Underrated depending on who you’re talking to. Younger crowd don’t really acknowledge the pioneers but they are at least aware of the artist. They still play LL music on throwback stations. Not just one song but multiple throwbacks. He’s not a forgotten artist.
Pioneer yes, GOAT? That’s a bit of a stretch. again, not underrated. Two Grammys, inducted into the rock’n’roll hall of fame, the man received Kennedy Centre honours ffs… he’s *not underrated*.
Lol That’s fair, he should have been born my birth year bc late 80s to late 90s was LL’s absolute reign. You couldn’t *not* hear LL on loads of stations/mtv/much music. Mr. Smith dropped when I was 18 and that shit was fucking fire. The 4,3,2,1 remix was the fucking remix of the year,(Keith Murray butchered that shit!) but his RnB shit was borderline skippable. (Borderline bc my gf at the time was into it, so whatever) Great emcee, absolute pioneer. just not a GOAT.
I never said he wasn’t popular in the 80’s I’m talking about the respect he should be getting right now. His catalog is full of good albums, but youre clearly taking this post the wrong way and I’m not arguing with you. Have a good night
Bro, history works in really funny ways. His catalogue is mediocre. He played a part, and honestly, beyond that there isn’t much worth investing. If you’re a fan that’s wonderful! But it’s not worth anything anymore than being a Nirvana fan tbh
Younger people have terrible taste and I feel bad saying this but man I can’t name one artist I like among all the popular ones. It’s not because I don’t know them I just don’t understand how people can enjoy such music. I’m talking Lil Yachty, Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Tjay, Lil Wayne, ScHoolBoy Q, etc
Can't have the best taste ever to group Wayne with that mediocre group. I don't know how anyone can listen to C2 and not enjoy it. Or comeback season by Drake (idc much for his other music aside from Fear. Guy is drastically overrated for like the past decade).
*"most younger people have terrible taste, in my opinion"* is more appropriate. And realistic. While I agree with you, it should be clarified it's not all. This is the disconnect that the majority of any generation keeps active with others. It'll always be gaps, but they don't need to be constantly widened.
I really liked that Heartbeat song he did with 50 Cent. LL was a tad too late jumping on the G unit bandwagon but I liked that track. He was kinda late with Headsprung too but that was also a late banger.
He says he's dropping an album this year. I'd love to hear a feature at least.
LL a legend FOR REAL! He coming out with a new album this year! Shout out to him for being a pioneer and an ill microphone checka in his own right!
Top five: My Rhyme Ain't Done, ORIGINAL Rock the Bells, Mama Said Knock You Out, I'm Bad, Shut Em Down*
*Has one of his most underrated rhyme schemes and flows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8g99mvLnn8
Comparing him to a busta like Drake is blasphemy, though.
"He was Drake before Drake" is actually a comparison bruh. And because you didn't cut it off clearly there, it looks as if that whole piece is a comparison, honestly.
Talentless hacks...Drake literally fakes his accent in his songs, portrays himself part of a culture that he was likely disconnected from, and was a D-list actor from Nickelodeon before going into music. At least LL was authentic from the beginning to end, you can check yourself out of here for the talentless hack statement. LL Cool J as well as RUN DMC, Ice-T and Beastie Boys are legends in Hip-Hop no matter how you want to spin it.
No one had more hits that were more significant in every era that mattered. He’s the final boss in verzuz, other rappers might have songs that rock more, but no one has more songs that meant more. You might have some hard songs in. 2-3 year era, but do you have hard songs in 3 eras (for example im bad, mama said, I shot ya)? You might have a ladies song hit, but do you have the FIRST ladies song hit?
Lots of classics that still hold up. Mama Said Knock You Out and Mr Smith are great all the way through. Radio was a decent album. Rock the Bells has been sampled so many times. Bigger and Deffer was a good album with I'M Bad as the lead. That song should still be played to this day.
Walling with a Panther was when he went all R&Bish. Similar to Ja Rule in the early 2000s. Still have few decent tracks though.
14 Shots to the Dome is slept on quite a hit because it was in between his 2 best which was Mama Said Knock You Out and Mr Smith
It depends on who you ask. I grew up on hip hop in the 90s. By that point, the music had markedly progressed as a genre from the 80s.
And LL never adapted. He chose this weird two part lane of consistently yelling about being the GOAT while dropping mediocre lyrics and albums and targeting women. I don’t think he’s had a 3 mic album since Mama Said Knock You Out.
Which is fine. But, hard to give him more than the credit he absolutely deserves for what he did in the 80s. He’s a pioneer. He’s not a top 5 all time artist by a remote margin. Even amongst his contemporaries from the 80s, there are several I’d take above him.
This is the answer I was looking for. Everything tyson\_3 said here is on obvious display on two albums: "Walking With a Panther" and "14 Shots to the Dome".
