This came out 8 years after Rapper's Delight and the mainstream still thought hip-hop was a fad. But we knew it was undeniable. The whole era was blowing suburban minds everywhere.
This is America right here. LL was an alternative to Van Halen in their time. He is one of the voices that we all heard from a boom box while someone was washing a car in their driveway and kids were jumping ramps on their BMX bikes. 80s were fucking sweet. Kids have no idea how much fun they could be having right now but they just don't for some reason.
Young Man....I subscribed to your page because I was born in 1975....that means I was 9 in 1984....I remember when all of Def Jam dropped. You asked a lot of questions about the type of technology that was used in the 80z to make the music....everything was from scratch and not computer generated...no frooti loops...no pro tools....you had a real DJ...equalizers...turntables...mics....the artist had promoters and pushed their own tapes...then CDz later....Real Hip-Hop is always the best.
It was in the street. Selling your cassette tape on the corner, get it played at a club, go to the radio station and try to get the DJ to play it. Back then DJs on the radio had autonomy over their playlist. Different DJs had different shows that they programmed. Radio DJs wanted to find the freshest artists to break their career, help the artist, and grow the DJ's fanbase and street cred.
As a white kid from the middle of the country, I heard this the first time and lost it. Made me spend a small fortune on my stereo to get that bass. LL is awesome.
1. The car was a Jaguar 2. We recorded music on Cassette tapes, 4 tracks. And reel to reels. Then take them and re record them a hundred times and sell them at the mall And downtown or in the hood or in the trunks of cars. Every house had at least o e turntable and a tape deck 4. The NYC blackout of 77… everybody had a dj setup😅😅😅
I remember when this song came out. I grabbed my pencil and paper and boom box and did the "PLAY, PAUSE, write down lyrics, REWIND and PLAY" technique. I memorized this whole song and still know it until this day. #memories
Moe Dee, KRS and Rakim are the ones who really put the oomph into my pen and freestyles... but LL is the one who made me want to rap in the first place. This was the first rap song I ever memorized
@@jamessomers8808just looking at any part of that car only a rookie ain't know that's a Jag son. You prob 30 or younger. If older you should be ashamed of yo self
Love your old school journey, I'm 50, grew up in da hood....Your reactions are so great....I used to breakdance, so I have a recommendation......JAM ON IT, that was one of the first in Hip Hop
yes def! another one was Tour de france. I forget the name of the band but I saw friends breakin to in in 84. That was my first time really seeing breakdancing
One thing i can say that was different back then, then today was when you turned that album cover over you saw thank you and shout outs to just about every rap artist in that area and some from abroad. And sometimes you would be amazed at the names you would see. Like L.L. Cool J might would have had Willie D 's name on it saying thank you. It was a more united movement until they noticed the movement was a progressive one. In my opinion it was after Public Enemies " Fight the power" video that made white corporations say " We need to poison this"...and they did. Keep up the good work. Stay focused. Stay away from drugs young brother 💯
Back in the day, you HAD to go to a studio and it was expensive. That's how a lot of artists got robbed. They wanted a record deal so bad because they couldn't figure out another way to even get their music out there. Over time we figured out how to make our own studios and then the internet came along. But to hear LL Cool J way down here in Texas... he had to have a record deal with a major distributor or something. Radio shows had a lot of power. I had a cousin who went to NYC and brought back stuff that no one around me had ever heard. Stuff recorded right off the NYC radio. It was like hearing music from another planet.
Lol@ major label and distributuin deal......there was no major label pushing rap back then. Def Jam was started with LL. Rap music was only played on the radio on Sunday nights.
80s marketing of music took longer. You would read about it in magazines at book stores, you would go to club concerts, then MTV came out and the music videos became mainstream. But the most effective advertisement was word of mouth, and being able to trust someone's musical tastes. Most bands would have to open for famous groups before they would get recognition that they existed. Midnight radio shows was another way to market music.
Yeah lots of smaller venues survived via a thriving music scene with live bands playing various circuits. It happens now but it was really big in the 80s and 90s. I think internet has really damaged lots of the old live socializing stuff. It was how you used to find girls etc as well. Also the time frame was weeks to months rather than days to weeks like now. I.e a band could release a record or tape and they'd have a much longer window of opportunity for advertising than these days. Magazines were weekly/monthly etc so that cycle ment that people would be thinking/talking about that new band or that new album for at least that long.
Yo MTV raps with Fab 5 Freddy was the only time this got played on MTV. And shout out to all the college radio stations that played this because it was rare for rap to get airplay on comercial radio.
@@masai711 Yes, the He's the DJ I'm the Rapper album was great. Played it a lot in high school. Rakim, KRS-One, BDK and Kool Moe Dee were just on another level lyrically for me. Even Slick Rick, Public Enemy, those are the 80s artist I keep going back too over and over.
Back in the 80's they rapped in the basements, house parties, block parties and local clubs. You had your equipment at the house parties and in the basement. I was there when it started in Brooklyn. It was Awesome! I used to have basement parties❤
I loved your reaction. This song is when I first fell in love with hip hop. Because where I grew up we only had MTV not BET. No music from black people was played on the radio. But my dad’s side of the family lived in a more diverse area with culture. I visited them one summer and sitting on my grandma’s floor watching a big box tv, I saw LL Cool J’s I’m Bad for the first time. It was like magic to me, I was 12 years old. I’m so glad you can feel how great that song was and still is. Real Hip hop to me!
