LL Cool J’s latest eponymous release, Todd Smith, finds the rap vet surrounded by an all-star line-up, no doubt assembled by his new Def Jam boss Jay-Z. Lead single “Lose Control” features Jennifer Lopez, who, following the lead of previously floundering divas, Janet and Mariah, seems poised to use the guest vocal gig as a between-album reminder that she’s still alive and kicking. Then again, LL helped J. land her fourth (and most recent) #1 hit, 2002’s “All I Have,” so maybe returning the favor was just inevitable. Either way, producer du jour Jermaine Dupri is on a roll, finding a flawlessly high-tech sample in Afrika Bambaataa’s “Looking For The Perfect Beat,” while the song’s rhymes are expected LL fare: “She licked…off…her lip…gloss/Her hips…tossed…back…and forth.” The next track, the Poke & Tone-produced “Favorite Flavor,” featuring Mary J. Blige, follows suit. Though LL is often credited with recording the first “hip-hop ballad” back in the ’80s, Todd Smith’s slow songs (the self-produced “Freeze” and the Neptunes track “Best Dress,” featuring—ugh—Jamie Foxx) kill the album’s momentum early on. The pace is thankfully resuscitated by the hit-bound, bottom-heavy, old-school call-and-response track “Preserve The Sexy,” a duet with Roc-A-Fella’s Teairra Mari that includes no less than three James Brown samples, and “What You Want,” which features a deft sampling of the blaxploitation funk tune “Hot Wheels (The Chase)” by Badder Than Evil and, though he’s rarely succumbed to the gangsta rap idiom, finds LL Cool J doing some mostly justified mega-watt boasting.
Since 2001, we've brought you uncompromising, candid takes on the world of film, music, television, video games, theater, and more. Independently owned and operated publications like Slant have been hit hard in recent years, but we’re committed to keeping our content free and accessible—meaning no paywalls or fees.
If you like what we do, please consider subscribing to our Patreon or making a donation.
