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Radio (LL Cool J album)
Encyclopedia
Radio is the debut album
of American rapper LL Cool J
, released November 18, 1985 on Def Jam Recordings
in the United States. It serves as the label's first full-length album release. Recording sessions for the album took place during 1984 to 1985 at Chung King House of Metal in New York City
. The album was primarily produced by Rick Rubin
, who provided a sparse and minimal production style. Radio also features a sound that is punctuated by DJ scratching
, mostly brief samples, and emphasis of the downbeat. LL Cool J's b-boy lyricism conveys themes of inner city
culture, teenage promiscuity
, and braggadocio
raps.
The album experienced a significant amount of commercial success and sales for a hip hop record at the time, earning U.S. Billboard
chart success and selling over 500,000 copies within its first five months of release. On April 19, 1989, Radio was certified platinum
in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA), following sales in excess of one million copies in the United States. Initial criticism of the album was generally positive, as LL Cool J's lyricism and Rick Rubin's production were praised by several music critics. It has since been recognized by critics as LL Cool J's greatest work
.
Reflecting the new school
and ghettoblaster subculture in the U.S. during the mid-1980s, Radio belongs to a pivotal moment in the history and culture of hip hop
. Its success contributed to the displacement of the old school
with the new school form and to the genre's mainstream success during the period. Its success also served as a career breakthrough for LL Cool J and Rick Rubin. Radio has been recognized by music writers as one of the first cohesive and commercially successful hip hop albums. In 2003, the album was ranked number 478 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
.
and promoter
-manager Russell Simmons
founded the then-independent Def Jam label, 16 year–old St. Albans, Queens
native James Todd Smith was creating demo tapes in his grandparents' home. His grandfather, a jazz saxophonist, purchased him $
2,000 worth of stereo equipment, including two turntables
, an audio mixer
and an amplifier
. Smith later discussed his childhood background and rapping
, stating that "By the time I got that equipment, I was already a rapper. In this neighborhood, the kids grow up in rap. It's like speaking Spanish
if you grow up in an all-Spanish house. I got into it when I was about 9, and since then all I wanted was to make a record and hear it on the radio." By using the mixing table
he had received from his grandfather, Smith produced and mixed his own demos and sent them to various record companies throughout New York City, including Simmons' and Rubin's own Def Jam Recordings.
Under his new stage name
, LL Cool J (an acronym for Ladies Love Cool James), Smith was signed by Def Jam, which led to the release of his first official record, the 12-inch single
"I Need a Beat
" (1984). The single was a hard-hitting, streetwise b-boy song with spare beats and ballistic rhymes. Smith later discussed his search for a label, stating "I sent my demo to many different companies, but it was Def Jam where I found my home." That same year, Smith made his professional debut concert performance at Manhattan Center High School. In a later interview, LL Cool J recalled the experience, stating "They pushed the lunch room tables together and me and my DJ, Cut Creator, started playing. ... As soon as it was over there were girls screaming and asking for autographs. Right then and there I said 'This is what I want to do'." LL's debut single sold over 100,000 copies and helped establish both Def Jam as a label and Smith as a rapper. The commercial success of "I Need a Beat", along with the Beastie Boys
's single "Rock Hard
" (1984), helped lead Def Jam to a distribution deal with Columbia Records
the following year.
in Manhattan's Chinatown
under Rubin's direction throughout 1984 and 1985. Notable from the personnel line-up was LL's DJ Jay Philpot, better known as "Cut Creator". A Queens native and former trombonist, Philpot met LL at a block party
and they began performing together. The audio mastering
was handled by engineer Herb Powers at 130 West 42nd Street
in the Frankford Wayne Mastering Labs and the album was set for release as Radio in November 1985, containing a dedication in the liner notes from LL Cool J to his mother and his grandparents. Upon release, six of the album's tracks had already or would later be released as singles
. The album's release had been anticipated by many rap fans following LL Cool J's appearance in the hip hop movie Krush Groove
, which was based on the beginnings of the Def Jam label and featured the single "I Can't Live Without My Radio
" from Radio.