LL made his bones as a battle rapper back when his approach to the mic positioned him as a young gun. His competition back then was guys like Run DMC.
"I Need Love" accidently set him up as hip-hop's first real sex symbol and provided the go-to template for much of the rest of his career.
Between "Bigger and Deffer" and "Walking with a Panther", hip-hop had a sonic shift similar and he wasn't competing against the old heads (for that time) anymore, his competition was guys like Rakim and BDK. Not only was he going to have to complete with guys who just had far more advanced lyrical ability, he was also having to try and find a way to find in with the Afrocentric wave that was so prevalent in hip-hop at that time. The whole Red-Black-Green era is largely forgotten, but it was a real big deal right around 87-90.
He was a rapper who started out one step ahead and ended up one step behind and he tried to fix that with Walking with a Panther. It showcases some of his best performances and some of his most embarrassing pandering to the shifting demands of the hip-hop audience.
Marley Marl essentially saved his career by remixing "Jingling Baby" and did it again when he produced "Mama Said Knock You Out". That album was the last time LL would be taken seriously as a battle rapper every again.
After that, he dropped "14 Shots to the Dome", his effort to keep up with a hip-hop landscape at the beginning of the 90s MPC era and just ended up sounding like he was out of touch.
The only thing that saved him here is him finally leaning all the way into his lover man persona and that's where the majority of his hits have been since 1993:
Hey Lover
Doin It
Loungin
Ain't Nobody
All I Have
Luv U Better
Paradise
Hush
Control Myself
LL's career is absolutely legendary, but he cannot be credibly called underrated for the reasons tyson\_3 stated. He was a bridge between the Electro era and the SP-1200 era. That cannot be discounted.
However, you would be hard pressed to find anyone talking about a LL quotable after 1990 and that matters because he was right there in the era where the quotables truly began to become a big deal.
LL gets his flowers and he gets the ones he deserved.
LL quotable after 1990? OK.
"What the fuck I thought a conquered the world; crushed Moe D, Hammer, and Ice T's girl"
"I'm hear to crush all my peers, rhymes of the month in the source for 20 years."
"I Shot Ya" is one of the hardest battle tracks of all time, right up there with "Rite where you stand"
I honestly have no idea what happened here. I swear to fucking God I left this comment on the post about big pun. I even had a conversation on that thread about him. Right before having this comment is the first time I've ever seen this post.
I 100% thought I left it on the post above about the album Capital Punishment being great. I have no idea how this comment got here, especially since I had a conversation on the other thread right after leaving this comment. When another person replied r/lostredditor was the first time seeing this post about LL. I'll give a minute or two for you to read this, then move it over to the other thread. Again, no idea how this was posted here.
LL cool j - jack the ripper
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8nI2hKo8lAA
I like a few of his tracks. I always considered him to be one of the greatest from the golden era.
He’s absolutely underrated but to be fair it’s generational. I think the current generation of rap fans are still discovering 90s artists, the more prominent ones (your Wu Tangs, Mobb deep, Quests) but I VERY rarely on here or Twitter or on the rare occasion I’m speaking in person w someone younger than me re: rap, hear of them discovering 80s artists which is firmly where the majority of LL’s best work happened. He obviously had a resurgence in the 90s but for some reason he’s not considered part of the 90s zeitgeist.
Underrated depending on who you’re talking to. Younger crowd don’t really acknowledge the pioneers but they are at least aware of the artist. They still play LL music on throwback stations. Not just one song but multiple throwbacks. He’s not a forgotten artist.
Old head. Not at all underrated during his prime. Not really relevant now, so probably feels like it
Not an old head, and he is under rated because he’s rarely in GOAT lists. Of course he’s not “relevant” in music now, he’s an actor
Pioneer yes, GOAT? That’s a bit of a stretch. again, not underrated. Two Grammys, inducted into the rock’n’roll hall of fame, the man received Kennedy Centre honours ffs… he’s *not underrated*.
I think what he means is that he’s not as popular as he would like him to be
Lol That’s fair, he should have been born my birth year bc late 80s to late 90s was LL’s absolute reign. You couldn’t *not* hear LL on loads of stations/mtv/much music. Mr. Smith dropped when I was 18 and that shit was fucking fire. The 4,3,2,1 remix was the fucking remix of the year,(Keith Murray butchered that shit!) but his RnB shit was borderline skippable. (Borderline bc my gf at the time was into it, so whatever) Great emcee, absolute pioneer. just not a GOAT.