Lol. In the 80's a lot of music from black musicians was played on the radio. Actually, this song and a lot of LL's songs were played on the radio. It was a great era for black artists!
6:50 This album was recorded in a Studio since Rap was becoming more Main Stream by the time this album was released. However, his first album was recorded in the Rick Rubin's (Producer) closet of his College Dorm Room at NYU.
HA!!! We would record in my friends basement with his DMX equipment, reel to reel recorder and a set of cheap a$$ flimsy mics....lol.... those were the days. WOW, life was so much more simple back then.
To tell you the truth back in the day radio shack was the place to get all your recording stuff you get two technics turn tables a mixer a reel to reel and you go to Tower records or your local record store and buy a bunch of blank cassettes and sell your raps to the folks that you know also you get your name out there by rapping at high school dance or a house or block party and if you had dope lyrics you'd get famous by word of mouth and one more thing you'd had to be original facts 💯💯😉😉
I was born in 1972, was there in the beginning of all this great music,i subbed to ya brotha cuz i like like how you roll. Im just a 52 yr old white dude who absolutely loves old hip hop
70. Born during Nixon. A year older than Tupac. Watched the star wars holiday special live. Owned a pair of acid washed bugle boys and reebok high-tops. If you were conceived at Woodstock, you're my age.
Actually Boxer Mohammad ALI is the original G.O.A.T. Coining the phrase Greatest.of.all.Time. He never said G.O.A.T, NO one said Goat until they began referring to Michael Jordan as 'The G.o.a.t" LL Referred to himself as both Goat and Greatest of all time, taking the phrase and meaning from Muhammad Ali.
LL was literally the first solo rap star ever. 1st artist on Def Jam, 1st solo rapper to go platinum. He literally created the blueprint for Hip Hop success. Even the 1st rapper to wear Jordans
Ladies love Cool J. Dude has had an absolute insane career, & he's a beast on the mic even now. I also really appreciate his positive influence, he's helped so many people, absolute legend. Nothing but good things to say about him, also I think it's a old school Audi 5000, you know like the saying, "I'm Audi 5000".
LL is a legend in the game. As a teenager, it was special to see him in concert in the 1980s. He would come out on the roof of the arena in a big radio, which was a prop. He is still making music today and just dropped a new album. Made his debut in Krush Groove as a teenager.
You needed a good DJ, an sp1200, and a lyricist willing to put out his or her blood sweat and tears to make it big back in the day .. hip hop could not be contained, it blew up no matter how much the radio stations tried to suppress it.. 💯💯💯
1989 - I was 19... just moved into 3 story apt on 2nd level. Somebody was cranking music loud in my area. I had $1,500 Sanyo entertainment system (made pmts on it for 2 years!)... one of 1st systems with CD player. We spent ALL of our extra $ on music. I was making about $6/hr then.... paid $1,100 for my car... lol... I put this CD in, cranked Bass to Max & started this song.... 30 seconds later I pause it & other person's music had stopped. This song has some SERIOUS Bass! Good times... good memories.
I was in the 5th grade and used to rock this tape in my boombox all day long...lol...so much so that once the song ended, my brain went right to the next song...."Candy".......those were the days
I used to be in the music industry at the time. The way it was done. You had to do what is called “shopping”, meaning you made a demo tape and let a panel of executives listen to your demo. You had to do so with several record labels. This is how talent was scouted.
Yo MTV raps was the main thing that brought hip hop to the masses, but in the streets, it was mixtapes and word of mouth. radio stations werent playing alot of hip hop still in the late 80's. very few hip hop songs got played on the radio, only the "lighter, happier" tracks like Push It, Turn This Mutha Out, got airplay, and hip hop heads deemed those songs on radio as "soft" at the time. hip hop didnt really start to get played on radio more often til the early 90's (The Chronic by Dre had alot to do w it also).
Back then, artists had to depend on the record label for the majority of their promotions. They could get tv show appearances, magazine articles, live shows, and interviews, but the label had to pay a lot of expenses for promoting an individual artist nationwide/worldwide.
I think that's why the record companies hated the internet. It took out the necessity for a middle man for new artists. I found a lot of indie stuff on LimeWire, etc. back in the early internet days.
Marley Marl was helping a lot of ppl @ that time, too. Them two hookin' up, (Marley & LL) and coming up w/ 'Mama Said Knock You Out' 😂 was pure magic. Talking 'bout chemistry.
@@bamnjphoto No Ad-Rock discovered him by listening to demo tapes in Rick Rubins Dorm. He also made the beat for his first single I Need a Beat. "Shout out to Ad Rock, the man who gave me my break," LL Cool J says at one point, nodding along to his verse, before remembering MCA, who passed away in 2012 after a battle with cancer. Over the years LL has spoken about Ad Rock and his role in LL becoming the first artist signed to Def Jam. Read it yourself google "LL Cool J Remembers How Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys Gave Him His Break" Don't be so quick to comment when you don't know.