The album's production, handled entirely by Rick Rubin with a remix by DJ Jazzy Jay
, has been noted by critics and music writers for Rubin's minimalist style and stripped-down aggressiveness. Steve Huey of Allmusic described the production for Radio as "bare-bones" and "skeletal", while calling the instrumentation "basically just a cranked-up beatbox." The sound of Radio is mostly punctuated by DJ scratching
and features occasional brief samples, which emphasize a downbeat. In summing up the musical style of Radio, Huey stated "The result is rap at its most skeletal, with a hard-hitting, street-level aggression that perfectly matches LL's cocksure teenage energy."
The lyrical themes regarding the culture
and the way of life of inner city
youth that surface in Radio, including the growing and popular b-boy attitude ("I Can't Live Without My Radio
", "Rock the Bells
") and teenage
promiscuity
("Dear Yvette"), along with LL's "teenage energy", as described by writer Nelson George
, helped appeal to a younger music audience and were essential in the album's commercial success. LL Cool J's lyricism on Radio is highlighted by clever disses, playful boasts and braggadocio raps. Columnist Stephen Holden
of The New York Times
described LL Cool J as "a brawny young giant with the animal magnetism and amiable self-assurance of the young Muhammad Ali
." "I Want You" and "I Can Give You More
" have been recognized by listeners of hip hop as the first hip-hop ballads, and have been cited likewise by several music writers and critics.
Author of the 1985 book Fresh: Hip Hop Don't Stop, writer Nelson George further elaborated on the appeal of Radio to listeners at the time, describing LL Cool J as a "minimalist homeboy who knows his beats", and stating "You can call it rap, hip hop or street, but it really is a way of hearing music—and partying hard—that expresses the experiences and attitudes of a great many inner city kids. L.L. Cool J is one of the best young talkologists around, because he speaks directly to and about his generation over large beats that recall Run-D.M.C.
, Trouble Funk
, James Brown
, and funky little bits of AC/DC
and Yes
... This teenage music is built around beats, but not just any old beats. It is all about a beat with style, with personality, and L.L. Cool J has plenty of both."
. Radio peaked at number 6 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
chart and at number 46 on the Billboard 200
albums chart. It entered the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart on December 28, 1985, and remained there for forty-seven weeks, while also entering the Pop Albums chart on January 11, 1986. Radio remained on the chart for thirty-eight weeks. By 1989, the album had earned platinum
status from the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA), after earning a gold certification in the United States on April 14, 1986, with sales exceeding one million copies.
of the Village Voice who described it in a January 1986 article as "the most engaging and original rap album of the year". LL Cool J's aggressive rapping and Rick Rubin's stripped-down production were praised by critics who also agreed that LL's lyrics set a new standard for MC's at the time. The songs' lyrics were favored by critics who described LL's song-writing as clever and fun. The critical success of the album would later result in its comparison to other LL Cool J albums, which were not as critically successful as Radio. Others claimed the album was a primary cause of hip hop's mainstream success in the 1980s. Ira Robbins of the Trouser Press
called the album a "primary classic of hip-hop's original commercial surge" and went on to write:
Since its initial reception, Radio has been recognized by fans and critics as LL Cool J's greatest work, as well as one of hip hop's best albums. In retrospect, some critics and music writers have given more praise to producer Rick Rubin's contributions to Radio, as well as note the importance of his production on the album. An iTunes Store
reviewer later compared the two artists, stating "Though LL's witty punch lines and uncompromisingly hardcore disposition set him apart from his contemporaries, it is Rick Rubin's skeletal production that made Radio truly revolutionary. Rubin's production combined the sonic economy of punk rock
with the malevolent bellow of a tricked out ghetto blaster, providing the sonic blueprint for an entire generation of Hip-Hop producers
." The album was later ranked at number 2 on ego trip
magazine's "Hip Hop's 25 Greatest Albums (1980-98)", number 69 on Rolling Stone's "100 Best LPs of the 80s", and number 71 on Blender's
"100 Greatest American Albums of All Time" list. In 2003, the album was ranked number 478 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
. The album was also included in Rolling Stone magazine's 1997 issue of "The Essential 200 Rock Records" and ranked number 23 on Piero Scaruffi
's list of the "Best Hip Hop Albums of All Time". In 1998, Radio was selected as one of The Source
magazine's "100 Best Rap Albums".
With the breakthrough success of his hit single "I Need a Beat" and the Radio LP, LL Cool J became one of the first hip-hop acts to achieve mainstream success along with Kurtis Blow
and Run-D.M.C.