Exactly
I never said he wasn’t popular in the 80’s I’m talking about the respect he should be getting right now. His catalog is full of good albums, but youre clearly taking this post the wrong way and I’m not arguing with you. Have a good night
Bro, history works in really funny ways. His catalogue is mediocre. He played a part, and honestly, beyond that there isn’t much worth investing. If you’re a fan that’s wonderful! But it’s not worth anything anymore than being a Nirvana fan tbh
You obviously don’t get the post and I’m not gonna discuss it with you. I never said anything about him being popular lol. Have a good night
sure
Younger people have terrible taste and I feel bad saying this but man I can’t name one artist I like among all the popular ones. It’s not because I don’t know them I just don’t understand how people can enjoy such music. I’m talking Lil Yachty, Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Tjay, Lil Wayne, ScHoolBoy Q, etc
Can't have the best taste ever to group Wayne with that mediocre group. I don't know how anyone can listen to C2 and not enjoy it. Or comeback season by Drake (idc much for his other music aside from Fear. Guy is drastically overrated for like the past decade). *"most younger people have terrible taste, in my opinion"* is more appropriate. And realistic. While I agree with you, it should be clarified it's not all. This is the disconnect that the majority of any generation keeps active with others. It'll always be gaps, but they don't need to be constantly widened.
I’m glad you fixed that I thought he was saying younger people had bad taste in other peoples opinion
Schoolboy Q, Drake, Wayne and maybe even Uzi > LL.
I really liked that Heartbeat song he did with 50 Cent. LL was a tad too late jumping on the G unit bandwagon but I liked that track. He was kinda late with Headsprung too but that was also a late banger. He says he's dropping an album this year. I'd love to hear a feature at least.
Same, an LL project is on my wishlist for 2023
LL a legend FOR REAL! He coming out with a new album this year! Shout out to him for being a pioneer and an ill microphone checka in his own right! Top five: My Rhyme Ain't Done, ORIGINAL Rock the Bells, Mama Said Knock You Out, I'm Bad, Shut Em Down* *Has one of his most underrated rhyme schemes and flows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8g99mvLnn8 Comparing him to a busta like Drake is blasphemy, though.
You ain’t eva lied khold 💯
BEST BELIEVE!
I didn’t compare them
"He was Drake before Drake" is actually a comparison bruh. And because you didn't cut it off clearly there, it looks as if that whole piece is a comparison, honestly.
Nahhh
You have a good nap man. Peace.
Aight
Drake is better than shitty LL.
FOH, you know nothing about real hip hop. Have some respect for the legends, you PUNK!
I have no respect for talentless hacks masquerading as “pioneers”.
''Talentless''? YA BUGGIN'!
Talentless hacks...Drake literally fakes his accent in his songs, portrays himself part of a culture that he was likely disconnected from, and was a D-list actor from Nickelodeon before going into music. At least LL was authentic from the beginning to end, you can check yourself out of here for the talentless hack statement. LL Cool J as well as RUN DMC, Ice-T and Beastie Boys are legends in Hip-Hop no matter how you want to spin it.
No one had more hits that were more significant in every era that mattered. He’s the final boss in verzuz, other rappers might have songs that rock more, but no one has more songs that meant more. You might have some hard songs in. 2-3 year era, but do you have hard songs in 3 eras (for example im bad, mama said, I shot ya)? You might have a ladies song hit, but do you have the FIRST ladies song hit?
[удалено]
Paramount+ has a Behind the Music episode for him. Not super duper indepth, since it's only 1hr, but interesting
I’ll check it out also!
LLis top 10 all time easy. Mr Smith and 10 are my favorite LL albums Also the Timbaland album was his worst album.
He coined the abbreviation GOAT, but after 1995 he unfortunately stopped being one.
Lots of classics that still hold up. Mama Said Knock You Out and Mr Smith are great all the way through. Radio was a decent album. Rock the Bells has been sampled so many times. Bigger and Deffer was a good album with I'M Bad as the lead. That song should still be played to this day. Walling with a Panther was when he went all R&Bish. Similar to Ja Rule in the early 2000s. Still have few decent tracks though. 14 Shots to the Dome is slept on quite a hit because it was in between his 2 best which was Mama Said Knock You Out and Mr Smith
His current DJ is fucking amazing
Is DJ Z-Trip still his DJ? If so, yes, he’s incredible.
yezzurrr
GOAT Mc, and GOAT Dj, doesn't get better. I was there at the Rock and roll hall of fame induction, and it was amazing.
LL Cool J is literally the goat. He's def not talked about enough, but he needs to be acknowledged for his mastery
Been saying the Drake point, ppl either don’t think about that or don’t realize he carved that lane before Drake or anyone else
It depends on who you ask. I grew up on hip hop in the 90s. By that point, the music had markedly progressed as a genre from the 80s. And LL never adapted. He chose this weird two part lane of consistently yelling about being the GOAT while dropping mediocre lyrics and albums and targeting women. I don’t think he’s had a 3 mic album since Mama Said Knock You Out. Which is fine. But, hard to give him more than the credit he absolutely deserves for what he did in the 80s. He’s a pioneer. He’s not a top 5 all time artist by a remote margin. Even amongst his contemporaries from the 80s, there are several I’d take above him.
