Mama Said Knock You Out

Okay, I had to go on to YouTube for this one, as LL Cool J's first four albums have disappeared from streaming services for some unknown reason.

I'm not surprised to see LL Cool J on this album journey, as one of the first rappers to achieve crossover success. I enjoyed his debut record, Radio, a rich concoction of samples and minimal beats that preceded the golden age of hip hop. That said, I get why Robert Dimery and his editorial team chose Mama Said Knock You Out instead, as the hardcore reinvention of LL's image after the very ballad-heavy Walking With a Panther. It's not a "comeback", as LL wanted to make known on the title track, but it's a much-needed shot in the arm for his career.

Speaking of that title track, yeah, it's the obvious big hit, as the inspired blowback against LL's critics that became an enduring jock jam. But there's plenty of other tracks where LL kept a good flow amidst some phat beats, between the opening re-establishment on "The Boomin' System" and "Eat 'Em Up L Chill", his shots against rap rival Kool Moe Dee on "Murdergram", and further refining his jabs at Moe Dee, MC Hammer, and Ice-T on "To da Break of Dawn". But he also took the time to pay tribute to the neighborhood he grew up in on "Farmers' Blvd. (Our Anthem)", showing awareness of the continued racial disparity despite the advances he's made on "Illegal Search", addressing those who took advantage of him for his fame on "Cheesy Rat Blues", and illustrating the importance of his religious beliefs in his life without coming off too preachy on "The Power of God". LL certainly did his best to come across as well-rounded and measured.

Yet, as much as LL tried to revitalize his image, some of the cheesiness carried over. Case in point: "Jingling Baby" from Walking Like a Panther reappears here, remixed with a slightly better vocal sample in the background, but the lyrics are still the same thinly veiled request for oral sex between more dissing of other rappers. We also still have the easy-listening R&B tracks in "Around the Way Girl" and "6 Minutes of Pleasure", though at least the beats are still snappy and I generally don't mind them even if they come off incongruent with the rest of the record. But no, my ire is with the two tracks with clear-cut brand-name porn: "Milky Cereal" with its baffling array of breakfast metaphors, and "Mr. Goodbar" where LL used the candy name to highlight his sexual prowess, which certainly went down the drain with the line "And I can't make you, I sure wouldn't rape you". Charming.

So yeah, I generally vibed alright with Mama Said Knock You Out, even with its occasional wack moments. LL Cool J revitalized his rap career, though even that would take a backseat to his acting career. Eh, what can you do?

Some solid classic hip hop. Didn't knock me out but certainly left some light bruising.

Kind of frustrating, the Spotify link to this album is missing a lot of tracks. Overall it's a great album that I think hit nailed the genre where it was at in 1990.

Never really engaged with LL Cool J as a rapper (he's always been more of a 'celebrity' figure to me). But you know what? He's pretty tight. A solid 90s rap album.

Pretty good at points but what the hell is milky cereal?

Great flow, title track is obviously a banger. Gets slightly samey after a while but it’s a good album to have on while working.

Spotify doesn't let you hear the full album, and that's fine.

Nope

The title track literally blows every other song here out of the water

Better than Coldplay

This lady loves cool James - the whole album is a lot of fun and the title track is an all-timer.

I didn’t like the previous Cool J album I got on this list. And as for this one I can’t even give it an honest review since I couldn’t find the full album. 6/10 because I enjoyed what I managed to find.

Another album on this list which is just too long for its own good. I thought I was going to love this album, but then more and more disappointing tracks showed up. The tracks I liked I really liked, but a lot of this album was a slog.

It is a fun and unapologetic collection of songs from rap extraordinaire LL Cool J. While undeniably the role that LL Cool J had in rap's infancy, it does suffer a bit from being dated and repetitive.

7/10 [DROP]

This is album is mid and dated

Pre Listen:
Eh, not feeling the album cover on this one. Looks kinda lame. Expecting mid-tier rap, but I have been wrong before, so who knows.

Notable Tracks:
Eat 'Em Up L Chill - Least favorite song on the album. The refrain is lame as shit, the lyrics boringly self-congratulatory, beat is bland.
Cheesy Rat Blues - My favorite song on the album. Weirdly funky, and funny lyrics. I know people like Cheesy Rat in real life!
Farmers' Blvd - If the concept of this song is legit, I really dig that. Going back to the old neighborhood to give you pals a shot in the light is respectable as fuck.
Milky Cereal - An entire song with cereal allegories? Very creative, very bold, very nice.

Post Listen:
I was wrong. That rap was pretty aight.

The B-Side of this album was strong as hell, carried this thing from a 2 or 3 right up to a 4. Huge shoutout to the DJ they got making these beats, they were clean as fuck. The sample work was good too, never got tiring or annoying across the board, showed restraint in most songs. The lyrics ranged from a little boring to pretty damn creative.

Enjoyed this a lot more than anticipated. Putting them right next to Public Enemy, 4/5.

I understand some of the negative reviews. But sometimes you just had to be there. It was a cultural moment. LL, Marley Marl, Herc, and the rest are still cited as key influences on just about every successful hip hop album in the past 35 years. It sounds like 1990 in every best way.

Ladies love cool James

As a small child I was wildly delighted whenever my older sister would sing “Mama Said Knock You Out”. It was also cool years later when Samoa Joe used it as his ROH entrance theme.

This is a classic for a reason. The only real knock on the album is LL just annoys the fuck out of me. I grew up in the MTV era and anytime his songs come on all I can see is him incessantly licking his lips, flexing and over emoting everything.