@@bamnjphoto The article continues. "Ad Rock was the one who gave my demo to [Def Jam Co-founder] Rick Rubin," LL said in a 2020 interview with talk show host Jimmy Fallon. "That's how I got my break. Ad Rock of The Beastie Boys used to hang out with Rick in his dorm room every day, and I sent a tape there - Rick would just throw 'em in the corner in a box with a bunch of other tapes Ad would go through the box when he had nothing to do, he was playing hooky from school. He listened to my tape, he liked it and told Rick to listen to it." He then talked about Ad Rock's role in his early music. "Ad rock actually made the beat on my first song 'I Need A Beat'," LL recalled. "Rick Produced it, but Ad Rock programmed the drum machine." LL went on to say that before Ad Rock's version that he himself programmed the beat on a Korg drum machine. "It was similar, but Adam's was definitely better."
I’m glad you asked young grasshopper, it took skills and then people recognized if you had real talent and you practiced and honed your skills and came out when your peers was buzzing.
I’m 55 we played this over and over at graduation…to answer your questions…Nike wasn’t as large a brand back then…Adidas was the jogging suit to have…and music by this point…in ‘87…every radio station had DJs that would play new songs by an artist and would let you know when they were going to spin it…and you learned about new drops thru your friends and family….no cell phones…when you left the house it was all pay phones…so your crew was your Google…no cap…that’s why people in our era will be tight with their hoods and friends 4 life….
That car was an XJ6… one of the baddest!! There was also an XJS. One time, back in ‘90s I believe, I was in a cab on 129th and Amsterdam, and LL pulled up next to us in a black Camaro with a nice looking young lady with him. Back in the day, we used to record on 1/4”, 1/2”, 1” or 2” reels. We’d go to one of the studios here in the city before it became easy, and less expensive, to record at home. I can be in one state, record something, send to friend in another country thru the internet, have him or her record something on it, and have it back when they finished. Back then, you couldn’t do that… Great post!!
I remember people selling records out of the back of their cars to use for scratching. The labels were scratched off. This is where Run DMC started for Walk this Way. The very beginning of rap. It was an amazing time for music.
Word of mouth! Dollar parties, clubs, performing on the block while chilling and now a crowd starts-now it’s something happening there every week. Selling cassette tapes. U had to hit the street. Everybody was outside so it was the way of life.
There weren't near as many artists back then, once one song was played on the radio and you liked it, you went and got the cassette and we'd get together and hang out and play our cassettes
One of LL Cool Js most underrated songs is Droppin Em from the Walking with a Panther album. Others were more popular, like Going Back To Cali but the bars in Droppin Em are fire.
Oh and to speak to your question, its a Jaguar car, and they recorded it all in studios, on multi-track tape recording to really big reel to reel taps, using massive mixing boards to mix the tracks down to a final tape, theres youtube channels that will show you. The videos were all lip sync, of course. Making a track, would take hours. By this period, we had basic synthesizers and the drum machine, the Roland TR 808 specifically, is why you will start to notice all the non-live rock drums, on any kind of hip hop or electronic 80s music all sounds the same, because they all used TR 808s to program drums in the studio. By the mid to late 80s, sampling synths were in the hands of the richer kids in town as well, but weren't super common yet, there would be that one band nerd in school who had taken piano since he was 5 that might have a sampling synth or a studio quality electronic piano or synth at home. You could also begin to get home recording tape cassette based "four track recorders" but they produced pretty rough mix recordings mostly for demos or scratching out ideas or pretending to be a rock star in your basement.
House parties and in the streets battling each other was the way to get their music heard and handing out cassette tapes they made with a popular dj from the hood
Mix tapes were life. And touring. Lots of touring.small clubs. 20 people night until you get seen..lots of handbills, college radio, more touring. Record signings.. remember those anyone? Did I mention touring? Shout out to #TexasTapesNRecords #TTNR for the raddest record signings ever.
Music was recorded in studios on TAPES, aka "FILM REELS", similar to movie film reels (pretty much the same), then transferred to records, sold in small stores in your neighbourhoods. We hung out in record stores, since there were no shopping malls at the time + no way to listen to music outside of the store or your home. If it was the "jam" then promoters were always looking for new "acts/artists", to perform at their shows, that usually had big crowds locally. If that went well, that artist or group might get invited to a contest show with a big monetary prize or some sort of "recording" contract, since only the big companies/corporations had the equipment needed to produce proper recordings, suitable for radio/airplay.....later, records turned into tapes/walkman/in-home stereo-systems, with speakers, equalizers/mixers, which lead to the first "Dj's", scratching, mixing & cutting/chopping records in the mid-70's/early 80's + kids like me, recording our favourite songs from the radio, late at night from "underground" rap shows because "Hip-Hop/rap-music" wasn't accepted on the "mainstream" radio until the mid/late-90's/early 2000's, so most of our favourite music wasn't considered "commercial", so we didn't hear rap that often or see videos on TV until MTV stopped being racist in the late 80's/early 90's = Hip-Hop went through A LOT to get to your eardrums
LL was and still is that Ninja as a kid I swagger jacked and made me begin to workout as a teenager and adult and get into boxing. Check out that entire BAD album it's a true classic
80's gear, there were 4 track cassette machines and 8 track reel to reel, if you had $$ they had 24 track reeel to reel. The boards back then were great, Neve, Sphere. Late 80s saw the rise of DAT machines, some used VHS tape. The 80s saw the rise of PC tools like Pro-Tools and pro-level audio cards. Back then you had to spend the $$ to get a strong enough computer to do any justice. By this time LL was able to pay for pro-studio. Saw him live way back when and "high energy" would short sell it, master showman, had the crowd jumping. I used to help bands make demos, long time ago, and I worked with just about every type of musician. Usually using the DIY stuff that rappers, rock groups, country artists, they all used the same stuff pretty much to record.
