LL Cool J

With his classic debut album, (and the first full-length released by Def Jam), hip-hop pioneer LL Cool J became a full-blown rap superstar. Backed by chunky '80s beats courtesy of ultra-producer Rick Rubin, Uncle L comes through with timeless mega-hits such as "I Can't Live Without My Radio" and "Rock The Bells."

The hipsters got hipped to L.L. Cool J, the seventeen-year-old from Queens, New York,
when his insistent "I Can't Live Without My Radio" rocked the movie Krush Groove. Banging
and clapping and squealing with hiphop rhythms, the song is a forceful defense of those
gargantuan cassette players that torment subway riders: both a funny and a defiant theme.
"Walking down the street to the hardcore beat/While my JVC vibrates the concr... More >

Rick Rubin's thwonging minimalism and Cool J's proud polysyllables are fresh, def, and so forth. From the daring little piano hook of "I Can Give You More" to Russell Simmons's motormouth prevarications on "That's a Lie" to the humble love-man details of "I Want You," this is the most engaging and original rap album of the year. But the post-Run-D.M.C. school does betray a penchant for what you might call bourgeois individualism. Laying off messages is one thing, but the Hollis crew rarely projects much community or solidarity either. Which sometimes leaves a solo artist alone with his DJ and his fine self. (Grade - B+)