. Gigs
at larger venues were offered to LL as he would join the 1986-'87 Raising Hell tour, opening for Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys. Another milestone of LL's popularity was his appearance on American Bandstand
as the first hip hop act on the show.
The album's success also helped in contributing to Rick Rubin's credibility and repertoire as a record producer. Radio, along with Raising Hell (1986) and Licensed to Ill
(1986), would form a trilogy of New York City-based, Rubin-helmed albums that helped to diversify hip-hop. Rubin's production credit on the back cover reads "REDUCED BY RICK RUBIN", referring to his minimalist production
style, which gave the album its stripped-down and gritty sound. This style would serve as one of Rubin's production trademarks and would have a great impact on future hip-hop productions. Rubin's early hip hop production work, before his exit from Def Jam to Los Angeles, helped solidify his legacy as a hip hop pioneer and establish his reputation in the music industry.
scene and subculture
, which also marked the beginning of hip-hop's "golden age" and the replacement of old school hip hop
. This period of hip hop was marked by the end of the disco rap stylings of old school, which had flourished prior to the mid-80s, and the rise of a new style featuring "ghetto blasters". Radio served as one of the earliest records, along with Run-D.M.C.'s debut album
, to combine the vocal approach of hip hop and rapping with the musical arrangements and riffing sound of rock music
, pioneering the rap rock
hybrid sound. The emerging new school scene was initially characterized by drum machine
-led minimalism, often tinged with elements of rock, as well as boasts about rapping delivered in an aggressive, self-assertive style. In image as in song, the artists projected a tough, cool, street b-boy attitude. These elements contrasted sharply with the 1970s P-Funk
and disco
-influenced outfits, live bands, synthesizers and party rhymes of acts prevalent in 1984, rendering them old school. In contrast to the lengthy, jam-like form predominant throughout early hip hop ("King Tim III", "Rapper's Delight
", "The Breaks
"), new school artists tended to compose shorter songs that would be more accessible and had potential for radio play, and conceive more cohesive LPs than their old school counterparts; the style typified by LL Cool J's Radio. A leading example of the new school sound is the song "I Can't Live Without My Radio", a loud, defiant declaration of public loyalty to his boom box, which The New York Times
described as "quintessential rap in its directness, immediacy and assertion of self". It was featured in the film Krush Groove
(1985), which was based on the rise of Def Jam and new school acts such as Run-D.M.C. and the Fat Boys.
The energy and hardcore
delivery and musical style of rapping featured on Radio, as well as other new school recordings by artists such as Run-D.M.C., Schooly D, T La Rock
and Steady B
, proved to be influential to hip hop acts of the "golden age" such as Boogie Down Productions
and Public Enemy. The decline of the old school form of hip hop also led to the closing of Sugar Hill Records
, one of the labels that helped contribute to early hip-hop and that, coincidently, rejected LL's demo tape. As the album served as an example of an expansion of hip hop music's artistic possibilities, its commercial success and distinct sound soon led to an increase in multi-racial audiences and listeners, adding to the legacy of the album and hip hop as well.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
of American rapper LL Cool J
LL Cool J
James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
, released November 18, 1985 on Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused primarily on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Motown Music Group...
in the United States. It serves as the label's first full-length album release. Recording sessions for the album took place during 1984 to 1985 at Chung King House of Metal in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The album was primarily produced by Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
, who provided a sparse and minimal production style. Radio also features a sound that is punctuated by DJ scratching
Scratching
Scratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the late 1980s, it has been used...
, mostly brief samples, and emphasis of the downbeat. LL Cool J's b-boy lyricism conveys themes of inner city
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
culture, teenage promiscuity
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
, and braggadocio
Boasting
Boasting is the act of making an ostentatious speech. It is considered a vice by such major religious groups as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism...
raps.
The album experienced a significant amount of commercial success and sales for a hip hop record at the time, earning U.S. Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
chart success and selling over 500,000 copies within its first five months of release. On April 19, 1989, Radio was certified platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA), following sales in excess of one million copies in the United States. Initial criticism of the album was generally positive, as LL Cool J's lyricism and Rick Rubin's production were praised by several music critics. It has since been recognized by critics as LL Cool J's greatest work
Masterpiece
Masterpiece in modern usage refers to a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or to a work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship....
.