L.L.’s ‘Jack the Ripper’ is an absolute MUST!!! This was a diss track in response to Kool Moe Dee. The two had a beef in the mid 80’s. ‘Jack the Ripper’ is a beast of a track.
To blow up in the 80s and 90s you needed this thing called talent
Facts
LL Cool J is hard as Hell but he can't live without his radio.
He also "Rocked The Bells" before "Mama Said Knock You Out".
@@NinetyFiveBravo1775 And then he swung an episode in the back seat of his jeep.
@@steviegenoski9977 grew up listening to LL. He left a stain on the brain with a small role in Krushgroove when he did "Can't Live Without My Radio"
@@NinetyFiveBravo1775 Yep, I'm old too. lol
It's funny, these kids think of Snoop and Dre when you say old school.
Fah real word. Can't live without his BOOM BOX or Kangol or cap. 😂
This came out 8 years after Rapper's Delight and the mainstream still thought hip-hop was a fad. But we knew it was undeniable. The whole era was blowing suburban minds everywhere.
This is America right here. LL was an alternative to Van Halen in their time. He is one of the voices that we all heard from a boom box while someone was washing a car in their driveway and kids were jumping ramps on their BMX bikes. 80s were fucking sweet. Kids have no idea how much fun they could be having right now but they just don't for some reason.
Young Man....I subscribed to your page because I was born in 1975....that means I was 9 in 1984....I remember when all of Def Jam dropped. You asked a lot of questions about the type of technology that was used in the 80z to make the music....everything was from scratch and not computer generated...no frooti loops...no pro tools....you had a real DJ...equalizers...turntables...mics....the artist had promoters and pushed their own tapes...then CDz later....Real Hip-Hop is always the best.
It was in the street. Selling your cassette tape on the corner, get it played at a club, go to the radio station and try to get the DJ to play it. Back then DJs on the radio had autonomy over their playlist. Different DJs had different shows that they programmed. Radio DJs wanted to find the freshest artists to break their career, help the artist, and grow the DJ's fanbase and street cred.
Right !!!! It wasn’t no just put it on the internet and get hella likes .
Maybe we need a reaction to De La Soul - Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) to get this one over to bro
Yeah that’s how I got Wu Tang’s first tape! Just a copy of a copy!
Label A&R's, Street Teams, and local DJ's mix tapes.
This is your answer
As a white kid from the middle of the country, I heard this the first time and lost it. Made me spend a small fortune on my stereo to get that bass. LL is awesome.
1. The car was a Jaguar
2. We recorded music on Cassette tapes, 4 tracks. And reel to reels. Then take them and re record them a hundred times and sell them at the mall And downtown or in the hood or in the trunks of cars. Every house had at least o e turntable and a tape deck
4. The NYC blackout of 77… everybody had a dj setup😅😅😅
I remember when this song came out. I grabbed my pencil and paper and boom box and did the "PLAY, PAUSE, write down lyrics, REWIND and PLAY" technique. I memorized this whole song and still know it until this day. #memories
That was a whole task we all did back then 😅
right? The good ole cassette tape, the newer gen will never know.....
@@Jayizzo007 if you were hardcore, you would call the radio station and wait for your request, lol
@@feverish6708 lol would call with a fake birthday request just so they would for sure get the song and shout out!!
Moe Dee, KRS and Rakim are the ones who really put the oomph into my pen and freestyles... but LL is the one who made me want to rap in the first place. This was the first rap song I ever memorized
The car (Whip) in the video is a Jaguar XJS V12.
yup knew it was a jag, poor company just fkd themselves
I couldn’t get a good look at it, but I did think it was a jag. Thank you.
Same car hes standing on on the bigger and deffer album right?
@@jamessomers8808just looking at any part of that car only a rookie ain't know that's a Jag son. You prob 30 or younger. If older you should be ashamed of yo self
Nice I couldn’t even tell from that angle
And he was still a teenager when this came out!!!...19 years old!!! Tha GOAT FR!!!!
Radio, word of mouth, concerts, albums, cassette tapes and music videos... That's how they blew up back then!!!
You need to peep "It's Funky Enough" by The D.O.C... He was in the NWA camp.
Yes The D.O.C. was solid!
THAT song still knocks! 🔥🔥🔥
Or The Formula
D.O.C. Was one of the best.
