SOHH NYC
New York is back, forget what you heard
LL Cool J "Better Watch Himself" If He Wants to Sell A Record
Posted on August 26, 2008 10:00 AM
Uh, for a second there, this song kind of had me at a loss for words. LL claims that "You Better Watch Me" is a breath of retro air from the 90s, but to me it comes off as a cross between an improvement from his (first single) "Baby" and... corny. Which is NOT a good thing.
LL Cool J- "You Better Watch Me"
The track is hot. I hear that Cassidy track in the background loud and clear. But this n*gga fooled me with the introduction. When I heard the words "90s" and "retro," I thought I was going to hear another "Doin It Well." Wrong!
After listening to this joint about five times, I found out what makes the song so corny: Both the hook and that constant "I see you!" Give me a break. And at this rate, L is better off selling his CDs from out the back of his car, because with these mediocre songs I've been hearing, any hope of him selling a decent amount of "first week" units is quite dismal.
Did anyone catch that subliminal jab? Despite his claims of turning "Def Jam back into a marketing machine," I see no difference between the promo push for Todd Smith and the promo for Exit 13. None at all. He'll see when his numbers reflect that. Then who will he blame? And how many times do I have to say this: Although Deaf Jam is notorious for turning their back on hip-hop artists, LL's Todd Smith got the best support that year. It wasn't the promotion. It was the songs. Face it: Your time is done. Twenty years? You're FINISHED.
And this song is corny, in case I didn't say that already. It doesn't take me back to the 90s. It tells me that someone is trying extra hard to put some excitement back into the music. And is failing at it.
As Kool Moe Dee said a long time ago:
"...now LL stands for Lower Level, Lack Lustre Last Least, Limp Lover Lousy Lame, Latent Lethargic Lazy Lemon, Little Logic Lucky Leech, Liver Lipped Laborious Louse on a Loser's Lips Live in Limbo, Lyrical Lapse Low Life with the loud raps, boy..."
I'm so disgusted with rap, it's ridiculous. I'd rather listen to Lil' Wayne than listen LL's new album. And that says a lot.
Well, let me listen to it again. Maybe I'm just being an ass.
Artist piss me off with that not enough promotion shit...What??They think they above getting out on their own dimes and time and asking the people to go out and get they records...Go to the hoods and holla at the people...Most rappers is scared to do that though..Especially ll..An artist like him shouldn't need all that promo he supposed to be a vet..I see niigas sell more cds out the trunks of they car with NO promo than most of these rappers you see on tv...
This is the worst L.L. Cool J record I ever heard in my life. I was just talking to my homeboy about how L.L. was the only rapper in the 80's and 90's that never lost a battle. Now, he's just legendary and he needs to leave it at that. He just needs to stick to his formula and he should of used all the records he made with 50 Cent. The song with Lil' Mo is the L.L. I'm used to hearing. That Hey Lover shit was dope, even "I Shot Ya" was fire....That was a good blog but, you can't hate on Weezy.
His verse on "Swagger Like Us" will crush anything L.L. said in the past few years!
LL has been irrelevant for the logest time. That "Baby" song is so damn wack that I don't even want to listen to the new song above. That's how much damage the song "baby" has done. When I first heard that crap, I was like "What The Fuck"!!! And I have said this before, he fuckin recylces his rap. In the song "Baby" he is bably rhyming "jingle, mingle, mandingo" If you listen to the only track he has on the 2001 release of Violator 2.0 he says the same exact shit. LL you must be really getting old if forgot you said the same shit in your 1st verse of baby on the song from the Violator albumn. That's when you know it's time to retire. I can't stand to listen to him anymore. He sounds like he is constantly licking his lips while rapping. ILLLL, nigga go do a movie w/Samuel L. Jacksono or something. Your rap game was over after you dropped Mr. Smith. It's a wrap. NEXT
LL has been irrelevant for the logest time. That "Baby" song is so damn wack that I don't even want to listen to the new song above. That's how much damage the song "baby" has done. When I first heard that crap, I was like "What The Fuck"!!! And I have said this before, he fuckin recylces his rap. In the song "Baby" he is bably rhyming "jingle, mingle, mandingo" If you listen to the only track he has on the 2001 release of Violator 2.0 he says the same exact shit. LL you must be really getting old if forgot you said the same shit in your 1st verse of baby on the song from the Violator albumn. That's when you know it's time to retire. I can't stand to listen to him anymore. He sounds like he is constantly licking his lips while rapping. ILLLL, nigga go do a movie w/Samuel L. Jacksono or something. Your rap game was over after you dropped Mr. Smith. It's a wrap. NEXT
God the guy above me is dumb. Thought I already sonned you for trying that Mandingo nonsense in the last post.
you're beyond help.