Reflecting the new school
New school hip hop
The new school of hip hop was a movement in hip hop music starting 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J. Like the hip hop preceding it, it came predominately from New York City. The new school was initially characterized in form by drum machine led minimalism, often tinged...
and ghettoblaster subculture in the U.S. during the mid-1980s, Radio belongs to a pivotal moment in the history and culture of hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
. Its success contributed to the displacement of the old school
Old school hip hop
Old school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...
with the new school form and to the genre's mainstream success during the period. Its success also served as a career breakthrough for LL Cool J and Rick Rubin. Radio has been recognized by music writers as one of the first cohesive and commercially successful hip hop albums. In 2003, the album was ranked number 478 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
.
Background
In March 1984, when NYU student Rick RubinRick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
and promoter
Promoter (entertainment)
An entertainment promoter i.e. music, wrestling, boxing etc is a person or company in the business of marketing and promoting live events such as concerts/gigs, boxing matches, sports entertainment , festivals, raves, and nightclubs.- Business model :Promoters are typically hired as independent...
-manager Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons
-External links:** * * * * * * from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum* *...
founded the then-independent Def Jam label, 16 year–old St. Albans, Queens
St. Albans, Queens
St. Albans is a middle class community in the New York City borough of Queens around the intersection of Linden Boulevard and Farmers Boulevard, about two miles north of JFK Airport. It is southeast of Jamaica, west of Cambria Heights and north of Springfield Gardens and Laurelton.The neighborhood...
native James Todd Smith was creating demo tapes in his grandparents' home. His grandfather, a jazz saxophonist, purchased him $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
2,000 worth of stereo equipment, including two turntables
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
, an audio mixer
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
and an amplifier
Amplifier
Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...
. Smith later discussed his childhood background and rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
, stating that "By the time I got that equipment, I was already a rapper. In this neighborhood, the kids grow up in rap. It's like speaking Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
if you grow up in an all-Spanish house. I got into it when I was about 9, and since then all I wanted was to make a record and hear it on the radio." By using the mixing table
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
he had received from his grandfather, Smith produced and mixed his own demos and sent them to various record companies throughout New York City, including Simmons' and Rubin's own Def Jam Recordings.
Under his new stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
, LL Cool J (an acronym for Ladies Love Cool James), Smith was signed by Def Jam, which led to the release of his first official record, the 12-inch single
12-inch single
The 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality...
"I Need a Beat
I Need a Beat
I Need a Beat is the debut single released by rapper, LL Cool J, and one of the first two releases of Def Jam Recordings to have the logo and the catalogue number, along with Beastie Boys' "Rock Hard". It was released in 1984 for Def Jam Recordings, produced by Rick Rubin and written by Rubin, LL...
" (1984). The single was a hard-hitting, streetwise b-boy song with spare beats and ballistic rhymes. Smith later discussed his search for a label, stating "I sent my demo to many different companies, but it was Def Jam where I found my home." That same year, Smith made his professional debut concert performance at Manhattan Center High School. In a later interview, LL Cool J recalled the experience, stating "They pushed the lunch room tables together and me and my DJ, Cut Creator, started playing. ... As soon as it was over there were girls screaming and asking for autographs. Right then and there I said 'This is what I want to do'." LL's debut single sold over 100,000 copies and helped establish both Def Jam as a label and Smith as a rapper. The commercial success of "I Need a Beat", along with the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
's single "Rock Hard
Rock Hard
Rock Hard is an EP by the Beastie Boys, released by Def Jam Records on 12" in 1985. The song, and the accompanying songs on the 12", feature the band's debut rap effort....
" (1984), helped lead Def Jam to a distribution deal with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
the following year.
Recording
LL Cool J dropped out of his Andrew Jackson High School to record his first studio album, also the first LP to be issued by Def Jam. Recording sessions for the album took place at Chung King StudiosChung King Studios
Chung King Recording Studios, formerly known as The Chung King House Of Metal, is a New York City recording studio founded by John King with financial backing of the Etches brothers and engineer expertise of Steve Ett became a site of many classic punk and hip hop recordings...
in Manhattan's Chinatown
Chinatown, Manhattan
Manhattan's Chinatown , home to one of the highest concentrations of Chinese people in the Western hemisphere, is located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City...
under Rubin's direction throughout 1984 and 1985. Notable from the personnel line-up was LL's DJ Jay Philpot, better known as "Cut Creator". A Queens native and former trombonist, Philpot met LL at a block party
Block party
A block party is a large public party in which many members of a single neighbourhood congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which often involves closing an entire city block to vehicle traffic...