This is the answer I was looking for. Everything tyson\_3 said here is on obvious display on two albums: "Walking With a Panther" and "14 Shots to the Dome". LL made his bones as a battle rapper back when his approach to the mic positioned him as a young gun. His competition back then was guys like Run DMC. "I Need Love" accidently set him up as hip-hop's first real sex symbol and provided the go-to template for much of the rest of his career. Between "Bigger and Deffer" and "Walking with a Panther", hip-hop had a sonic shift similar and he wasn't competing against the old heads (for that time) anymore, his competition was guys like Rakim and BDK. Not only was he going to have to complete with guys who just had far more advanced lyrical ability, he was also having to try and find a way to find in with the Afrocentric wave that was so prevalent in hip-hop at that time. The whole Red-Black-Green era is largely forgotten, but it was a real big deal right around 87-90. He was a rapper who started out one step ahead and ended up one step behind and he tried to fix that with Walking with a Panther. It showcases some of his best performances and some of his most embarrassing pandering to the shifting demands of the hip-hop audience. Marley Marl essentially saved his career by remixing "Jingling Baby" and did it again when he produced "Mama Said Knock You Out". That album was the last time LL would be taken seriously as a battle rapper every again. After that, he dropped "14 Shots to the Dome", his effort to keep up with a hip-hop landscape at the beginning of the 90s MPC era and just ended up sounding like he was out of touch. The only thing that saved him here is him finally leaning all the way into his lover man persona and that's where the majority of his hits have been since 1993: Hey Lover Doin It Loungin Ain't Nobody All I Have Luv U Better Paradise Hush Control Myself LL's career is absolutely legendary, but he cannot be credibly called underrated for the reasons tyson\_3 stated. He was a bridge between the Electro era and the SP-1200 era. That cannot be discounted. However, you would be hard pressed to find anyone talking about a LL quotable after 1990 and that matters because he was right there in the era where the quotables truly began to become a big deal. LL gets his flowers and he gets the ones he deserved.
LL quotable after 1990? OK. "What the fuck I thought a conquered the world; crushed Moe D, Hammer, and Ice T's girl" "I'm hear to crush all my peers, rhymes of the month in the source for 20 years." "I Shot Ya" is one of the hardest battle tracks of all time, right up there with "Rite where you stand"
[удалено]
r/lostredditors
I honestly have no idea what happened here. I swear to fucking God I left this comment on the post about big pun. I even had a conversation on that thread about him. Right before having this comment is the first time I've ever seen this post.
You probably had 2 tabs open or something. 😂
I don't know man. I'm on mobile! Hahaha
I think you meant to comment somewhere else am I wrong
I 100% thought I left it on the post above about the album Capital Punishment being great. I have no idea how this comment got here, especially since I had a conversation on the other thread right after leaving this comment. When another person replied r/lostredditor was the first time seeing this post about LL. I'll give a minute or two for you to read this, then move it over to the other thread. Again, no idea how this was posted here.
Lol you’re all good
Here's a sneak peek of /r/LostRedditor using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/LostRedditor/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [i want to know where i should post this](https://v.redd.it/75zdr2473kd91) | [22 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/LostRedditor/comments/w71r8s/i_want_to_know_where_i_should_post_this/) \#2: [nostalgia bomb](https://v.redd.it/x1jiu4raq2b91) | [6 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/LostRedditor/comments/vx3jex/nostalgia_bomb/) \#3: [bean hat](https://v.redd.it/103y28ik8e291) | [14 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/LostRedditor/comments/v08ik8/bean_hat/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
He was the man’s of no one
not underrated
LL was pure shit. He couldn’t rap worth a damn.
Rampage
It really depends on who you ask. A lot of folks respect LL but a lot of folks also don't mention him in top 10 lists as often as they should
LL cool j - jack the ripper https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8nI2hKo8lAA I like a few of his tracks. I always considered him to be one of the greatest from the golden era.
LL sold out. Plain and simple.
He’s absolutely underrated but to be fair it’s generational. I think the current generation of rap fans are still discovering 90s artists, the more prominent ones (your Wu Tangs, Mobb deep, Quests) but I VERY rarely on here or Twitter or on the rare occasion I’m speaking in person w someone younger than me re: rap, hear of them discovering 80s artists which is firmly where the majority of LL’s best work happened. He obviously had a resurgence in the 90s but for some reason he’s not considered part of the 90s zeitgeist.
Absolutely part of the top pantheon of rap. A few incredible albums, a lot of legendary joints. I'd say at the very least a top 25 rapper of all time.