Ladies’ Love Cool James – Imagine That
Back in the eighties, when most of us hadn’t even heard about fat beats and lyrics in (our) common sense, back in the eighties, when the first wave of oldschool rap and hip hop just was going to give some titbits of the culture that would become an important part of our life some years later, back then, James T. Smith has already been in the game. James T. Smith aka Ladies’ Love Cool James aka LL Cool J, started rocking the bells in 1984 when he, “young legend in leather”, acclaimed “I need a Beat”. From then on, hip hop developed, became bigger and bigger and also more commercial, but LL just stayed on the scene. Nowadays’ artists might come and then go as fast as they came, LL managed to be always in the heads of the crowd. He really was one of the first. LL has never gone less than gold on any of his eight album projects. The 31-year old St. Albans, Queens native is also the first rap artist to amass six consecutive platinum-plus selling albums and six gold singles. But then, after his last album effort in 1997, “Phenomenon”, there was a big silence. Young upcoming rappers like Canibus even ought to diss LL, and there was no real answer. I mean, everybody heard that Canibus disstrack, but we all expected just more, just a real answer…

But now, in 2000, everything is different: LL Cool J, the man since 1984, is back, with his ninth record called “G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Times)”. And there was only one question: will this record be as dope as the promising title tells u s? Well, I mean, yes!

LL just mobilised an armada of great Emcees and producers to make this project the best of all times. The album is still typical LL-style, also the beats remind us of older LL projects (it’s really “something like a phenomenon”, LL is probably the only rapper with beats you can already imagine the thongs in the videos when you hear the track for the first time!). See, Mr. Smith just has also some really new influences on his record, but one thing you can’t change: LL always was LL and will always be LL – whether you like it or not. And just by listening to his lyrics, you will find several parts where he kicks everything back to Canibus…

We start into the game with the intro followed by the first single of the album called “Imagine That”. L’s “bedtime (or often not bed) stories”-lyrics pick up where his rhyme ended on Montell Jordan’s “Get It On Tonite (Remix)”. The track is produced by Rockwilder – typical kind of beat. Remember Method’s and Red’s “Rockwild”? You’ll recognize the similar drum set. We go on with “Back where I belong” featuring Ja Rule who assists for the hook with his raunchy (raspy)voice, he gives the track a naughtier and harder note. “LL Cool J”, produced by DJ Scratch, another club-banger that makes chicks bounce. After “Take It Off” we come to “Fuhgidaboudit” feat. the dynamic duo Redman and Method Man. This one could also have been found on a Method or Redman record, it’s never a bad idea taking those two weed heads as guests – they once again show the world what the term flow is all about. The next track we have to mention is “Hello”, a track that reminds us of LL Cool J’s last album “Phenomenon”: a female voice in the background and the LL almost whispering his verses makes ladies panties wet in the club. We just go on with other tracks before we come to “U Can’t F**k with Me” feat. Snoop Dogg, Xzibit and Jayo Felony. Another burner with a slow beat, Xzibit makes any critic be quiet (as usual), Snoop Dogg shows us what we have to wait for till “The Last Meal” is released, and Jayo Felony isn’t worse either. A couple of tracks just round this record off.

In my eyes, this record is cool . LL Cool J is an emcee that managed to be one of the first and to be still on top nowadays, 16 years later. G.O.A.T. is a very versatile, entertaining record. You won’t find any really bad track, but the mixture is ideal on this one: some bouncy, raunchy tracks made for the female hip hop fans as we know them from the former LL records, but also some new-inspired and experimental tracks which all succeed. What the album lacks of is this real burner in a rough way, there are a lot of cool tracks bouncing, but no one is really burning like a flamethrower. This record alone doesn’t make LL Cool J the Greatest Of All Time, though it’s one of the best records of this year, but regarding Mr. Smith’s career, he is really (one of) the greatest. (Emm)