That album was a snooze fest musically
LL Cool J ''THE FORCE'' Discussion Thread
- Thread starter BK The Great
- Start date
That album was a snooze fest musically
I think it had more to do with the “box” that early rappers were put in than shame for the title of “rapper” itself. If a rapper got too big and crossed over he was a sellout. MC Hammer literally was a victim of his own success, the culture allowed two white boys to call out MC HAMMER for being successful. Some saw an album like It Was Written as a “sellout” effort (as ridiculous as that seems today) Will Smith initially got hate for starring in Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I think that rappers transitioning into calling themselves “moguls” and “businessmen” was a way of buffering against that stagnant crabs-in-a-barrel mindset. And for better or worse it morphed into the “I’m not a rapper, i’m a hustler” mindset.
It’s pros and cons to it. LL diversified his bonds more successfully than probably any rapper not named Will Smith or Queen Latifah while retaining his musical credibility (due to never backing down from a public battle) but not everybody had the talent, charisma, and team to pull that off.
Can't go digging for lyrics now, but Ice-T and Too Short for sure said shyt like this too.
Spidey Man
Superstar
Speaking directly to Hov and Andre. Hov needs to carve out a few days to hop in the studio with Just, and Andre can leave his flute at home next time he hangs out with big boi.
Prolific_1011
All Star
Love the album. Production is refreshing, and LL still has one of the dopest voices and deliveries in Hip Hop.
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Piff Perkins
Veteran
I get why some people might dislike the production but I love it. It's throwback but not in a way people might expect. It's not Tribe meets 80s/90s Def Jam. It's throwback as in like...1970s shyt, but not a lot of soul samples. Recognized the Gary Numan sample on Proclivities. You can hear 70s Herbie Hancock on there, and Can. I don't remember the last time I heard a Can sample on a rap song. Gotta be something after Kanye did it on Graduation but I don't remember. Point being a lot of this feels like the type of shyt someone might have listened to in the lead up towards rap being invented/acknowledged.
No one raps like LL. His voice is distinct and full of a bravado and masculinity these mumble rappers should aspire to.
areohbee824
Superstar
Love this album. Got a vinyl of it, and it already shipped out
Awesome Wells
The Ghost of Jack Tripper
Well, in Ice's cases, he really was a pimp and hustler. HAHA!
He really was selling and had ho*s out there on the block. So I never had an issue with him saying it. He was just telling the truth, lol. But a lot of these other dudes are just frontin'.
The names being mentioned in here weren’t fronting though, Camron, Yo Gotti, Jay-Z really moved weight.
Awesome Wells
The Ghost of Jack Tripper
I'm talking while doing music. Cam ain't never been like that.
And Hov wasn't doing it while he was making music. Ice was doing both while on TV with videos and still had girls on the block bringing him money. He was making more money from pimping and selling than he was from music for the first few years of his career. Guys like Hov left it behind to do music. So it's a little different.
OG Talk
Archived
Excellent album. Especially when you consider LL is almost 60. Rakim, KRS, Kane, Cube.. What yall got?
Spidey Man
Superstar
Rakim owes us for that compilation album he put out. I would also love a Kane album. Unless Dre is producing Cube's album he could stay home. I don't want to hear that new age Cube, and KRS has never stopped putting out albums.