and they began performing together. The audio mastering
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
was handled by engineer Herb Powers at 130 West 42nd Street
42nd Street (Manhattan)
42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, known for its theaters, especially near the intersection with Broadway at Times Square. It is also the name of the region of the theater district near that intersection...
in the Frankford Wayne Mastering Labs and the album was set for release as Radio in November 1985, containing a dedication in the liner notes from LL Cool J to his mother and his grandparents. Upon release, six of the album's tracks had already or would later be released as singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
. The album's release had been anticipated by many rap fans following LL Cool J's appearance in the hip hop movie Krush Groove
Krush Groove
Krush Groove is a 1985 Warner Bros. film, written by Ralph Farquhar and directed by Michael Schultz . This film is based on the early days of Def Jam Recordings and up-and-coming record producer Russell Simmons , portrayed by Blair Underwood in his feature film debut...
, which was based on the beginnings of the Def Jam label and featured the single "I Can't Live Without My Radio
I Can't Live Without My Radio
"I Can't Live Without My Radio" is the lead single from LL Cool J's debut album, Radio. It was released in 1985 for Def Jam Recordings and was both written and produced by LL Cool J and Rick Rubin. The song found modest success, making it to #15 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks...
" from Radio.
Music
The album's production, handled entirely by Rick Rubin with a remix by DJ Jazzy Jay
Jazzy Jay
Jazzy Jay born in Beaufort, South Carolina, United States, November 18, 1961), also known as The Original Jazzy Jay or DJ Jazzy Jay, is a pioneering American hip hop DJ and producer. He has collected roughly 400,000 records.-Background:...
, has been noted by critics and music writers for Rubin's minimalist style and stripped-down aggressiveness. Steve Huey of Allmusic described the production for Radio as "bare-bones" and "skeletal", while calling the instrumentation "basically just a cranked-up beatbox." The sound of Radio is mostly punctuated by DJ scratching
Scratching
Scratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the late 1980s, it has been used...
and features occasional brief samples, which emphasize a downbeat. In summing up the musical style of Radio, Huey stated "The result is rap at its most skeletal, with a hard-hitting, street-level aggression that perfectly matches LL's cocksure teenage energy."
The lyrical themes regarding the culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and the way of life of inner city
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
youth that surface in Radio, including the growing and popular b-boy attitude ("I Can't Live Without My Radio
I Can't Live Without My Radio
"I Can't Live Without My Radio" is the lead single from LL Cool J's debut album, Radio. It was released in 1985 for Def Jam Recordings and was both written and produced by LL Cool J and Rick Rubin. The song found modest success, making it to #15 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks...
", "Rock the Bells
Rock the Bells (song)
Rock the Bells is the third single from LL Cool J's debut album, Radio. It was released in 1985 for Def Jam Recordings, was written by LL Cool J and produced by Rick Rubin. It was the follow-up to I Can Give You More. Rock the Bells peaked at #17 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Despite the song's...
") and teenage
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
promiscuity
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
("Dear Yvette"), along with LL's "teenage energy", as described by writer Nelson George
Nelson George
Nelson George is an African American author, columnist, music and culture critic, journalist, and filmmaker. He has been nominated twice for the National Book Critics Circle Award....
, helped appeal to a younger music audience and were essential in the album's commercial success. LL Cool J's lyricism on Radio is highlighted by clever disses, playful boasts and braggadocio raps. Columnist Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described LL Cool J as "a brawny young giant with the animal magnetism and amiable self-assurance of the young Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
." "I Want You" and "I Can Give You More
I Can Give You More
I Can Give You More is the second single from LL Cool J's first album Radio. It was released in 1985 for Def Jam Recordings and was written and produced by Rick Rubin and LL Cool J. The song peaked at #21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. I Can Give You More was released with another single as the...
" have been recognized by listeners of hip hop as the first hip-hop ballads, and have been cited likewise by several music writers and critics.
Author of the 1985 book Fresh: Hip Hop Don't Stop, writer Nelson George further elaborated on the appeal of Radio to listeners at the time, describing LL Cool J as a "minimalist homeboy who knows his beats", and stating "You can call it rap, hip hop or street, but it really is a way of hearing music—and partying hard—that expresses the experiences and attitudes of a great many inner city kids. L.L. Cool J is one of the best young talkologists around, because he speaks directly to and about his generation over large beats that recall Run-D.M.C.
