LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out

One of the great rap classics

This is the signature album from LL Cool J, who may someday go down in history as the longest surviving and most successful rapper ever. LL's ability to display multiple personalities without making himself contradictory or hate-worthy is truly a special gift that few, if any, other rappers have. The title track from this album is one of rap's classic anthems, and "Around The Way Girl" is simply one of the best summer jams that's ever been made. October 6, 2007

LL Cool J's "Sgt. Pepper": A Hip-Hop Must Have!!

Mama Said Knock You Out was LL Cool J's fourth studio album. By the time of its release in late summer of 1990, it helped cement LL as a long-term force to be reckoned with in hip-hop. 1989's platinum+ seller "Walking with a Panther" was met with mixed reviews by hip-hop's urban audience. The criticisms were legion: `LL had become too commercial'. `He was clearly being upstaged by rival Kool Moe Dee'. `Hardcore acts like Ice-T and N.W.A. had a bigger street following'. `Political rappers like Public Enemy and KRS-One made LL look out of touch'. The list goes on. Fortunately, LL chose to partner with golden-age production maestro Marley Marl for a remix of the single "Jingling Baby", the success of which helped Def Jam to green-light the MSKYO sessions.

Normally, LL skipped a year between releases, but Panther was just barely over a year old when "The Boomin' System", MSKYO's first official single, was released. Essentially an ode to driving slow with your radio blasting, the single sampled the same James Brown bass riff as was used by En Vogue for their debut hit "Hold On" (the radio mix of "System" duplicated it note for note, while the album version tweaked it slightly). The LP's second single, "Around the Way Girl", was a tremendous urban radio hit, where LL gives props to all his female fans: "I want a girl with extensions in her hair/ bamboo earrings, at least two pair." On "Cheesy Rat Blues", LL pokes fun at his own image, imagining himself as a washed up rapper who finds himself pelted with "my old tapes" when he visits the shopping mall.

The title track is a thunderous announcement of LL's return to form: "Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years/ I'm rocking my peers, puttin' suckers in fear/ making the tears rain down like a monsoon/ listen to the bass go boom!" On the whimsical "Milky Cereal", LL gives his romantic conquests breakfast-cereal names, hearkening back to "My Rhyme Ain't Done". "Illegal Search" (originally a b-side to the "Jingling Baby" remix) finds LL touching a political theme as he narrates a fictional police confrontation. It's a smoother, LL-style take on N.W.A.'s cop-trouble rants. LL manages to directly answer some of his then-rivals on "To Da Break of Dawn": Kool Moe Dee is ripped for his "Star Trek shades", MC Hammer is likened to "my old gym teacher" and Ice-T is derided as a former "downtown car thief". Perhaps the most surprising song is "Farmers Blvd. (The Anthem)", where LL teams up with some childhood rhyming pals for what is his first `posse cut' featuring his own vocals (he had previously contributed written lyrics for the Stop the Violence Movement's "Self-Destruction").

The other album cuts are worthy, so this is fortunately not the album of a few good singles and tedious filler. LL and Marley crafted a hip-hop masterpiece to announce the 1990's, but its appeal is far from dated. July 24, 2007

LL really nailed this one!

