Tag: LL Cool J

audio review : The Force ( album ) … LL Cool J

audio review : The Force ( album ) ... LL Cool J

If the cover art reminds you of a Tribe Called Quest album, there’s a reason for that. Every song here, rather its music, is produced by frontman Q-Tip. That makes this the most sonically cohesive and thoroughly hip-hop LL Cool album since Marley’s Marl’s Mama Said Knock You Out. The rapper is still a Force to be reckoned with. Best songs include Saturday Night Special and Black Code Suite.

my rating : 3 of 5

2024

audio review : Six Minutes Of Pleasure ( song ) … LL Cool J ( featuring The Flex )

My only gripe with this song is that it isn’t Six Minutes long. Still it’s one of LL Cool J’s best thanks not only to Marley Marl who provides a sweet groove but The Flex singing on the hook. Their vocals alone turn what would’ve been a mediocre “love” song into a Pleasurable one. It; inviting singers to backdrop your plain hook; is an artistic technique more rappers should utilize.

my rating : 4 of 5

audio review : Mama Said Knock You Out ( album ) ... LL Cool J

Masta Ace’s Other Side Of Town or LL Cool J’s Cheesy Rat Blues : Which song is better?

Masta Ace's Other Side Of Town or LL Cool J's Cheesy Rat Blues : Which song is better? Masta Ace's Other Side Of Town or LL Cool J's Cheesy Rat Blues : Which song is better?

These are songs by, at least in the case of LL Cool J, rich men portraying the role of bums. LL plays himself gone broke; he has the Cheesy Rat Blues; while Masta Ace simply goes by the name of Joe; a student slash panhandler from The Other Side Of Town. Both songs were released in 1990. Both are produced by Marley Marl. That means he made the music.

The beats are damn funky, but Town’s, with its splendid bassline and organ breaks, sounds a little better to my ears. Masta Ace’s raps are also more poignant and better composed technically, but LL Cool J is funnier and thus more entertaining, especially during the second half. His “back of the bus”, “who this” and “know how to get busy” lines are classic.

my vote : ?

audio review : Bad [ Bigger And Deffer ] ( album ) … LL Cool J

audio review : Bigger And Deffer ( album ) ... LL Cool J

There’s no rapper Bigger And Deffer than LL Cool J on the grandiloquent title song. It starts the album with such a bang that the following “love” ode (Kandy) comes across as rather anticlimactic, especially considering the fact that J and his boys are Bad at hooks. The best songs are the ones without one; namely The Breakthrough, The Do Wop and My Rhyme Ain’t Done. I Need Love is another standout.

my rating : 3 of 5

1987