LL Cool J – “Put Ya Hands Up” b/w Busta Rhymes – “What It Is” & Nore – “Grimy”
LL Cool J has evolved from a well-respected hip-hop pioneer, to a sellout emcee who has lost has skill on the microphone. The funny thing is, I never thought he sat down with a pen and said, “I’m gonna make a joint for the radio.” But now, after I see him doing shit with Swizz Beatz like on this a-side, I’m changing my mind. The flow on this is okay, but it’s another sex joint mixed with a party vibe. It’s nothing new, and I just cannot stand to see LL do this when he needs to be respecting the underground. Busta Rhymes is quite a character, on the other hand. Lately, he’s been real “iffy”. Sometimes a song is acceptable, at other times you wanna turn the stereo off. Busta spits on this track with a Neptunes beat (besides it being documented, it has to be due to how goofy it is). The chorus on this is a bag of ass, and it’s like Busta is trying to rhyme so no one hears him. He’s real shy on the mic sometimes. Now back to the production; it’s real shitty, for lack of a better comment. You take someone like the ‘Tunes, who can drop an ill beat like Mystikal’s “Danger” or Ludacris’s “Southern Hospitality”, but then they make this Mickey Mouse bullshit, which has no bounce or nod in it. What a waste… Noreaga is back, spittin’ on another Neptunes beat, which I hate. “Grimy” isn’t something even a Nore fan wanted to hear. Shoot, even Nore himself wouldn’t listen to this. Maybe the only excitement in this is when Nore disses Star and Buc Wild and Tommy Boy Records. He’s still ugly, though. However, even Nore isn’t as ugly as this triple 12″. [Jeff]
Reviewed By RhymeLife.Com for HipHopHotSpot.Com
