LL Cool J Album: “Todd Smith”

Only one tra... @#*! THAT! NOTHING caught my ear on this release. This is not the L.L. That I grew up listening to. I know that he's doing clean albums for the kids. Nothing's wrong with that. 1990's "Mama Said Knock You Out" was clean, but it was and STILL is a GOOD album! Damn L do you need Canibus to get back in your ass to make you get your swagger back?

GOT DAMN!

21 years into his legendary career, LL Cool J releases his 12th album, "Todd Smith". To say that LL's career has taken a different path would be an understatement. After being a pioneer in hip hop, reinventing his style a few times, and creating some of the greatest songs and albums in history, LL's last few albums have been much more pop oriented. Although a legend such as LL has every right to do this, the music wilts in comparison to his music from "Mama Said Knock You Out", "Radio", and even "Mr. Smith". Although there are many problems with "Todd Smith", the biggest is probably that it's not even very good pop music. Whereas on 2004's mediocre "The DEFinition", he had superproducer Timbaland to cover his bad lyrics, "Todd Smith" is full of poorer beats. Once again, LL's lyrics sound like they're on autopilot, revisiting every love song he's done in the past 21 years. However, even though most of the songs on "Todd Smith" are slow songs aimed at the ladies, they don't work like they once did because most of the lines coming out of the 40 year old fall flat. They lack the funny sappiness of "I Need Love" and the catchy playfulness of "Doin' It". Another problem is that with a guest appearance on every single track, LL's weaker lyrics allow him to be outshined on almost every song, like he's the guest. A pair of strong songs at the end saves "Todd Smith", but as a longtime LL Cool J fan I find this album extremely disappointing.

The album leads off with "It's LL and Santana", which has a good rock beat but the lyrics go nowhere. The first single, "Control Myself" with J-Lo, follows, which quickly turns from a goofy pop song to annoying, with the wordless sounds at the end. "Favorite Flavor" is one of the better songs here, because I like the saxophone and instrumentals and Mary J. Blige sings her part well, but the theme is redundant. The potentially good collaboration with Lyfe Jennings on "Freeze" is very poor, because it is slow, uninspired, repetitive, and extremely boring. Jamie Foxx carries the okay "Best Dress", which is well produced. "Preserve the Sexy" is just short of awful, with a bad guest appearance by Teairra Mari and a terrible chorus. "What You Want" with Freeway is one of the better tracks, because it has a good hook and the two MCs display good chemistry, playing off each other's raps. "I've Changed" isn't too bad, a post breakup song that has a good guest appearance by Ryan Toby. Ginuwine's guest appearance on "Ooh Wee" sounds familiar, just like the rest of the song. "#1 Fan" is probably the worst song here. It's a stab at soft reggaeton, and it's very sad to hear the G.O.A.T. fake a Spanish accent. The next two tracks are by far the best. "Walking Down the Aisle" is a heartfelt song about marriage with the talented group 112 singing the hook. "We're Gonna Make It" is also excellent, a spiritual and dramatic inspirational song with Mary Mary. Then at the end there is the pretty good remix of Ne-yo's "So Sick".

Although the two very good songs at the end of "Todd Smith" basically save it, it is overall a disappointing album. I would not highly recommend it even to longtime fans, and to newer listeners I would recommend his greatest hits album "All World", which chronicles his career well. Although it is not terrible, Todd Smith may eventually be remembered as LL's weakest album, which may not be undeserved.

L Cool J's thirteenth album Todd Smith is in stores now. Back in late 1995, LL Cool J had a hit song named "Hey Lover" with Boyz II Men. This collabo put LL back on the charts and the radio after a minor slump. Since this song LL has had successful collaborations with Jennifer Lopez, Total, Amerie, Pharell, and several other industry peeps.

It seems LL has learned what works well for him and what will get him played on the radio. Todd Smith is a very good and solid album but it comes across as very formulaic. You get a group of popular artist (Mary J Blige, Ne-Yo, Juelz Santana, Jamie Foxx, and 112 among others), a solid track and throw them on the record with LL.

This may be a hit making combination for parties involved but Todd Smith might as well be named LL & Friends as every track--except one has a featured guest. This isn't saying the tracks aren't good, but LL--("Rock The Bells," "I'm That Type of Guy," "I Need Love," "Going Back To Cali," "Mama Said Knock You Out," "Around The Way Girl," "I'm Bad,") has proven that he can carry a track on his own.

This LL fan was left wanting a little more after checking out his current release. Todd Smith is very radio friendly and a decent album. The album opens with "It's LL and Santana" and it's followed up by the current single "Control Myself" featuring Jennifer Lopez. This is one of the most high energy tracks on the album. Mary and LL deliver up what may be a future single as radio has already taken to the song "Favorite Flavor." Labelmate Teairra Mari sounds a bit scary on the track "Preserve The Sexy." Something about her drawl in that song is a bit disturbing. The sole song which features a solo LL "#1 Fan" is a satisfying song with a Reggaeton edge.

The Ne-Yo and LL "So Sick-Remix" is featured on Todd Smith as a bonus track. Another familiar song on the album is "We're Gonna Make It," featuring Mary Mary. This song was featured on the Madea's Family Reunion Soundtrack.

Overall, Todd Smith is a satisfying album. However, this reviewer expected something a little less predictable from an industry vet like LL.

LL trys to follow whats going on in Pop music and fails considerably. I believe this will be the first time that Mr.Smith doesnt go GOLD or Platinum!! It's garbage, but what do you expect when he is trying to gain an audience that wasnt even born when he dropped his classics. Waste of money!!

LL Cool J is a legend in the hip hop community and is one of the top ten greatest mc's of all time. His catalogue is enormous and quite frankly I cannot remember which album this is. He's found a way to play the middle between the streets and the mainstream with tracks such as 4,3,2,1 and I Need Love. He has many hits under belt and has dropped platinum album after platinum album. However, this may be the end of the road for him.

This album, Todd Smith, simply put is wack. This may be good for pop music but as hip hop I can't put my stamp of approval on it. Every song has a feature and the feature is an R&B artist. It wouldn't make a difference if the songs were good because they certainly had the potential to be good. With guests such as Teairra Mari, Ginuwine, NeYo, Mary Mary, 112, Lyfe Jennings, Jennifer Lopez among others. The songs just don't turn out to be very good. The first single with Jennifer Lopez - Control Myself was a song made strictly for the clubs with no replay value. It was ok when it came out but now its just annoying. The second single Freeze with Lyfe Jennings is flat out horrible. As a matter of fact the only good songs are the collaborations with Mary J. Blige and Jamie Foxx. Favorite Flavor with Mary J. Blige is really a great song and the light airy beat screams summertime (this should have definitely been the second single), and Jamie Foxx puts his touch on Best Dress (they must have put aside their differences). Down The Aisle with 112 is alright but other than that the rest of the tracks are throwaways.

LL Cool J may have ran his course and there should be no shame in him hanging up his mic and passing the torch. His legacy is solidified but if he wants to continue on he can as long as he does better than this album it will be fine. Personally, I can't listen to the album but may still check for something if he decides to drop again. 1 star.