Tanzilo">Tanzilo, Robert. "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a-AVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yRIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3590,2187094&dq= Review: ''Breaking Atoms'']". ''[The Milwaukee Sentinel](/source/Milwaukee_Journal_Sentinel)'': 120. August 9, 1991.</ref>
| rev9 = ''[Trouser Press](/source/Trouser_Press)''
| rev9score = (favorable)<ref name="Chang">Chang, Jeff. [http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=main_source Review: ''Breaking Atoms'']. ''[Trouser Press](/source/Trouser_Press)''. Retrieved on 2009-08-15.</ref>
| rev10 = ''[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)''
| rev10score = (favorable)<ref name="Griffin">Griffin, Gil. "[https://archive.today/20130131193211/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/74674148.html?dids=74674148:74674148&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+12,+1991&author=Gil+Griffin&pub=The+Washington+Post+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Spring+Hip-Hop's+Timely+Harvest&pqatl=google Review: ''Breaking Atoms'']". ''[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)'': n.21. April 12, 1991.</ref> -->
}}
Upon its release, ''Breaking Atoms'' received critical acclaim. [J the Sultan](/source/Jonathan_Shecter) of ''[The Source](/source/The_Source_(magazine))'' hailed it as "New York hip-hop at its best", praising its "slamming beats and smooth, nod-your-head-to-this grooves thick with jazz-infused samples", as well as the "clever rhymes that you want to follow word-for-word."<ref name="Sultan"/> ''[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)''{{'}}s James Bernard wrote that "Main Source may not break much new ground, but [it] offer[s] a clever, quietly seductive collection in which the bass and drum tracks casually strut instead of stomp, and the sparse samples of guitar and horns allow the Large Professor's voice to take center stage."<ref name="Bernard"/> ''[The Baltimore Sun](/source/The_Baltimore_Sun)'' said that "Main Source understands how to compliment the depth of its rhymes by stressing the complexity of its music".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Considine |first1=J. D. |title=Breaking Atoms Main Source |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=Apr 19, 1991 |department=Features |page=5}}</ref>

Since its initial reception, the album has received retrospective acclaim from writers and music critics. [AllMusic](/source/AllMusic) writer Steve Huey declared it "one of the quintessential cult classics in hip-hop history".<ref name="Huey"/> In 2004's ''[The New Rolling Stone Album Guide](/source/The_Rolling_Stone_Album_Guide)'', Peter Relic wrote that "From the candy-colored cover depicting the three members crowded around a fantasy science project to the uptempo beats and matching fast raps, it's a period piece whose meticulous presentation... make it an enduring pleasure from a bygone era."<ref name="Hoard"/> ''[PopMatters](/source/PopMatters)''{{'}} Dan Nishimoto called it "deliberately smart and rough" and praised the varied scope of its production and sampling.<ref name="Nishimoto">Nishimoto, Dan. [http://www.popmatters.com/columns/nishimoto/051202.shtml Call and Response - Pickin' Up the Pieces: Sampling from the Great Producers]. [PopMatters](/source/PopMatters). Retrieved on 2009-08-15.</ref> ''RapReviews'' notes that many acknowledge ''Breaking Atoms'' to be on a similar level to [Nas](/source/Nas)' ''[Illmatic](/source/Illmatic)'' (1994) and [A Tribe Called Quest](/source/A_Tribe_Called_Quest)'s first three albums,<ref name="Mennella"/> while Tom Ewing of ''[Freaky Trigger](/source/Freaky_Trigger)'' wrote that the album's "legend" grew exponentially during the period when it was [out of print](/source/out_of_print).<ref name="Ewing">{{cite web |last1=Ewing |first1=Tom |title=Album-a-Day #3: Dwellers Under the Stove |url=https://freakytrigger.co.uk/nylpm/2019/01/album-a-day-3-dwellers-under-the-stove |website=Freaky Trigger |access-date=March 22, 2026 |date=January 29, 2019}}</ref> Ewing deemed the album "as instantly enjoyable as I hoped it would be – chunky samples, large beats, twisty rhymes about interesting things (police-violence as sport metaphor 'Just a Friendly Game of Baseball' for instance)."<ref name="Ewing" />

=== Accolades ===
''SoundProof'' magazine lists the album at number sixteen in "The Top 20 Toronto Albums Ever" and [About.com](/source/About.com)'s Henry Adaso lists it at number twenty in the "100 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums".<ref name="Adaso">Adaso, Henry. [http://rap.about.com/b/2006/09/30/100-greatest-hip-hop-albums.htm 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904154050/http://rap.about.com/b/2006/09/30/100-greatest-hip-hop-albums.htm |date=2009-09-04 }}. [About.com](/source/About.com). Retrieved on 2009-08-15.</ref> In 1998, ''The Source'' selected the album as one of its 100 Best Rap Albums.<ref name="Source">Staff. "{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060214200158/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/source.htm 100 Best Rap Albums]}}". ''The Source'': Issue 100. January 1998.</ref> Initially giving a four-and-a-half out of five "mic" rating,<ref name="Sultan"/> ''The Source'' gave the album a [five "mic"](/source/The_Source_(magazine)) rating in a retrospective list of "5 Mic Hip-Hop Classics" in its 150th issue.<ref>Kazeem (August 4, 2010). [https://web.archive.org/web/20101125084435/http://www.thesource.com/articles/23160/The-Complete-List-Of-5-Mic-Hip-Hop-Classics The Complete List Of 5 Mic Hip-Hop Classics]. ''[The Source](/source/The_Source_(magazine))''. Retrieved on 2010-12-23.</ref>