Back in the 80s you needed Mr Magic or Red Alert to blow up on the radio
Super super super
Rap rap rap
Attack attack attack
Special Ed
Love your old school journey, I'm 50, grew up in da hood....Your reactions are so great....I used to breakdance, so I have a recommendation......JAM ON IT, that was one of the first in Hip Hop
yes def! another one was Tour de france. I forget the name of the band but I saw friends breakin to in in 84. That was my first time really seeing breakdancing
2024 VISION 👍👍👍 BIG FACTS...YOU REMEMER THE WINDMILL 🤔
Love that one. I hear it imma dance period! Lol
"Wiki, Wiki, Wiki, Wiki...Shut up"
One thing i can say that was different back then, then today was when you turned that album cover over you saw thank you and shout outs to just about every rap artist in that area and some from abroad. And sometimes you would be amazed at the names you would see. Like L.L. Cool J might would have had Willie D 's name on it saying thank you. It was a more united movement until they noticed the movement was a progressive one. In my opinion it was after Public Enemies " Fight the power" video that made white corporations say " We need to poison this"...and they did. Keep up the good work. Stay focused. Stay away from drugs young brother 💯
Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock - It Takes Two 🔥 🔥🔥
lol, grew up in Miami, and that was the shit, know every word!
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
na
@@feverish6708that song ain't never make you forget every word...even the beats that come wit it ya feel me?
I concur let’s go!!!! joy and pain too while we’re at it
These LL Cool J Jams were big back then.
1. I need love
2. Boomin system
4. Back seat of my jeep
5. Mama said knock you out
6. Doin' it
@@rgw1380rw The Doo Wop Song!!
He used to rock in his basement now he's #1... = started from the bottom now he here. 🫡
Back in the day, you HAD to go to a studio and it was expensive. That's how a lot of artists got robbed. They wanted a record deal so bad because they couldn't figure out another way to even get their music out there. Over time we figured out how to make our own studios and then the internet came along. But to hear LL Cool J way down here in Texas... he had to have a record deal with a major distributor or something. Radio shows had a lot of power. I had a cousin who went to NYC and brought back stuff that no one around me had ever heard. Stuff recorded right off the NYC radio. It was like hearing music from another planet.
Lol@ major label and distributuin deal......there was no major label pushing rap back then. Def Jam was started with LL. Rap music was only played on the radio on Sunday nights.
"goin back to cali" next!!!!!!!! LL was my MAN!
I’d like to see him do Mama Said Knock You Out!
Big ole butt
Upvote. Came to day this as well.
The "Musclebound Man and put his face in the sand," is a reference to Charles Atlas comic book ads that ran from the 1920s to the 1980s
I like this guy he seems open,willing to listen and learn. So im throwing my support for to get 50k and so on❤🎉
One of the best written rap songs ever
80s marketing of music took longer. You would read about it in magazines at book stores, you would go to club concerts, then MTV came out and the music videos became mainstream. But the most effective advertisement was word of mouth, and being able to trust someone's musical tastes. Most bands would have to open for famous groups before they would get recognition that they existed. Midnight radio shows was another way to market music.
Yeah lots of smaller venues survived via a thriving music scene with live bands playing various circuits. It happens now but it was really big in the 80s and 90s. I think internet has really damaged lots of the old live socializing stuff. It was how you used to find girls etc as well.
Also the time frame was weeks to months rather than days to weeks like now. I.e a band could release a record or tape and they'd have a much longer window of opportunity for advertising than these days. Magazines were weekly/monthly etc so that cycle ment that people would be thinking/talking about that new band or that new album for at least that long.
that and the streets a lot of artist, give and sold their tapes to local DJs, house parties and ppl just recording from the radio
Yo MTV raps with Fab 5 Freddy was the only time this got played on MTV. And shout out to all the college radio stations that played this because it was rare for rap to get airplay on comercial radio.
@@anthonycuervo4754 Night Flight is where I first saw Fab 5 Freddy.
LL Cool J been Bad since his early years with Rick Rubin On Def Jam Records back In 85''!🎶🔥🔥🔥😎
USED TO ROCK IN MY BASEMENT, NOW I'M NUMBER #1 ⚡⚡⚡💥💥💥💥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
REAL MEN TALK LOUD AND CLEAR! LIL BRO!!!!
Don’t forget L.L. on the mobile phone was big baller stuff.
Since you've made it here...
Big Daddy Kane
"Raw"
100% anything from Kane, add in some Kool Moe Dee - I go to work.
@treyschick264 there's also
Dj Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
"Brand New Funk"
....everybody knows "Summertime"...but..
@@masai711 Yes, the He's the DJ I'm the Rapper album was great. Played it a lot in high school. Rakim, KRS-One, BDK and Kool Moe Dee were just on another level lyrically for me. Even Slick Rick, Public Enemy, those are the 80s artist I keep going back too over and over.
@@masai711 Most definitely. Or some of 'em Marley Marl & The Juice Crew -joints. Great lyricists there; Kane, G. Rap, Shan, Craig G... 🤔
Mortal Combat and Ain't No Half Steppin
Back in the 80's they rapped in the basements, house parties, block parties and local clubs. You had your equipment at the house parties and in the basement. I was there when it started in Brooklyn. It was Awesome! I used to have basement parties❤
I loved your reaction. This song is when I first fell in love with hip hop. Because where I grew up we only had MTV not BET. No music from black people was played on the radio. But my dad’s side of the family lived in a more diverse area with culture. I visited them one summer and sitting on my grandma’s floor watching a big box tv, I saw LL Cool J’s I’m
Bad for the first time. It was like magic to me, I was 12 years old. I’m so glad you can feel how great that song was and still is. Real
Hip hop to me!
