Around The Way Girl / Mama Said Knock You Out

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The fourth album from LL Cool J is a head-knocking reboot for the battle-tested hip-hop veteran. Already a certified legend at 22 years old, he found new creative and commercial life by dedicating himself to the “future of the funk” on this triumphant 1990 LP: He’s no longer the bombastic teenager screaming over guitar stab, but a technician finding the pocket in 14 Marley Marl co-production. By the time the 1990s began, the most unflappable MC of the 1980s was experiencing a crisis of confidence. His 1989 album <i>Walking With a Panther</i> had underperformed commercially, and many fans took him to task for the album’s handful of love ballad. Hip-hop was changing: Cooler heads like Rakim and EPMD had prevailed over rap-rock shouter, Los Angeles reality rap was starting to take over New York ego flexe, and Kool Moe Dee and Ice T were calling for war. Lost and forlorn, LL Cool J retreated to his grandmother’s basement where the matriarch gave him some advice that changed the trajectory of his career: “Oh, baby, just knock them out!” <i>Mama Said Knock You Out</i> would bring that competitive drive to songs like the stormy title track, not to mention the absolutely venomous “To Da Break of Dawn,” a roaring response to Kool Moe Dee and Ice T’s threat. But LL is just getting started, as <i>Mama Said</i> finds him sinking his teeth into critic, rival, and doubters alike: “When I’m on the microphone I want silence,” he insists on “Murdergram.” “Let KRS-One stop the violence.” .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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