One of hip hop’s most charismatic and well respected stars returns with his 9th album to date – ‘GOAT (The Greatest Of All Time)’. This album feels like LL is trying to prove something, not just to himself but also to the public, that he is still as good as ever and this album certainly proves it. The style of music in GOAT is much different to LL’s previous albums, this time its more hard and edgy, so don’t expect to find too many grooves like `Loungin` or `Hey Lover`, but instead, there are some wicked rap tunes, such as ‘Fuhgidaboudit’ and the internationally acclaimed ‘Shut ‘Em Down.’ His raps are still based on his younger ghetto days, and of course, his self-proclaimed stardom. 1985 – ‘Radio’ was probably the album that set LL’s career off.
1987 – LL’s been around for a long time now, longer than quite a lot of rappers in the game. ‘Bigger and Deffer’ showed LL in his old skool self, dropping tunes such as ‘I’m bad’ and ‘My Rhyme ain’t done’.
There is quite a mix of style’s with the hard hitting rhythm’s of ‘Back Where I Belong’ to the funky beats of ‘III Bomb.’ Those in the know, will also recognise a number of disses aimed at the young rap artist Canibus, after their media fallout when James panned Canibus’s single ‘4,3,2,1.’ The roster of other artists involved in this album is also impresses, there are some big name emcees on this CD. LL finds himself rhyming alongside Snoop Dogg, Ja Rule, Xzibit, Method Man and Redman to name but a few, as well as DJ Clue. 1995 – A few yeard on from ‘BAD’, LL came to release ‘Mama Said…’ which proved to be one of his most classic albums.
1996 – Mr. Smith showed LL’s more smooth side with tracks such as ‘Doin’ It’ and ‘Hey Lover’.
After the disappointing Phenomenon album, I wasn’t expecting great things from LL, especially as he has to spread himself over other obligations such as acting, POG records and the Najee fashion label. However, this definitely was one of the better albums from the millennium year. This is LL’s best work in years as The G.O.A.T. shows LL spitting fire with a ferocity we haven’t seen from him in almost 10 years. It may not be as classic as ‘Radio’ or ‘Mama Said…’ but it definitely is one of his greatest of all time. 1997 – ‘Phenomenon’ was a slightly disappointing album, with tracks such as ‘Phenomenon’ were slightly less attractive than some of his earlier productions.
2000 – ‘GOAT‘, whilst not showing that he is the greatest rapper of all time, does bring us some of his best beats.
Reviewed By Hip Hop Network for HipHopHotSpot.Com