Lol. In the 80's a lot of music from black musicians was played on the radio. Actually, this song and a lot of LL's songs were played on the radio. It was a great era for black artists!
Keep these old school classics coming
6:50 This album was recorded in a Studio since Rap was becoming more Main Stream by the time this album was released. However, his first album was recorded in the Rick Rubin's (Producer) closet of his College Dorm Room at NYU.
HA!!! We would record in my friends basement with his DMX equipment, reel to reel recorder and a set of cheap a$$ flimsy mics....lol.... those were the days. WOW, life was so much more simple back then.
To tell you the truth back in the day radio shack was the place to get all your recording stuff you get two technics turn tables a mixer a reel to reel and you go to Tower records or your local record store and buy a bunch of blank cassettes and sell your raps to the folks that you know also you get your name out there by rapping at high school dance or a house or block party and if you had dope lyrics you'd get famous by word of mouth and one more thing you'd had to be original facts 💯💯😉😉
I was born in 1972, was there in the beginning of all this great music,i subbed to ya brotha cuz i like like how you roll. Im just a 52 yr old white dude who absolutely loves old hip hop
Right there with you, man. Born in ‘74.
Hey I was born in 72 too
'71 here. Us white suburban kids couldn't get enough of hip hop!
70. Born during Nixon. A year older than Tupac. Watched the star wars holiday special live. Owned a pair of acid washed bugle boys and reebok high-tops. If you were conceived at Woodstock, you're my age.
@@InverseofAbstersive haha Bugle Boys. I forgot about that brand! 😝
remember LLCOOLJ is the reason why people use the term G.O.A.T he coined the GOAT as the greatest of all time he is known as the GOAT
Actually Boxer Mohammad ALI is the original G.O.A.T. Coining the phrase Greatest.of.all.Time. He never said G.O.A.T, NO one said Goat until they began referring to Michael Jordan as 'The G.o.a.t" LL Referred to himself as both Goat and Greatest of all time, taking the phrase and meaning from Muhammad Ali.
LL also wrote for RUN DMC.
One of the hardest beats and bassline. I used to listen to that before my football games when I played Pop-Warner Football. I WAS READY!
Lol my go to was EricB and Rakim "I ain't no Joke" before every game
1987, an important year in rap. NYC, cassettes on corners.
LL was literally the first solo rap star ever. 1st artist on Def Jam, 1st solo rapper to go platinum. He literally created the blueprint for Hip Hop success. Even the 1st rapper to wear Jordans
MTV was our window to the new and freshest hits!
We recorded our music off the radio plays and made our own playlist on tape!
Ladies love Cool J. Dude has had an absolute insane career, & he's a beast on the mic even now. I also really appreciate his positive influence, he's helped so many people, absolute legend. Nothing but good things to say about him, also I think it's a old school Audi 5000, you know like the saying, "I'm Audi 5000".
Pullin up in a Jaguar
LL is a legend in the game. As a teenager, it was special to see him in concert in the 1980s. He would come out on the roof of the arena in a big radio, which was a prop. He is still making music today and just dropped a new album. Made his debut in Krush Groove as a teenager.
You needed a good DJ, an sp1200, and a lyricist willing to put out his or her blood sweat and tears to make it big back in the day .. hip hop could not be contained, it blew up no matter how much the radio stations tried to suppress it.. 💯💯💯
"Shhhhhh" live in Tokyo. The best live performance you will ever experience from Prince. The drum and guitar solos are legendary.
Make hiphop great again 🫡
It's about time for a revival. Look at how many young men are discovering the classics and are totally amazed!
@@familyheissinger5833 Agreed.
1989 - I was 19... just moved into 3 story apt on 2nd level. Somebody was cranking music loud in my area. I had $1,500 Sanyo entertainment system (made pmts on it for 2 years!)... one of 1st systems with CD player. We spent ALL of our extra $ on music. I was making about $6/hr then.... paid $1,100 for my car... lol... I put this CD in, cranked Bass to Max & started this song.... 30 seconds later I pause it & other person's music had stopped. This song has some SERIOUS Bass! Good times... good memories.
Rakim….Follow The Leader….Lyrics Of Fury🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
what about a bit of Marley Marl - He Cuts So Fresh (Uptown Is Kickin' It Mix)
Eric B. & Rakim - Juice (Know The Ledge) 🤔
I was in the 5th grade and used to rock this tape in my boombox all day long...lol...so much so that once the song ended, my brain went right to the next song...."Candy".......those were the days
4:50 that’s a Jaguar
I used to be in the music industry at the time. The way it was done. You had to do what is called “shopping”, meaning you made a demo tape and let a panel of executives listen to your demo. You had to do so with several record labels. This is how talent was scouted.
KOOL G RAP
- road to the riches
Oh Hell Yeah Hes Going Love it Too
This was a whole Marvel movie in 1 video!!!!!! LL jumping around like Spiderman and Earl is spinning that wax!