Run-D.M.C.
Run–D.M.C. was an American hip hop group from Hollis, in the Queens borough of New York City. Founded by Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, and Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell, the group is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture.Run–D.M.C...
, Trouble Funk
Trouble Funk
Trouble Funk is an American R&B and funk band from Washington, DC. It helped to popularize that area's local funk subgenre known as go-go. Among the band's well-known songs are the go-go anthem "Hey, Fellas." They released several studio albums including Drop the Bomb, In Times of Trouble, Live,...
, James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, and funky little bits of AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
and Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
... This teenage music is built around beats, but not just any old beats. It is all about a beat with style, with personality, and L.L. Cool J has plenty of both."
Commercial performance
Released November 18, 1985, on Def Jam Recordings in the United States, Radio earned a significant amount of commercial success and sales for a hip hop record at the time. Shortly after its release, the album sold over 500,000 copies in its first five months, eventually selling over 1 million copies by 1988, according to the Recording Industry Association of AmericaRecording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. Radio peaked at number 6 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
chart and at number 46 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
albums chart. It entered the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart on December 28, 1985, and remained there for forty-seven weeks, while also entering the Pop Albums chart on January 11, 1986. Radio remained on the chart for thirty-eight weeks. By 1989, the album had earned platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
status from the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA), after earning a gold certification in the United States on April 14, 1986, with sales exceeding one million copies.
Critical response
Upon its release, Radio received generally positive reviews and praise from "street and dance music" aficionados and mainstream music critics, including Robert ChristgauRobert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
of the Village Voice who described it in a January 1986 article as "the most engaging and original rap album of the year". LL Cool J's aggressive rapping and Rick Rubin's stripped-down production were praised by critics who also agreed that LL's lyrics set a new standard for MC's at the time. The songs' lyrics were favored by critics who described LL's song-writing as clever and fun. The critical success of the album would later result in its comparison to other LL Cool J albums, which were not as critically successful as Radio. Others claimed the album was a primary cause of hip hop's mainstream success in the 1980s. Ira Robbins of the Trouser Press
Trouser Press
Trouser Press was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow Who fan Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" ...
called the album a "primary classic of hip-hop's original commercial surge" and went on to write:
Since its initial reception, Radio has been recognized by fans and critics as LL Cool J's greatest work, as well as one of hip hop's best albums. In retrospect, some critics and music writers have given more praise to producer Rick Rubin's contributions to Radio, as well as note the importance of his production on the album. An iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
reviewer later compared the two artists, stating "Though LL's witty punch lines and uncompromisingly hardcore disposition set him apart from his contemporaries, it is Rick Rubin's skeletal production that made Radio truly revolutionary. Rubin's production combined the sonic economy of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
with the malevolent bellow of a tricked out ghetto blaster, providing the sonic blueprint for an entire generation of Hip-Hop producers
Hip hop production
Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music. Though the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music, it's most commonly used to refer to the instrumental, non-lyrical aspects of hip hop. This means that hip hop producers are the instrumentalists involved in a work...
." The album was later ranked at number 2 on ego trip
Ego trip (magazine)
ego trip was the name of a hip hop magazine started in New York City in 1994. It lasted four years and 13 issues and distinguished itself based on its irreverence and defiant attitude, eventually adopting the tagline, "the arrogant voice of musical truth."-Description:The roots of the publication...
magazine's "Hip Hop's 25 Greatest Albums (1980-98)", number 69 on Rolling Stone's "100 Best LPs of the 80s", and number 71 on Blender's
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
"100 Greatest American Albums of All Time" list. In 2003, the album was ranked number 478 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
. The album was also included in Rolling Stone magazine's 1997 issue of "The Essential 200 Rock Records" and ranked number 23 on Piero Scaruffi
Piero Scaruffi
Piero Scaruffi received a degree in Mathematics in 1982 from University of Turin, where he did work on the General Theory of Relativity. For a number of years he was the head of the Artificial Intelligence Center at Olivetti, based in Cupertino, California. He has been a visiting scholar at...
