Mama Said Knock You Out Explained

Mama Said Knock You Out
Type:Studio
Artist:LL Cool J
Cover:Mama Said Knock You Out (LL Cool J album - cover art).jpg
Released:[1]
Recorded:1989–90
Studio:Marley Marl's House of Hits in Chestnut Ridge and Chung King House of Metal in New York City
Genre:Hip hop
Producer:Marley Marl
Prev Title:Walking with a Panther
Prev Year:1989
Next Title:14 Shots to the Dome
Next Year:1993

Mama Said Knock You Out is the fourth studio album by American rapper LL Cool J. It was produced mostly by Marley Marl and recorded at his "House of Hits" home studio in Chestnut Ridge and at Chung King House of Metal in New York City.[2] After the disappointing reception of LL Cool's 1989 album Walking with a Panther, Mama Said Knock You Out was released by Def Jam Recordings on September 14, 1990[3] to commercial and critical success.[4]

Release and reception

Mama Said Knock You Out was released on September 14, 1990,[5] by Def Jam Recordings.[6] It was promoted with five singles, four of which became hits: "The Boomin' System", "Around the Way Girl", the title track, and "6 Minutes of Pleasure". The album was certified double platinum in the United States, having shipped two million copies.[7] According to Yahoo! Music's Frank Meyer, Mama Said Knock You Out "seemed to set the world on fire in 1990", helped by its hit title track and LL Cool J's "sweaty performance" on MTV Unplugged.[8] The title song reached number 17[9] on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold by the RIAA. LL Cool J won Best Rap Solo Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1991.[10]

In The New York Times, Jon Pareles wrote that Mama Said Knock You Out reestablished LL Cool J as "the most articulate of the homeboys", sounding "tougher and funnier" rapping about "crass materialism" and "simple pleasures".[11] In Mark Cooper's review for Q, he wrote, "This 22-year-old veteran has lost neither his eye for everyday detail nor his sheer relish for words."[12] Select magazine's Richard Cook said, "LL's stack of samples add the icing to a cake that is all dark, remorseless rhythm, a lo-fi drum beat shadowed by a crude bass rumble. It could be Jamaican dub they're making here, if it weren't for LL's slipper lip." Mama Said Knock You Out was voted the ninth best record of 1990 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics published by The Village Voice.[13] Poll creator Robert Christgau later named it among his 10 favorite albums from the 1990s.[14]

The album was included in Hip Hop Connection "Phat Forty", a rundown of rap's greatest albums: "The LP's title track proved to be the single of the year and probably LL's best record since 'I'm Bad', while 'Eat 'Em Up L Chill' and 'To Da Break Of Dawn' was [sic] the sound of Cool J getting his own back – and in style."[15] In 1998, it was listed in The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. In 2005, comedian Chris Rock listed it as the sixth greatest hip-hop album ever in a guest article for Rolling Stone.[16] In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album at No. 246 on their updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[17] The hip hop duo Run the Jewels took their name from a lyric on the album's sixth track, "Cheesy Rat Blues".[18]

Track listing

All tracks written by James Todd Smith and Marlon Williams except otherwise noted.

Notes: The single version of the track "Jingling Baby (Remixed but Still Jingling)" was remixed by Marley Marl. "The Boomin' System" is censored on all editions of the album. The 12" single has the uncensored version.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from AllMusic.

Charts

Year-end charts

Chart (1990)Position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[20] 91
Chart (1991)Position
US Billboard 200[21] 13
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[22] 5

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mama Said Knock You Out | LL COOL J.
  2. Web site: Mama Said Knock You Out. CD Universe. August 30, 2015.
  3. Web site: Mama Said Knock You Out | LL COOL J.
  4. Book: McCoy, Judy. 1992. Rap Music in the 1980s: A Reference Guide. Scarecrow Press. 0810826496. 202.
  5. Web site: Mama Said Knock You Out | LL COOL J.
  6. Web site: This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine..
  7. Web site: Gold & Platinum Searchable Database. Recording Industry Association of America. August 30, 2015.
  8. Web site: Meyer . Frank . https://web.archive.org/web/20150925160153/http://ca.music.yahoo.com/read/review/12025968 . September 25, 2015 . Mama Said Knock You Out . . September 19, 2010 . dead .
  9. Web site: [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=ll cool j|chart=all}} Mama Said Knock You Out - LL Cool J Song Information ]. billboard.com . Billboard . 16 July 2012.
  10. Web site: GRAMMY Awards Winners & Nominees for Best Rap Solo Performance.
  11. News: Pareles. Jon. Jon Pareles. November 18, 1990. L.L. Cool J.: 'Mama Said Knock You Out' Def Jam/Columbia 46888; all three formats. The New York Times. June 21, 2009.
  12. Cooper. Mark. November 1990. LL Cool J: Mama Said Knock You Out. Q. London. 50.
  13. News: The 1990 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll. The Village Voice. New York. March 5, 1991. August 30, 2015.
  14. Web site: Christgau. Robert. Robert Christgau. May 19, 2021. Xgau Sez: May, 2021. And It Don't Stop. Substack. May 23, 2021.
  15. Hip Hop Connection, July 1994
  16. Web site: Chris Rock's Top 25 Hip Hop Albums . Rate Your Music . 2012-03-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151107071911/http://rateyourmusic.com/list/tha_flu/chris_rocks_top_25_hip_hop_albums/ . 2015-11-07 .
  17. The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rolling Stone . . 22 September 2020 . 2020-09-29.
  18. Mike. Killer. Erin Brady. Doubling Down with Run the Jewels. https://web.archive.org/web/20171004165514/https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/run-the-jewels. 4 October 2017. 26 June 2013. Interview Magazine. 6 April 2018. live.
  19. 169.
  20. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1990. Billboard. November 28, 2020.
  21. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1991. Billboard. June 4, 2021. January 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150124045927/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1991/the-billboard-200. live.
  22. 1991 The Year in Music. Billboard. 103. 51. YE-17. December 21, 1991. June 4, 2021.