LL Cool J – Radio (November 18, 1985)

Posted on 11/04/2010 by deedub77

Radio marks the beginning of the musical career of James Todd Smith, also known to most of the world as LL Cool J (an acronym for Ladies Love Cool James).  If you’ve never heard of this emcee you’re either a monk, or were born deaf and blind.  While many associate Run-DMC’s Run-DMC as the first Def Jam release (when in fact Run-DMC has never released an album on the Def-Jam label), Radio is the first pillar laid to construct the hip-hop empire known as Def-Jam.

A young (he was sixteen upon the album’s release) and hungry LL takes care of the microphone, while Rick Rubin handles the production duties for the entirety of Radio.  Radio was also rewarded a belated “Source 5 mic status” in 2002.  I was only 7 years old when this album came out in 1985, and while I do remember the singles (i.e. “Rock The Bells” and “Radio”), this is my first time listening to Radio in its entirety, which might be a good thing, since nostalgia can sometimes stand in the way of an unbiased opinion.

Radio – Ah, just how I remember it… raw beat with a fresh, young and hungry LL yelling over it.  Nice to see Cut Creator get some love with a scratching solo in the middle of the song (I just saw him on the Monique show the other night. You have to give Monique props for her support of old school music)  Even though it felt like LL spit 20 verses this was still enjoyable.

You Can’t Dance – Mr. Rubin’s beat leaves a lot to be desired. Not even LL’s booming vocal and delivery could save this song.

Dear Yvette – An ode to Yvette, the neighborhood gardening tool.  The “elevator pro” once got down on a motorcycle?  Wow, what you got on that, Humpty? LL’s storytelling was pretty entertaining but unfortunately the instrumental was a mess.

I Can Give You More – The first attempt at a love rap from the young Mr. Smith. It might have worked if the beat didn’t sound like a Casio keyboard version of a Sherlock Holmes like jingle.  Absolutely nothing about the track screams love or romance.  On second thought, the instrumental sucks and so does everything else about this song. Later in his career, LL would master the art or the love rap (if you want to call it an art), while reaping from it financially and extending his rap career longer that it ever should have lasted.

Dangerous – Similar to “Jam Master Jay” from Run DMC’s debut, LL lyrically praises his legendary DJ Cut Creator.  As his “record revolves, deejays dissolve”, love that line. Although the beat is very simple, lyrically LL shines through.

Three The Hard Way – This short interlude (also known as El Shabazz) is a hidden accapella freestyle, featuring LL and, El Shabazz (I think?). Other than recognizing a portion of the lyrics sampled on Gang Starr’s “Flip the Script” this was pretty useless.

Rock The Bells – You’ll recognize the intro which was later sampled in his mega hit “Momma Said Knock You Out”.  This still sounds pretty good today.

I Need A Beat – LL sounds decent on the mic, but the instrumental manages to be overly simplistic and doing way too much, simultaneously.

That’s A Lie – We get a chance to hear a young Russell Simmons on this record.  LL’s flow sounds sloppy and uninspired.  This reeks of sounding like something Run DMC would have done, and that’s not a compliment.

You’ll Rock –  LL sounds good behind the mic but the instrumental is boring. I’m starting to sound like a broken record.

I Want You – Once again Cool James makes an attempt at a love rap.  While not as bad as his earlier attempt on “I Can Give You More”, it still doesn’t work. But if first you don’t succeed try and try again, I guess.  Will he get it right on his next album?  Stay tuned. Oh by the way, this was a terrible way to end the album.

Similar to Run DMC’s debut, the production on Radio leaves a lot to be desired. LL sounds as hungry as pastor coming off a 2 weeks fast, unfortunately the instrumentals gave him nothing to feast on.  I have a feeling I’m going to struggle with a lot of these mid 80’s hip-hop albums as the production had yet to develop that umph that it would a few years down the line.

Did The Source Get It Right: I think I already answered that in the previous sentences. If The Source’s evaluation of Radio took place upon its release, I might understand a 5 mic rating, strictly based on what LL’s contemporaries had released up to this point. But to evaluate it fifteen years later and still consider it a masterpiece is absolutely insane. Not only is it not a classic, it’s not even LL’s best body of work.

-Deedub

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Run-DMC – Run-DMC (March 27, 1984)

Posted on 10/24/2010 by deedub77

Let me start out by saying the graphic spelling of the group’s name (and album title) on the album cover has to be the most generic and pathetic graphic I’ve ever seen.  I realize it was done in ’84, but there were several talented graffiti artist who could have lended a hand and done a quality job. Now that I got that off my chest, lets move on.

Run DMC is the self titled debut album from the Legendary trio from Queens, NY.  Run-DMC consisted of lead emcee Run/DJ Run, now known as Rev Run, (also younger brother to hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, and better known to readers under the age of 21 as the dad on his reality tv series Run’s House), his microphone partner DMC (check out “Hollis Crew” for more on the acronym that makes up his alias), and the legendary DJ Jam Master Jay (RIP). This is where the collective begin their mission to become the first outright hip-hop pop superstars. Russell Simmons and Larry Smith would be responsible for the bulk of the production on the album.

