Disco de LL Cool J: “Walking with a Panther [Clean]”

While Cool James and rappers like Ice T and Kool Moe Dee may have had their differences, there is no denying that LL Cool J is representative of the mid to late 80s rap scene. Partly due to his flamboyant style (whose idea was it to put a gold chain on a panther anyway?) and boyish good looks and partly due to his ability as a rapper, LL Cool J was part of the crowd (including party-anthem writer Rob Base and Kid-N-Play - remember House Party?) that helped to push rap out of the streets and into suburban malls.

While LL Cool J's abilities as a lyricist are at times questionable (ok, you're dope, we got it), songs like I'm That Type of Guy and Going Back to Cali are classic LL. My personal favorite, Big Ole Butt, is clearly a precursor to Sir Mix A Lot's One-Hit-Wonderdom, and Jingling Baby reinforced why LL was LL (ladies love him). There are several other songs on this album that are significant for one reason or another, but as with most things, success in pop culture continues to define the albums overall success almost 15 years later.

Bottomline: If you are a big fan of 80s rap, grab this one. If not, pass. But either way, more people remember LL than Kool or T (despite his being crowned the world's greatest pimp), so ole' James must have been doing something right!

By the time Walking released, LL was definitely at the top of his game. But with lots of rappers calling him out, Mr. Smith spends most of the album boasting how great he is. Well, it's tolerable, considering his lyrics are finely polished for this joint. "Droppin' Em" is the best song on the album, period. The beat is ready, and the lyrics are punishing, as L states that he "flips lyrics like an acrobat." On "Clap Your Hands", he says, with confidence, "I work myself harder than a boxer's trainer." And he definitely holds it down with all the hits. "I'm That Type of Guy" appears, as does the dance tune "Big Ole' Butt" and "Going Back to Cali". And, a less-thumpin version of "Jingling, Baby" is here. The hits are there. But the ballads...well, let's say they're nowhere near "I Need Love". After a while, LL's continuous boasting just gets tired. But, as a new school rap cat, I found that "Walking with a Panther" is better than half of the stuff out there today, but compared to "Radio" and "Bigger and Deffer", "Walking" seems like a collaboration: good but featuring songs he could've done without. But as L says on "Why Do You Think They Call it Dope": "It seems like people, will never understand/On the microphone,I'm not your average man."

Walking with a Panther

Released in the spring of 1989, Walking with a Panther" is one-time "Prince of Rap" LL Cool J's third album. For this outing LL serves as the main producer (with Bigger and Deffer collaborators Dwayne Simon & Darryl Pierce). The LP's opening song, "Droppin' Em" is a solid return to form, as are "Smokin' Dopin'" and "Clap Your Hands". "One Shot at Love" and "Two Different Worlds" push the rap-ballad envelope a little too further than it needed to be, but the synthesizer-propelled "Am I Still Your Heart?" is on point. "Fast Peg" is a cautionary tale about a mob moll who takes her lifestyle for granted: "...Her man messed up the money, ridin' around thinking everything's funny; went to a disco, came outside; somebody pushed her in a beat-up ride; she had to pay for her man's mistakes..."

On the first single "I'm That Type of Guy", LL depicts himself as a sneaky playboy who can't wait to romance another guy's woman; the follow-up hit, "Big Ole Butt", continues the theme, as LL recounts his fetish for prominent rear ends. The Bomb Squad-produced "It Don't Get No Rougher" and "Nitro" find LL spitting battle-rhymes with fierceness. "Change Your Ways" features live drums & guitar; and the original "Jingling Baby" lifts the theme to blaxploitation movie "Black Belt Jones". Also tacked on to the disc is LL's 1987 pop smash "Going Back to Cali", originally featured on the Less than Zero movie soundtrack.

Admittedly, LL was in full party mode with this album. But surprisingly, at the time of its release, LL took a beating from urban fans who felt he had gone pop. Afrocentric, political hip-hop and gangster rap had recently become all the rage, and by comparison LL's quasi-hedonism of good times was deemed socially irresponsible. But for fair-minded listeners, there's more funk for your trunk than you might think.

Note: At the time of its release, "Panther" was one of the first double-LPs for rap. Tracking at over 75 minutes, there were a few songs left off the CD that should hopefully show up on a double-disc re-release. They would be "Jack the Ripper", which was LL's response to then-rival Kool Moe Dee's harangues, and "Crime Stories".

I just can't comprehend why this disc continues to be held in such low esteem by so many. Hip-hop has had it's share of criminally underrated discs, but in my opinion "Walking With a Panther" is the most underrated hip-hop-album of all time (M.U.H.O.A.T.).

I realize that back in the day it was maligned for being out of step with the conscious era and for the ill-advised decision to include not one but THREE ballads, but I would have expected revisionism to treat this one a little more kindly.

I agree with the reviewer who said that if this album had been cut down to about 12 tracks it would be a classic to rival "Mama Said...". In my opinion, at it's best this album contains some of the most vital and engaging hip-hop ever produced, especially in the opening three tracks.

Having said that, I realize that I'm not here so much to editorialize as to help potential buyers decide whether or not this disc would make a good purchase. I'd say yes; if you're interested in LL or golden era hip-hop in general then this definitely is worth your while (just be wary of censored copies). Also, if you're new to Cool J, don't make this your first disc. Try "Radio" or "Mama Said Knock You Out" instead.

In fairness, given the option I would have rated this 3.5 stars. There's a lot of filler here, and three ballads on one hip-hop LP is just unforgiveable. Still, the classic material on here is SO classic, and LL so obviously believed in and gave his all to this project, that being a fan I'm inclined to round up rather than down.

When Cool J. dropped this album he angered a lot people with his flaunting of materialism. On the album cover he has numeras gold chains on, a bottle of expensive wine ,a large name ring made of diamonds, and a black panther with a fat gold chain around his neck. All this sounds somewhat normal in these days and times of bling-bling but this album was done in the 1989. Lyrically this is one of his best albums. It includes the hit's "Going Back to Cali" "Jingling Baby" and "I'm That Type of Guy" which are good dance tunes. For the rougher crowd that remembers that with the proper motivation LL can still rip the mic there are songs like "Jack Da Ripper", "It Gets No Rougher", "Why do You Think They Call It Dope" and "Droppin Em". In my opinion the song "Jack Da Ripper" has got to be the best track on the album and possibly one of the best battle raps of all time. LL really pulls no punches and proves why he is considered to be one of the top lyricist's in the world of hip-hop. LL enters unstable territory with the 2 slow tempo love songs but the rest of the album more then makes up for it. This is the young brash LL that we all have come to know and love. Peace