Man...I can't tell you how refreshing it's been to listen to a well-written and well-produced Rap album with varied and original subject matter: there isn't a single trite and formulaic "gangsta" cliché on the entire album! :-) LL Cool J was my favorite rapper from around '86 to 1988: BIGGER AND DEFFER was one of my first two hip-hop albums (the other was PAID IN FULL--even at 9 years old, I really knew how to pick `em) and I used to listen to it constantly. Although I never heard the album (and I still haven't till this day--I need to make it a point to pick up a copy), LL really lost me with the singles from WALKING WITH A PANTHER. That was a vibrant and dynamic time in hip-hop: the field was highly competitive and the music was changing rapidly. There was so much great material being put out by so many different rappers that a single lackluster effort could potentially end a career. That's why LL starts off the title track (one of the most downright fiery and invigorating songs that I've ever heard) by yelling, "Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years!" Most artists in most genres make "comeback" albums after years of putting out shoddy material, but not so in the world of late 80's/early 90's hip-hop. Things have changed quite a bit though and now many rappers make entire careers out of putting out crap material. There are some incredibly well-written songs on this album: there are no grand aspirations (and really, I would characterize Marley Marl's tasteful, practical and never overdone production the same way) but the straightforward lyrics are still consistently clever. He has a confident and commanding delivery whether he's playing the swagger-filled lover man, the crafty storyteller, or the battle-ready MC, and he consistently has some of the best timing and phrasing that I've ever heard. This could possibly be LL's best album and it's certainly one of Rap music's greatest works. This is fun and entertaining feel good music that serves as a strong example of the surplus of great material that was released during hip-hop's most fruitful and inspired period. This is essential listening for anyone interested in rap music, and it should be really refreshing to those who were unfortunately introduced to Rap after the majority of the genre was inundated with tired, trite and predictable gangsta clichés. Another listen to this album should also be really refreshing for those of us that loved hip-hop in its heyday: it should remind us of just what made us fall in love with it in the first place. This one will be making its way back into my regular rotation. July 16, 2007

Would still KNOCK most mc's albums OUT of the park now!!

After the luke-warm reaction to his "Walking With A Panther" album LL went back to his old stomping grounds in an attempt to rejuvenate his talents and come back out stronger. It was here while his grandmother (Big Momma)spawned the words of encouragement to her disillusioned grandson "Just Knock'em Out" and so we got this album. LL promptly hooked up with Marley Marl and together they came up with this, the 1st of 2 albums they did together. Marley's production skills were+still are legendary. His beats are bone crunching and the samples that accompany them are always original. They percussion on this album in the form of piano riffs and guitar licks were simply mindblowing as they were used in perfect ration to the rock hard beats and funky basslines. All of this was before LL even ripped a verse!!!!!! Around this time LL was in afew beefs with Kool Moe Dee and Ice-T so alot of his verses were heavy battle type rhymes were he took no prisoners. The title track alone was, is and always will be 1 of the greatest diss records of ALL TIME!! The opening track "The Boomin' System" was about the systems that heads were fitting into their cars and that whole car culture that was peaking in the early 90's. The legendary line "2 mile an hour so everybody sees you" still gets me amped. "Around The Way Girl" was huge back then and still holds its own as a decent rap ballad by an mc that has mastered the genre. "Eat 'Em Up L Chill", "Mr. Good Bar" and "Murdergram" are all tight head nodders that showcase his impressive, more amped, stronger, rejuvinated style to the tee. "Murdergram" is a live performance that will literally blow your mind, what breath control??!! "Cheesy Rat Blues" is a tale about how the tide can turn and you could be left without a pot to p*ss in and what could happen to the people that are supposedly by your side, in times like this. A very personal track. "Farmers Blvd" was a track were LL shouts out his crew and afew of them for some mic time and put it down nicely. Next you hear the immortal words "c'mon man..." and the horns and then all hell breaks loose with "Mama Said Knock You Out" exploding through the speakers. One of my all time favourite hiphop songs EVER. "Milky Cereal" explores the subject of getting laid. Nice beat and funny rhymes. "Jingling Baby" is a superior version than the 1 on the "Walking With A Panther" album, in my opinion. Marley's production is top notch. "To Da Break Of Dawn" is another diss joint where LL rips apart Ice-T and Kool Moe Dee with relative ease to be honest over a smooth hard beat laced with acid tongued rhymes that Im sure would still sting those cats now. "6 Minutes Of Pleasure" and "The Power Of God" were the only tracks that I thought were weaker back then and even more now. The last track that I havent mentioned is "Illegal Search", a humourous tale about the police and their treatment of his race but with a nice funny twist. Still after 16years this is a soundbomb. A timeless classic. He and hiphop certainly dont make joints like this anymore. March 7, 2007

This is NOT the Original Recording Rereleased

If you're looking for the original recording this is NOT it.

The parts of "The Boomin' System" wherein the lyrics are supposed to be "...pass the Heineken..." and "Roll up a fat one..." are silenced out. The CD is fine other than that; my search continues. <.< February 15, 2007

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