This is his first album that hasn't started with something venturing on hardcore hip hop. He was criticised for trying to be too west coast or gangster on his previous album, so perhaps that's why. The first three songs are all soft that feature very familiar samples. You don't get a hard beat until 'Life As...' at track 6. You could argue 'Doin' It' has one, but I think it's too close to pop rap to say that. In saying that, I think there is a heavier gangsta persona at times here than on '14 Shots to the Dome'...
On 'Make It Hot', he isn't rapping in a way that is entertaining. His performance on the following hip hop homage is better. The well known, 'Hey Lover', like the opener, doesn't do enough to be above a decent to good song. As was happening more and more from '95 and '96, there is more lazy sampling where interpolations or samples of songs were the hook and melody that happens mostly at the start of the album.
I believe 'Doin It' was the first, or one of the first, LL songs I heard after buying a hip hop compilation CD back in the day. The trading of bars that LL does with LeShaun doesn't happen enough in hip hop. That, the lo-fi unique production, and the hook, make the song.
As mentioned earlier, it takes five songs and an intro to get to something closer to hardcore hip hop with Easy Mo Bee giving us some boom bap on 'Life As...'. Then we have 'I Shot Ya' that circles back to what I said before about the gangsta persona. Both of these songs are good, but not great.
Oddly, 'No Airplay' is clean, despite there being vulgarity on other tracks. It ruins the song! What could possibly be the reason for putting a clean song on an explicit album? Surely there has to be one?
The following 'Loungin' is probably the best thing here. The production is more bouncy and the hook is catchy.
Like he did with cereal on 'Milky Cereal' on the album 'Mama Said Knock You Out', on 'Hollis to Hollywood', he uses metaphors and references to movies making it feel like a similar type of track. He begins by saying, "How everybody like is usin' metaphors and all that / It seems like everybody's like a...like some kind of metaphor freak."
'God Bless' and 'Get Da Drop on 'Em'' are both ones I won't be rushing back to and then the album finishes with a remix of 'I Shot Ya' and on some versions the bonus track 'Papa Luv It' from The Show soundtrack. Fat Joe is the standout for me on the remix where he adds more energy. It doesn't add a lot to the original though. 'Papa Luv It' is a worthy pop rap tune.
This album is consistently good, but the highlights of his previous three albums aren't here. Lots of songs just lack something extra. Whether it be in the production, something missing to a third verse for more variety, LL talking more through his bars, better hooks needed... Something is missing. His previous albums are perhaps a little grittier, more funky, maybe higher tempo and less polished than the production here... After finding every album from 'Radio' to be an improvement, I think this is where it ends. If you love pop rap and the more polished sounds that were creeping into hip hop in '95-'96 you may get more from this album.
Beats: ★★★
Rapping/Bars: ★★★★
Hooks: ★★★☆
Best Tracks: Hip Hop, Doin It, Loungin, Hollis to Hollywood
Deluxe Edition: This is 23 tracks long and includes some remixes, b-sides and songs from film soundtracks. I strongly recommended checking out the 'Doin It (Unarmed Mix)'. From the first listen I thought it was better than the original. It's great! The only thing I don't like about it is that it loses the, "I represent Queens, she was raised out in Brooklyn" lyrics from the hook. The production is dope though! It sounds like a remastered version.
As LL says at the beginning of the song, 'Doin' It (Main Remix)' "smooths it out" and is good but aside from 'Doin It (Unarmed Mix)' none of the remixes improve on the originals. 'Ain't Nobody', wasted on the film, 'Beavis and Butt-Head Do America', would have felt right at home at the start of this album with the heavy interpolation. The beat thumps harder though and the production changes up when it needs to before the third verse and there is a bridge. I only heard 'Ain't Nobody' after I wrote the previous paragraph and this song is a good example of what those songs are missing. I think it's better than many of the similar songs on the standard version.
Finally, we have 'Candyman' and 'Summer Luv'. 'Candyman' is from the leaked project '“Double L” Cools Down' and the 'Jason’s Lyric' soundtrack - catchy hook and entertaining spitting. 'Summer Luv' was a b-side for 'Loungin'. It's a little funkier and sounds more like past LL than what we got on Mr. Smith.
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