's list of the "Best Hip Hop Albums of All Time". In 1998, Radio was selected as one of The Source
The Source (magazine)
The Source is a United States-based, monthly full-color magazine covering hip-hop music, politics, and culture, founded in 1988. It is the world's second longest running rap periodical, behind United Kingdom-based publication Hip Hop Connection. The Source was founded as a newsletter in 1988...
magazine's "100 Best Rap Albums".
Breakthrough
Kurtis Blow
Kurt Walker , better known by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the first commercially successful rappers and the first to sign with a major record label...
and Run-D.M.C.
Run-D.M.C.
Run–D.M.C. was an American hip hop group from Hollis, in the Queens borough of New York City. Founded by Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, and Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell, the group is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture.Run–D.M.C...
. Gigs
Gig (musical performance)
Gig is slang for a musical engagement in which musicians are hired. Originally coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, the term, short for the word "engagement", now refers to any aspect of performing such as assisting with performance and attending musical performance...
at larger venues were offered to LL as he would join the 1986-'87 Raising Hell tour, opening for Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys. Another milestone of LL's popularity was his appearance on American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
as the first hip hop act on the show.
The album's success also helped in contributing to Rick Rubin's credibility and repertoire as a record producer. Radio, along with Raising Hell (1986) and Licensed to Ill
Licensed to Ill
In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Sources 100 Best Rap Albums.It is still the only album by a white hip-hop act to receive the coveted 5 mics from The Source....
(1986), would form a trilogy of New York City-based, Rubin-helmed albums that helped to diversify hip-hop. Rubin's production credit on the back cover reads "REDUCED BY RICK RUBIN", referring to his minimalist production
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
style, which gave the album its stripped-down and gritty sound. This style would serve as one of Rubin's production trademarks and would have a great impact on future hip-hop productions. Rubin's early hip hop production work, before his exit from Def Jam to Los Angeles, helped solidify his legacy as a hip hop pioneer and establish his reputation in the music industry.
Hip hop music
Radios release coincided with the growing new schoolNew school hip hop
The new school of hip hop was a movement in hip hop music starting 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J. Like the hip hop preceding it, it came predominately from New York City. The new school was initially characterized in form by drum machine led minimalism, often tinged...
scene and subculture
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
, which also marked the beginning of hip-hop's "golden age" and the replacement of old school hip hop
Old school hip hop
Old school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...
. This period of hip hop was marked by the end of the disco rap stylings of old school, which had flourished prior to the mid-80s, and the rise of a new style featuring "ghetto blasters". Radio served as one of the earliest records, along with Run-D.M.C.'s debut album
Run-D.M.C. (album)
Run–D.M.C. is the debut album of American hip hop group Run–D.M.C.. Produced in 1984, it was considered groundbreaking for its time, presenting a harder, more aggressive form of hip hop. The album's sparse beats and aggressive rhymes were in sharp contrast with the light, funky sound that was...
, to combine the vocal approach of hip hop and rapping with the musical arrangements and riffing sound of rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, pioneering the rap rock
Rap rock
Rap rock is a cross-genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock is often confused with rap metal and rapcore, subgenres that include heavy metal-oriented and hardcore punk-oriented bands, respectively....
hybrid sound. The emerging new school scene was initially characterized by drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
-led minimalism, often tinged with elements of rock, as well as boasts about rapping delivered in an aggressive, self-assertive style. In image as in song, the artists projected a tough, cool, street b-boy attitude. These elements contrasted sharply with the 1970s P-Funk
P-Funk
P-Funk is a shorthand term for the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed...
and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
-influenced outfits, live bands, synthesizers and party rhymes of acts prevalent in 1984, rendering them old school. In contrast to the lengthy, jam-like form predominant throughout early hip hop ("King Tim III", "Rapper's Delight
Rapper's Delight
"Rapper's Delight" is a 1979 single by American hip hop trio The Sugarhill Gang. While it was not the first single to feature rapping, it is generally considered to be the song that first popularized hip hop in the United States and around the world. The song's opening lyric "I said a hip hop, a...
", "The Breaks
The Breaks (song)
"The Breaks" is a critically acclaimed 1980 hit single by Kurtis Blow from his self-titled debut album. It was one of the earliest hip-hop hits, peaking at #87 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.-Remakes:...