Yo MTV raps was the main thing that brought hip hop to the masses, but in the streets, it was mixtapes and word of mouth. radio stations werent playing alot of hip hop still in the late 80's. very few hip hop songs got played on the radio, only the "lighter, happier" tracks like Push It, Turn This Mutha Out, got airplay, and hip hop heads deemed those songs on radio as "soft" at the time. hip hop didnt really start to get played on radio more often til the early 90's (The Chronic by Dre had alot to do w it also).
The radio then word of mouth bro..was alot less foolishness before the internet😂
YO, MTV RAPS. That’s where you found Rap , and all kinds of music on MTV back then .
Back then, artists had to depend on the record label for the majority of their promotions. They could get tv show appearances, magazine articles, live shows, and interviews, but the label had to pay a lot of expenses for promoting an individual artist nationwide/worldwide.
I think that's why the record companies hated the internet. It took out the necessity for a middle man for new artists. I found a lot of indie stuff on LimeWire, etc. back in the early internet days.
My tongue’s a chisel in this composition’s sculpture!
This album was the soundtrack of my senior year of high school❤
Speak That Truth Same Here
young man. I am from that era. LL and myself are the same age. let me tell you, LL was that dude. and that aint no joke.
Don't forget that the Beastie Boys discovered and helped LL get to where he is today!
Marley Marl was helping a lot of ppl @ that time, too. Them two hookin' up, (Marley & LL) and coming up w/ 'Mama Said Knock You Out' 😂 was pure magic. Talking 'bout chemistry.
Beastie didn't discover him, he knew Russel Simmons because he grew up in Queens. He was the first artist to put out a record on Def Jam
Yep. Song was called I need a beat
@@bamnjphoto No Ad-Rock discovered him by listening to demo tapes in Rick Rubins Dorm. He also made the beat for his first single I Need a Beat. "Shout out to Ad Rock, the man who gave me my break," LL Cool J says at one point, nodding along to his verse, before remembering MCA, who passed away in 2012 after a battle with cancer. Over the years LL has spoken about Ad Rock and his role in LL becoming the first artist signed to Def Jam. Read it yourself google "LL Cool J Remembers How Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys Gave Him His Break" Don't be so quick to comment when you don't know.
@@bamnjphoto The article continues. "Ad Rock was the one who gave my demo to [Def Jam Co-founder] Rick Rubin," LL said in a 2020 interview with talk show host Jimmy Fallon. "That's how I got my break. Ad Rock of The Beastie Boys used to hang out with Rick in his dorm room every day, and I sent a tape there - Rick would just throw 'em in the corner in a box with a bunch of other tapes Ad would go through the box when he had nothing to do, he was playing hooky from school. He listened to my tape, he liked it and told Rick to listen to it."
He then talked about Ad Rock's role in his early music. "Ad rock actually made the beat on my first song 'I Need A Beat'," LL recalled. "Rick Produced it, but Ad Rock programmed the drum machine."
LL went on to say that before Ad Rock's version that he himself programmed the beat on a Korg drum machine. "It was similar, but Adam's was definitely better."
Three weeks later and you doubled that! Some of your reactions are just priceless. 😄
I met in around 2001 for just a minute. Super nice guy 👍. He's a big dude
Oh maaan, my LL Cool J forever jam: Around the way girl 🎶
Public Enemy "Brothers gonna work it out" needs to be on your list
I’m glad you asked young grasshopper, it took skills and then people recognized if you had real talent and you practiced and honed your skills and came out when your peers was buzzing.
Another album I know front to back, word for word. At 14 I must not have had much more to do than learn lyrics.
I’m 55 we played this over and over at graduation…to answer your questions…Nike wasn’t as large a brand back then…Adidas was the jogging suit to have…and music by this point…in ‘87…every radio station had DJs that would play new songs by an artist and would let you know when they were going to spin it…and you learned about new drops thru your friends and family….no cell phones…when you left the house it was all pay phones…so your crew was your Google…no cap…that’s why people in our era will be tight with their hoods and friends 4 life….
That car was an XJ6… one of the baddest!! There was also an XJS. One time, back in ‘90s I believe, I was in a cab on 129th and Amsterdam, and LL pulled up next to us in a black Camaro with a nice looking young lady with him. Back in the day, we used to record on 1/4”, 1/2”, 1” or 2” reels. We’d go to one of the studios here in the city before it became easy, and less expensive, to record at home. I can be in one state, record something, send to friend in another country thru the internet, have him or her record something on it, and have it back when they finished. Back then, you couldn’t do that… Great post!!
LL had St. Louis rockin with this one! From the babies to the old folks...🍻
I like how you've been reacting to these Def Jam records artists recently .
LL was THE ARTIST that made us put speakers and amps in the trunk. frfr
I'm liking your reactions thus far keep going...
This DJ was the first DJ scratch that sound like music made me start liking When they scratch
Ad-Rock found him 👍
I remember people selling records out of the back of their cars to use for scratching. The labels were scratched off. This is where Run DMC started for Walk this Way. The very beginning of rap. It was an amazing time for music.