The album was named as one of two jury vote winners, alongside [Buffy Sainte-Marie](/source/Buffy_Sainte-Marie)'s ''[It's My Way!](/source/It's_My_Way!)'', of the Polaris Heritage Prize at the [2020 Polaris Music Prize](/source/2020_Polaris_Music_Prize).<ref>[https://www.fyimusicnews.ca/articles/2020/11/16/2020-slaight-family-polaris-heritage-prize-winners-named "2020 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize Winners Named"]. ''FYI Music News'', November 16, 2020.</ref>

== Track listing ==
*All tracks produced by [Main Source](/source/Main_Source), except #8 co-produced by [Pete Rock](/source/Pete_Rock).
{{Track listing
| total_length = 
| title1  = Snake Eyes
| writer1 = 
| length1 = 3:30

| title2  = Just Hangin' Out
| writer2 = 
| length2 = 4:10

| title3 = [Looking at the Front Door](/source/Looking_at_the_Front_Door)
| writer3 = 
| length3 = 4:10

| title4 = Large Professor
| writer4 = 
| length4 = 3:08

| title5  = Just a Friendly Game of Baseball
| writer5 = 
| length5 = 3:22

| title6  = Scratch & Kut
| writer6 = 
| length6 = 2:57

| title7  = Peace Is Not the Word to Play
| writer7 = 
| length7  = 3:07

| title8 = Vamos a Rapiar
| note8 = featuring Joe Fatal
 
| length8 = 3:59

| title9 = He Got So Much Soul (He Don't Need No Music)
| writer9 = 
| length9 = 3:34

| title10 = Live at the Barbeque
| note10 = featuring [Nasty Nas](/source/Nas), Joe Fatal and [Akinyele](/source/Akinyele_(rapper))
| writer10 = 
| length10 = 4:35

| title11 = Watch Roger Do His Thing
| writer11 = 
| length11 = 4:22

| title12 = Just a Friendly Game of Baseball (Remix)
| note12 = bonus
| writer12 = 
| length12 = 4:02
}}

==Personnel==
{{col-start}}
{{col-2}}
*Main Source&nbsp;– producer, mixing
*[Large Professor](/source/Large_Professor)&nbsp;– vocals
*[K-Cut](/source/K-Cut)&nbsp;– turntables
*[Sir Scratch](/source/Sir_Scratch)&nbsp;– turntables
*[Pete Rock](/source/Pete_Rock)&nbsp;– associate producer
*Joe Fatal&nbsp;– rap
*[Akinyele (rapper)](/source/Akinyele_(rapper))&nbsp;– rap
*[Nas](/source/Nas)&nbsp;– rap
{{col-2}}
*Peter Bodtke&nbsp;– photography
*Terry Clarke&nbsp;– design, cover art concept
*Amy Fine&nbsp;– art direction
*[Chris Gehringer](/source/Chris_Gehringer)&nbsp;– mastering
*Tony Papa Michael&nbsp;– engineer
*Anton Pukshansky&nbsp;– bass, engineer, mixing
{{col-end}}

==Singles==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
! Title
! Single information
|-
!scope="row"|"Looking at the Front Door"
|
*Released: October 25, 1990
*B-side: "Watch Roger Do His Thing"
|-
!scope="row"|"Watch Roger Do His Thing"
|
*Released: 1990
*B-side: "The Large Professor"
|-
!scope="row"|"Just Hangin' Out"
|
*Released: May 14, 1991
*B-side: "Live at the Barbeque"
|-
!scope="row"|"Peace Is Not the Word to Play"
|
*Released: October 22, 1991
*B-side: Video Remix / Instrumental
|}

==Chart history==
=== Album ===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"|Chart (1991)
!scope="col"|Peak<br />position
|-
!scope="row"|U.S. [Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums](/source/Top_R%26B%2FHip-Hop_Albums)<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r28063/charts-awards|pure_url=yes}} Billboard Albums: ''Breaking Atoms'']. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-08-15.</ref>
|align="center"|40
|}

=== Singles ===
{| class="wikitable"
!rowspan="2"|Year
!rowspan="2"|Single
!colspan="1"|Peak position<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r28063/charts-awards/billboard-single|pure_url=yes}} Billboard Singles: ''Breaking Atoms'']. AllMusic. Retrieved on 2009-08-15.</ref>
|-
![Hot Rap Singles](/source/Hot_Rap_Singles)
|-
|align="center" rowspan="2"|1990
|align="left"|"Just Hangin' Out"
|align="center"|11
|-
|align="left"|"Looking at the Front Door"
|align="center"|1
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* ''[http://www.discogs.com/Main-Source-Breaking-Atoms/master/30304 Breaking Atoms]'' at [Discogs](/source/Discogs)
* [https://archive.today/20130130182424/http://www.ohword.com/reviews/542/main-source-breaking-atoms Album Review] at Oh Word
{{Main Source}}
{{Nas}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:1991 debut albums
Category:Main Source albums
Category:Wild Pitch Records albums
Category:Albums produced by Pete Rock
Category:Albums produced by Large Professor
Category:Albums produced by K-Cut (producer)
Category:Polaris Heritage Prize–winning albums

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Breaking Atoms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Atoms) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breaking_Atoms?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.