L.L. Cool J was seventeen when Radio <\/i>was released. It was a hit. Despite the album\u2019s success, you might be surprised when you listen to it. Strip away as much as you can from the genre of rap, and you\u2019re left with what this album offers: big beats and big delivery from the emcee. When I first heard this album, I was fascinated by its simplicity (a line on the back of the album even says \u201cReduced by Rick Rubin\u201d). But as I explored the ten tracks, sometimes it seemed like I didn\u2019t have much to listen to. The album is historically important, but I am glad rap has transcended this sound in multiple ways. <\/p>\n
Still, it\u2019s difficult not to appreciate what L.L. accomplished as a teenager. Among other achievements, Radio <\/i>features the first rap ballads, \u201cI Can Give You More\u201d and \u201cI Want You.\u201d Just don\u2019t expect anything resembling traditional ballads or even contemporary rap ballads like Lil Wayne\u2019s \u201cComfortable.\u201d \u201cI Can Give You More\u201d in particular has a beat that you would not associate with tenderness, and its truncated piano riff is creepy. Lyrically, L.L. favors confidence over sweetness: \u201cYou\u2019re the goddess of light, the queen of seduction \/ You won\u2019t get used if you follow my instructions \/ Just grab my hand, feel the sweat on my palm \/ Make love to a man and not a cheap Don Juan.\u201d <\/p>\n
On other songs, L.L. is a funny trash-talker. \u201cYou Can\u2019t Dance\u201d is L.L.\u2019s critique of a \u201chomeboy\u201d who doesn\u2019t know how to move: \u201cYou live in a Can\u2019t Dance house \/ Went out with a Can\u2019t Dance car \/ Your doofy Can\u2019t Dance father \/ Got drunk in a Can\u2019t Dance bar.\u201d In \u201cDear Yvette,\u201d he roasts a promiscuous girl from his high school: \u201cI\u2019m glad you ain\u2019t my sister \u2013 then again if you was \/ I\u2019d have to treat you like you was my distant cuz.\u201d Later in the song, you learn that L.L. is more or less baffled at how Yvette could allow her reputation to be that horrible. This particular diss song is backed only by a beat: no samples, no solos, nothing else. <\/p>\n
The few samples on the album are brief and could not be described as melodic; rather, they accentuate the rhythm of the songs. Hell, I had no idea \u201cOwner Of A Lonely Heart\u201d by Yes was sampled on \u201cThat\u2019s A Lie\u201d until I read about it. <\/p>\n
Rubin\u2019s production \u2013 uh, reduction \u2013 doesn\u2019t hide anything. The beats are humongous and clear, and any small detail, such as a handclap, is instantly noticeable. \u201cI Can\u2019t Live Without My Radio,\u201d the opening track, demonstrates this characteristic of the album very well. <\/p>\n
Radio <\/i>can be quite enjoyable, but I had to keep history and L.L.\u2019s age in mind. That\u2019s not to say you have to go easy on the album to enjoy it, but it is different than any rap I\u2019ve heard. What L.L. and Rubin managed to do with so little demands respect. You\u2019re not going to count samples or guest appearances. This is raw shit. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":30131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[8485],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-41770","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-ll-cool-j","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41770"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41770"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}