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Run-D.M.C. was the first rap act to produce cohesive, fully realized albums, and LL Cool J was the first to follow in their footsteps. LL was a mere 17 years old when he recorded his classic debut album Radio, a brash, exuberant celebration of booming beats and B-boy attitude that launched not only the longest career in hip-hop, but also Rick Rubin's seminal Def Jam label. Rubin's back-cover credit ("Reduced by Rick Rubin") is an entirely apt description of his bare-bones production style. Radio is just as stripped-down and boisterously aggressive as any Run-D.M.C. album, sometimes even more so; the instrumentation is basically just a cranked-up beatbox, punctuated by DJ scratching. There are occasional brief samples, but few do anything more than emphasize a downbeat. The result is rap at its most skeletal, with a hard-hitting, street-level aggression that perfectly matches LL's cocksure teenage energy. Even the two ballads barely sound like ballads, since they're driven by the same slamming beats. Though they might sound a little squared-off to modern ears, LL's deft lyrics set new standards for MCs at the time; his clever disses and outrageous but playful boasts still hold up poetically. Although even LL himself would go on to more intricate rhyming, it isn't really necessary on such a loud, thumping adrenaline rush of a record. Radio was both an expansion of rap's artistic possibilities and a commercial success (for its time), helping attract new multiracial audiences to the music. While it may take a few listens for modern ears to adjust to the minimalist production, the fact that it hews so closely to rap's basic musical foundation means that it still possesses a surprisingly fresh energy, and isn't nearly as dated as many efforts that followed it (including, ironically, some of LL's own).
© Steve Huey /TiVo
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Rick Rubin, Producer, ComposerLyricist - LL Cool J, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Steve Ett, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1985 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Rick Rubin, Producer, ComposerLyricist - LL Cool J, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Steve Ett, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1985 The Island Def Jam Music Group
James Todd Smith, ComposerLyricist - Rick Rubin, Producer, ComposerLyricist - LL Cool J, MainArtist - Steve Ett, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1985 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Rick Rubin, Producer, ComposerLyricist - LL Cool J, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Steve Ett, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1985 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Rick Rubin, Producer, ComposerLyricist - LL Cool J, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Steve Ett, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1985 The Island Def Jam Music Group
James Todd Smith, ComposerLyricist - Rick Rubin, Producer, ComposerLyricist - LL Cool J, MainArtist
℗ 1985 The Island Def Jam Music Group
James Todd Smith, ComposerLyricist - Rick Rubin, Producer, ComposerLyricist - LL Cool J, Rap Vocalist, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 1985 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Rick Rubin, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Adam Horovitz, ComposerLyricist - LL Cool J, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Steve Ett, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jazzy Jay, Producer
℗ 1985 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Rick Rubin, Producer, ComposerLyricist - LL Cool J, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Steve Ett, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1985 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Rick Rubin, Producer, ComposerLyricist - LL Cool J, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Steve Ett, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1985 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Rick Rubin, Producer, ComposerLyricist - LL Cool J, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Steve Ett, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1985 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Album review
Run-D.M.C. was the first rap act to produce cohesive, fully realized albums, and LL Cool J was the first to follow in their footsteps. LL was a mere 17 years old when he recorded his classic debut album Radio, a brash, exuberant celebration of booming beats and B-boy attitude that launched not only the longest career in hip-hop, but also Rick Rubin's seminal Def Jam label. Rubin's back-cover credit ("Reduced by Rick Rubin") is an entirely apt description of his bare-bones production style. Radio is just as stripped-down and boisterously aggressive as any Run-D.M.C. album, sometimes even more so; the instrumentation is basically just a cranked-up beatbox, punctuated by DJ scratching. There are occasional brief samples, but few do anything more than emphasize a downbeat. The result is rap at its most skeletal, with a hard-hitting, street-level aggression that perfectly matches LL's cocksure teenage energy. Even the two ballads barely sound like ballads, since they're driven by the same slamming beats. Though they might sound a little squared-off to modern ears, LL's deft lyrics set new standards for MCs at the time; his clever disses and outrageous but playful boasts still hold up poetically. Although even LL himself would go on to more intricate rhyming, it isn't really necessary on such a loud, thumping adrenaline rush of a record. Radio was both an expansion of rap's artistic possibilities and a commercial success (for its time), helping attract new multiracial audiences to the music. While it may take a few listens for modern ears to adjust to the minimalist production, the fact that it hews so closely to rap's basic musical foundation means that it still possesses a surprisingly fresh energy, and isn't nearly as dated as many efforts that followed it (including, ironically, some of LL's own).
© Steve Huey /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 11 track(s)
- Total length: 00:46:55
- Main artists: LL COOL J
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Mercury Records
- Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
© 1985 The Island Def Jam Music Group ℗ 1985 The Island Def Jam Music Group
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