LL Cool J

Ever since "I Can't Live Without My Radio" floated into the Zeitgeist in 1985, L.L. Cool J has
been a superstar. L.L.'s tension-filled performance was so breath-takingly powerful and
sexy that few rappers have ever equaled it. Not even L.L. Eight years later, L.L. fans still
love the predictable package of machismo, seductive funk, light humor and urban
spirituality he consistently delivers. So his fifth album, 14 Shots to the Dome, wo... More >

Proof we didn't need that his talent is as phat as an elefant's phart and his brain is the size of a pea. Only it isn't his brain--it's his ability to comprehend contradiction. Like Michael Ivey, of all people, he flunked his follow-up because he can't figure out how to put success and rap together. Where Ivey (or the Basehead "character," ha ha) takes his dorky confusion out on women, L.L.'s sexism is love-man suave--his "It's so relaxin'" after a piece of pussy gets off in the back of his Jeep is a rare moment of grace. Instead he slings the gangsta metaphors and handgun memories in the vain hope that the guys hanging out by the check-cashing place will think he's hard. But from the look of the crotch he's grabbing in several photos, as of now he just ain't. (Grade - B)