"), new school artists tended to compose shorter songs that would be more accessible and had potential for radio play, and conceive more cohesive LPs than their old school counterparts; the style typified by LL Cool J's Radio. A leading example of the new school sound is the song "I Can't Live Without My Radio", a loud, defiant declaration of public loyalty to his boom box, which The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described as "quintessential rap in its directness, immediacy and assertion of self". It was featured in the film Krush Groove
Krush Groove
Krush Groove is a 1985 Warner Bros. film, written by Ralph Farquhar and directed by Michael Schultz . This film is based on the early days of Def Jam Recordings and up-and-coming record producer Russell Simmons , portrayed by Blair Underwood in his feature film debut...
(1985), which was based on the rise of Def Jam and new school acts such as Run-D.M.C. and the Fat Boys.
The energy and hardcore
Hardcore hip hop
Hardcore hip hop, also referred to as hardcore rap, is a sub-genre of hip hop music that developed through the East Coast hip hop scene in the 1980s. Pioneered by such artists as Schoolly D, Spoonie Gee, Boogie Down Productions, and Kool G Rap, it is generally characterized by anger, aggression and...
delivery and musical style of rapping featured on Radio, as well as other new school recordings by artists such as Run-D.M.C., Schooly D, T La Rock
T La Rock
Clarence "Terry" Ronnie Keaton , known by the stage name T La Rock, is an American old-school emcee best known for his collaboration with Def Jam Recordings co-founder Rick Rubin and the 1984 single "It's Yours." He disappeared from the hip hop scene after a traumatic brain injury in 1994, but as...
and Steady B
Steady B
Warren McGlone , known by the stage name Steady B, was an American rapper and emcee who, along with Schoolly D, the Fresh Prince, and Three Times Dope, was one of the first wave of Philadelphia-area rappers to gain notoriety in the mid to late 1980s...
, proved to be influential to hip hop acts of the "golden age" such as Boogie Down Productions
Boogie Down Productions
Boogie Down Productions was a hip hop group that was originally composed of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, months after the release of BDP's debut album, Criminal Minded. The name of the group, Boogie Down, derives from a nickname for the...
and Public Enemy. The decline of the old school form of hip hop also led to the closing of Sugar Hill Records
Sugar Hill Records (rap)
Sugar Hill Records was the name of a rap music record label that was founded in 1979 by husband and wife Joe and Sylvia Robinson with Milton Malden and financial funding of Morris Levy, the owner of Roulette Records.-History:...
, one of the labels that helped contribute to early hip-hop and that, coincidently, rejected LL's demo tape. As the album served as an example of an expansion of hip hop music's artistic possibilities, its commercial success and distinct sound soon led to an increase in multi-racial audiences and listeners, adding to the legacy of the album and hip hop as well.
Track listing
Personnel
| Person | Credit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| James Todd Smith | Vocals Rapping Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”... |
Credited as L.L. Cool J |
| Jay Philpot | Disc jockey Disc jockey A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys... |
Credited as DJ Cut Creator |
| Russell Rush | Guest vocals | Appears on track #9 |
| Rick Rubin Rick Rubin Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings... Jazzy Jay Jazzy Jay Jazzy Jay born in Beaufort, South Carolina, United States, November 18, 1961), also known as The Original Jazzy Jay or DJ Jazzy Jay, is a pioneering American hip hop DJ and producer. He has collected roughly 400,000 records.-Background:... |
Producer Record producer A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... |
"Reduced by Rick Rubin" Jazzy Jay only appears on track #8 |
| Steve Ett | Recording engineer | |
| Steve Byram | Design Album cover An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing... |
|
| Nelson George Nelson George Nelson George is an African American author, columnist, music and culture critic, journalist, and filmmaker. He has been nominated twice for the National Book Critics Circle Award.... |
Liner notes Liner notes Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:... |
|
| Herb Powers Jr. | Mastering engineer Mastering engineer A mastering engineer is one skilled in the practice of taking audio that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distribution, whether by physical media such as a CD, vinyl record, or as some method of... |
|
| Josh Cheuse Janette Beckman |
Liner photography | Credited on the reissue Reissue A reissue is the repeated issue of a published work. In common usage, it refers to an album which has been released at least once before and is released again, sometimes with alterations or additions.... |
Charts
| Year | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|
| Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums | |
| 1985 | 46 | 6 |
External links
- Radio at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Lyrics at Yahoo! MusicYahoo! MusicYahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
- LL Cool J on Soul Train at YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....