The Source magazine, which at one time was considered the hip-hop bible before the ruthless take over of the evil Benzino, would rate albums on a scale of 1 to 5  (1 meaning terrible and 5 meaning masterpiece/classic).  Instead of using stars, The Source staff was witty enough to substitute stars with microphones. This rating system didn’t go into effect until 1990, so in 2002 The Source went back and reviewed and rated all the albums released before 1990 that their staff considered to be masterpieces and gave them a 5 mic rating.  Run DMC is the oldest album in that bunch to receive a retro 5 mic rating. I will add a short segment to each album review that received a 5 microphone rating called Did The Source Get It Right?  at the end of each album review (yes, even the 5 mic ratings that were given during the evil reign of Benzino).

Did The Source Get It Right?  Is Run DMC even worth a listen?  Come on, you at least have to listen to it once for the historical value alone.

Hard Times – This is a song about struggle, or just an acknowledgement of the necessity of money, it’s all about perspective. By ’84 standards the instrumental is decent enough, I guess. In ’84 I’m sure Run and DMC’s rhymes were state of the art, now they simply sound dated.  This was definitely recorded before it became standard for hip-hop artists to use the 16 bar verse format to shorten songs in an attempt to get more radio spins, as Run and D’s verses tend to run on forever.

Rock Box – I love this instrumental, specifically the guitar licks. Run and D both sound fresh and youthful.  D’s line about someone “taking the emcee test and failing” is pretty hilarious. What kind of questions would one find on this mythical test? Even better question:what kind of questions would one find on this test in 1984?

Jam Master Jay – The duo pay homage to their deejay. Decent song for what it is.

Hollis Crew – The instrumental sounds a lot like the one used on “Jam Master Jay” with a slightly different tempo.  DMC felt it necessary to let the listener know before taking on the stellar alias he currently uses, he once went by Easy D.  Before you start cracking dirty jokes about the name, he quickly explains it’s because rapping came so easy to him.  He also explains what DMC stands for and the meaning of the “M” in that acronym is redonkulous.

Sucker M.C.’s – Okay.  Maybe I’m loosing my mind but this instrumental sounds suspiciously similar to the one used on the two previous songs. Since this was 1984 and hip-hop music was still finding it’s self, I’ll show some grace.  Every time I hear this song it reminds me of the scene from Boyz N’ The Hood where Tre, Ricky, and Doughboy have a run in with the “neighborhood thugs”, who happen to be playing this song on their boombox as Doughboy gets his ass kicked.  The infamous emcee test is mentioned again, this time by Run, who claims he took the test and got an “A” for amazing.  Corny much.  Run’s first verse will probably sound familiar to most as different segments of it have been rehashed in other hip-hop songs through the years.  Even with the recycled instrumental this was an enjoyable listen.

It’s Like That – Now our Queens buddies recycle the instrumental used on “Hard Times” (give me a break).  Apparently this instrumental brought out the “consciousness” in the duo since both songs deal with social ills. Not a great song by any stretch of the imagination, but not a complete waste of time either.

30 Days – The synthesizer effect at the beginning almost makes you believe this is a  completely original instrumental.  Then Run starts his first verse and the cats out the bag: it’s the same frickin’ drum beat that was used on “Wake Up”.  DMC boats he has a 50 rating as an emcee but fails to mention on what the scale is. If we’re talking a scale of 1 to 100, 50 is not too hot, son.  The song overall was average.

Jay’s Game – Back in ’84 the deejay got a lot more respect on hip-hop albums then they do now.  It was nice to see the duo render center stage to the legendary deejay as he cuts it up using a few sound bites from Run and D.  This was a decent way to end the album.

Back in 1984 I’m sure Run DMC was the joint, but in 2010 much of the album sounds dated.  A couple of really good songs (“Rock Box” and “Sucker M.C.’s”) and a bunch of mediocre songs makes for a difficult listen in its entirety.  Run shows signs of the more developed emcee he would blossom into, and DMC, is, DMC.  I still want to see the results on his emcee exam.

Did The Source Get It Right?  Nope.  There are a few solid songs on Run DMC but the bulk of it ranges from mediocre to down right skippable. What’s your opinion? Hit me up in the comment section.

-Deedub

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hello world!

Posted on 10/24/2010 by deedub77

My name is Deedub, and I am a hip-hop addict.  I fell in love with hip-hop back during the golden age of hip-hop (early nineties), and over the years I’ve compiled a pretty sizable cd collection.  Lately I’ve been listening (and longing) for the the old school and have decided to chronologically listen and review each album in my collection.  Since I’m an avid collector and my collection is always growing, I will occasionally break the chrono order when applicable.  Yes, I know I’m missing some key pieces and my collection is nowhere near complete, but hopefully you’ll enjoy my commentary, discover a hidden gem, or help me discover something new.  Let’s go!

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