I love the hate from the guy who wrote the blog. He admits to listening the the song a whopping 5 times so he could conclude that the song is corny because of the "I See You" and the hook.
Sounds like a hater folks.
How do we know we have a hater on our hands?
Haters always go out of their way to dis something they could have just as easily ignored. LL doesn't force you to listen to his records, he certainly doesn't force you to listen 5 times.
Then the Hater will say that the song is wack but never really explain why its wack. They use sweeping terms like "The Hook" to explain their hatred.
Since we're talking Music haters will often call something irrelevent. The hater is to dumb to know that when you offer a whole paragraph to something that is "irrelevent" you admit that you yourself are "Irrelevant"
Haters often times get frazzled when the thing they hate is doing well. If they can't find something to hate about it. They'll move their point to someting off topic...I E:
I hate LL soooo much that I don't even want to listen to his new song. I'd rather read a blog about the song and write a whole paragraph about how I hated some other song he did.
Haters are so dumb when they get called out they ignore it, they're not even man enough to say..."Ok you got me." They'll just repeat their ignorance again and again.
HI HATERS.
Best LL record in a minute. YOU BETTER WATCH ME!
To all those hating on LL and this song... Seriously - you guys are wasting your time. As for the writer who even took his time listening to this outstanding, feel good, new LL record a whopping 5 times, and then persisted to hate - STFU!!! Seriously... where do you guys get off hating on one of the pioneers of rap? While you may believe he's falling off, he's been in the game for 20+ years!!! He's still doing it. No offence to the greats, but I don't see ATCQ and Big Daddy Kane still making HOT records that stay HOT, and in turn keep the artist relevant. The reason we even have hip-hop is because of folks like LL COOL J. He is The G.O.A.T. I'd much rather be pumpin' his SHiT instead of half the clowns we have today. Yung Berg - Yeah Whatever! Soulja Boy - Please!! T-Pain - What The FUCK Ever!!! This track is so refreshing... It's a blend of new skool meets old skool. LL Cool J is someone no other rapper has managed to even come close to being. He's consistant. And don't even tell me you weren't jumping around in the club to that last joint he did with J-Lo and JD... It was a nice club joint. LL knows how to do things. Just because you don't like a song, don't mean you need to be telling him to hang up his mic blah blah blah! His SHiT is incredible. He'll still continue to make good music. In fact that joint, "Rockin' With The G.O.A.T." is serious!!! That is a high point of the new album. If you don't think so, you're obviously an idiot who knows 2 things about hip-hop, Jack & SHiT! It's got an ill beat, and underground ruff lyrics. You're probably the types of dudes who listen to a record for a hot beat! You don't want lyrics. You probably wouldn't recognise a metaphor if it smaked you upside your damn head!
To be skooled on this hip-hop icon, see GYANT'S interview with him a few posts back. Get off T-Pain and Akon's nut sacks and plug your ears in to some real hip-hop... SERIOUSLY!!!
to the burier i agree 100 percent glad someone broke down what a hater is really it is someone who hate on someone for no apparent reason just hating why spend so much time hating on someone i am going keep it 100 with you ll cool j is keeping it real to the kind ofhip hop he has always done he is not prentending to be or act of sound like anyone else but ll coolj. he aint lost it cause i was a ll cool j fan ever since bigger and deffer i like him then ilike him now so keep hatin on him wont change my mind on him he is still is the g.o.a.t.
The thing is that LL has been putting out these kinds of light radio friendly tracks for the longest. His albums for the past ten years have led off with a similar type single. Back when he battled Canibus and Canibus criticized him for making soft tracks for the ladies, Cool J admitted it was true. I don’t really see a point of this critique(if you can call it that) other than to spit venom.-----------------------------------------------
However, I do agree that the often heard complaints about a lack of “promotional push” when an artist’s offering is not well received in the marketplace does not make sense. You would think that an established artists would have a following such that they would always be on certain people’s radar. I know there are certain artists that I look up from time to time to see what they are up to.