Mr. Smith [PA] - LL Cool J

After a short break, taking the time to take on a few film roles, the New York rapper LL Cool J brought the eponymous “Mr. Smith” as his 1995 album. After having undergone a major change in 1990 with “Mama Said Knock You Out” and continuing this through with the album after it, on his sixth (of 13 he was contracted to fulfil with Def Jam Records when he became their first artist) he made another major turn as he could refine the early ‘Ballad Rap ...
...came with Gangsta Rap for some sensual material that he would pioneer.

1. “The Intro”

2. “Make It Hot”

As the Trackmasters take over the production., they come with a fresh little joint to get the listeners grooving to set the album up in a nice way, giving listeners an idea of how he is moving on his music here as he gets into one where he pulls through with the light, material that is geared for the girls ... more

After a short break, taking the time to take on a few film roles, the New York rapper LL Cool J brought the eponymous “Mr. Smith” as his 1995 album. After having undergone a major change in 1990 with “Mama Said Knock You Out” and continuing this through with the album after it, on his sixth (of 13 he was contracted to fulfil with Def Jam Records when he became their first artist) he made another major turn as he could refine the early ‘Ballad Rap (or Love Rap) for the girls, to the trends that came with Gangsta Rap for some sensual material that he would pioneer.

1. “The Intro”

2. “Make It Hot”

As the Trackmasters take over the production., they come with a fresh little joint to get the listeners grooving to set the album up in a nice way, giving listeners an idea of how he is moving on his music here as he gets into one where he pulls through with the light, material that is geared for the girls and sees him trying out some new things in his flows to show massive progression from him in the way he would go on to explore further.

**Four Stars**

3. “Hip Hop”

Here he performs a track where he simply gets into the sorts of things that came with his debut album, in which he was able to speak on his journey with Hip Hop (which was only in its sixth year at the time). However, here he is able to talk on its significance, at a time where he can say that it certainly isn’t going to remain as a potential passing fad style. It is a bit plain to say how much it means to him, but it is still one of the better ones.

**Four Stars**

4. “Hey Lover”

As the artist moves in to get down on this one, he has to change his approach somewhat in order to get the desired effect as he attempts to do a sort of modern version of “I Need Love”, where he does things as a much more mature persona and musician to come out with a killer slow jam as he collaborates with Boyz II Men as he samples a little Michael Jackson to come out with the best results.

**Four Stars**

5. “Doin’ It”

From low tempo track to another, in this case the desired effect is a completely different as you see that here you have him getting into the sort of thing that most know him for in his later work where he performs the seductive and sensual track as he works alongside the female rapper LeShaun as they simply get it on. It was the best single for me and it its hard on the record as he shows where Hip Hop can go with a banger of a tune.

**Five Stars**

6. “Life As...”

As he gets Easy Be Mo (the one who produced lots of material for The Notorious B.I.G, you seem to have LL taking on Biggie’s hardcore style and delivery approach to get down to things and come out with a track that doesn’t really suit LL’s style, but it seems to hit hard here as the rapper shows just how versatile he is and what he is able to achieve (even when it doesn’t really suit his general style much).

**Four Stars**

7. “I Shot Ya”

The track prior to this one seems to act as a transitional one when you consider what you get from this one as he comes with perhaps the best example of his Gangsta Rap phase as he comes with some rough rhymes which carry through the things which came through in the track prior to it to support him and push him through before he comes through with this killer jam where he let’s people know what he’s (alleged to be) capable of.

**Four Stars**

8. “Mr. Smith”

With Chyskillz on the production, this one sees the rapper coming through with the titular track to the album and it features some heavy beats to give him what he needs to come out with even more of the heavy material that has come through on the album. I felt that this side of him was wearing a little thin by this time as the way he flows just doesn’t seem right, so by this point it seems to lose its fun.

**Three Stars**

9. “No Airplay”

Chad Elliot gets on the beats for this one, and so after a short skit you find that you get a tune which carries through all of the power in the production and in this case translates it into a well-rounded tune that has him making full use of his lyrical skills and doesn’t have him posing in the way that he was earlier. It has a nice concept to it, but it is relevant to his music at all as he raps n hardcore rap that can’t get airplay (due to its references) but with hi coming through with “I Need Love” as his breakthrough, you can’t say that this suits who he is as a musician.

**Four Stars**

10. “Lougin’”

This was a big tune on the album and it seems to really stand out on the record as you see that he gets on top of Al B Sure!’s “Nite & Day” and comes through with a tune which refers to the how he is able to treat the girls that he’s with to some much lighter beats to get back to the sorts of thigns that really stay true to what he is actually about. I felt that he went on the perfect sample and a good composition was built around the original classic slow jam.

**Five Stars**

11. “Hollis To Hollywood”

This is a fly tune on the record and one that has the rapper coming through with a tune which has him initially pushing out all of the newcomers in the Hip Hop world to enable him to get a chance to burst out to come through with some rhymes which reflect just how well he is able to work when he ensures that his lyrics are pack with complexity. It stands out and it has him showing that he has actually got the skills to back up the lighter tunes.

**Five Stars**

12. “God Bless”

Working off the Audio Two’s botched “Impeach The President break (that they used in their hit “Top Billin’” this one has LL performing a tune on the album that does nothing whatsoever. I thought that it was just a straight waste of time and one that has no purpose whatsoever. It’s composition is far too cluttered and it just isn’t have any ort of flow to it, so you don’t notice its even happening until you here the hook.

**One Star**

13. “Get Da Drop On ‘Em”

As the Trackmasters get on the beats, they manage to save things here and get back on track as he performs a tune that seems to support the way that Hip Hop was working (or working towards) at the time as it sounds like the sorts of East coast club bangers that would have blazed through a couple of years later, but in an experimental period and so it doesn’t quite hit as hard, but has something going for it.

**Four Stars**

14. “Prelude”

15. “I Shot Ya” (Remix)

Here he comes through with a remix to the first single from the album (oddly choosing the one single that was unable to chart on the Billboard Hot 200), but I felt that this didn’t really matter as it was still a good one and the perfect one to turn into a posse cut as he gets a god range of MCs (Foxy Brown, Prodigy, Fat Joe and Keith Murray) to lend their rhymes on it as a final offering on the album.

**Four Stars**

This isn’t one of LL’s better albums and it sees that he tries far too many things on this occasion and only really comes through on a few individual tracks. He shows that he has got strong lyrics, but only for a few tunes, and so it doesn’t really show that he has got what is need in this phase of Hip Hop (the mid-nineties) but the slower cuts did show that he has got to the stage where he can create those effortlessly and deliver each time.
 

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