Word of mouth! Dollar parties, clubs, performing on the block while chilling and now a crowd starts-now it’s something happening there every week. Selling cassette tapes. U had to hit the street. Everybody was outside so it was the way of life.
Because we Lee’s jeans, they came in different colors so your wardrobe was always on point.
There weren't near as many artists back then, once one song was played on the radio and you liked it, you went and got the cassette and we'd get together and hang out and play our cassettes
One of LL Cool Js most underrated songs is Droppin Em from the Walking with a Panther album. Others were more popular, like Going Back To Cali but the bars in Droppin Em are fire.
Blow Up = Radio, Video, and we bought ALBUMS on WAX!!!
Back during this era in the New York metropolitan area, we didn't wear Levi's, we wore Lee Jeans. Levi's became popular a few years later.
Oh and to speak to your question, its a Jaguar car, and they recorded it all in studios, on multi-track tape recording to really big reel to reel taps, using massive mixing boards to mix the tracks down to a final tape, theres youtube channels that will show you. The videos were all lip sync, of course. Making a track, would take hours. By this period, we had basic synthesizers and the drum machine, the Roland TR 808 specifically, is why you will start to notice all the non-live rock drums, on any kind of hip hop or electronic 80s music all sounds the same, because they all used TR 808s to program drums in the studio. By the mid to late 80s, sampling synths were in the hands of the richer kids in town as well, but weren't super common yet, there would be that one band nerd in school who had taken piano since he was 5 that might have a sampling synth or a studio quality electronic piano or synth at home. You could also begin to get home recording tape cassette based "four track recorders" but they produced pretty rough mix recordings mostly for demos or scratching out ideas or pretending to be a rock star in your basement.
House parties and in the streets battling each other was the way to get their music heard and handing out cassette tapes they made with a popular dj from the hood
Mix tapes were life.
And touring. Lots of touring.small clubs. 20 people night until you get seen..lots of handbills, college radio, more touring. Record signings.. remember those anyone? Did I mention touring?
Shout out to #TexasTapesNRecords
#TTNR for the raddest record signings ever.
LL is a baaaaaaaaaaaad man!
LLMAO "That Mother Lover be Shaaap"
Music was recorded in studios on TAPES, aka "FILM REELS", similar to movie film reels (pretty much the same), then transferred to records, sold in small stores in your neighbourhoods. We hung out in record stores, since there were no shopping malls at the time + no way to listen to music outside of the store or your home. If it was the "jam" then promoters were always looking for new "acts/artists", to perform at their shows, that usually had big crowds locally. If that went well, that artist or group might get invited to a contest show with a big monetary prize or some sort of "recording" contract, since only the big companies/corporations had the equipment needed to produce proper recordings, suitable for radio/airplay.....later, records turned into tapes/walkman/in-home stereo-systems, with speakers, equalizers/mixers, which lead to the first "Dj's", scratching, mixing & cutting/chopping records in the mid-70's/early 80's + kids like me, recording our favourite songs from the radio, late at night from "underground" rap shows because "Hip-Hop/rap-music" wasn't accepted on the "mainstream" radio until the mid/late-90's/early 2000's, so most of our favourite music wasn't considered "commercial", so we didn't hear rap that often or see videos on TV until MTV stopped being racist in the late 80's/early 90's = Hip-Hop went through A LOT to get to your eardrums
LL was and still is that Ninja as a kid I swagger jacked and made me begin to workout as a teenager and adult and get into boxing. Check out that entire BAD album it's a true classic
Music videos were definitely a game changer
Wbls and kiss FM, it was crazy on the weekends in NYC, love it
You need to listen to LL Cool.J
Mama said knock you out
You will be so hype after
6:53 the steps were dj’s. From house parties to radio shows and the biggest thing for hip hop at least was mix tapes.
Yes they recorded at a studio. They used to sell their tapes on the block. Do outdoor concerts with a mixer and a speaker.
💯LL IS THE REASON DEF JAM RECORDS BLEW UP HE BUILT THAT LABEL 💯
80's gear, there were 4 track cassette machines and 8 track reel to reel, if you had $$ they had 24 track reeel to reel. The boards back then were great, Neve, Sphere. Late 80s saw the rise of DAT machines, some used VHS tape. The 80s saw the rise of PC tools like Pro-Tools and pro-level audio cards. Back then you had to spend the $$ to get a strong enough computer to do any justice. By this time LL was able to pay for pro-studio. Saw him live way back when and "high energy" would short sell it, master showman, had the crowd jumping. I used to help bands make demos, long time ago, and I worked with just about every type of musician. Usually using the DIY stuff that rappers, rock groups, country artists, they all used the same stuff pretty much to record.
You can never go wrong with some classic LL cool J
L.L.’s ‘Jack the Ripper’ is an absolute MUST!!! This was a diss track in response to Kool Moe Dee. The two had a beef in the mid 80’s. ‘Jack the Ripper’ is a beast of a track.
Both LL and Beastie where on Def Jam,Record labels back then had their ways to get radio play.
They used to do a lot of recording in basements!! Sold out of trunks!! Mixed tapes!!! They would get handed out!! Then later recorded in a studio!!
From the basement/garage to the studio to the radio station