LL Cool J
The DEFinition
Release Date: Aug 31, 2004
Genre(s): Rap
Record label: Def Jam
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Album Review: The DEFinition by LL Cool J
Fairly Good, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 7/10
It's great to hear LL Cool J so unrestrained and so inspired on "Hush," one of the fantastic tracks on the more hit than miss The DEFinition. The track segues into the much lesser "I'm gonna do this to you, I'm gonna do that to you" Penthouse letter that's "Every Sip," but there's more here to bounce to than on 2002's mushy 10, and you can thank Timbaland for that. He's in the producer's chair for the banging kickoff single, "Headsprung," where LL meets the South with crunk beats and a slowed-down, syrup-sipper's chorus.
Based on rating 3/5
Rappers have made a discovery: the secret to substantial sales is to pair bland braggadocio with radio-friendly R&B melodies. The fact that, like fast food, this cynically constructed fare is sickly and unsatisfying doesn't seem to concern them. One particular perpetrator of this practice is a man formerly celebrated for his hard-knock drum patterns and rage-filled rhyme schemes.