You got to put the right kicks on it.

Then you walk out of there with something in your brain and you just lock in. And unlike most album covers, the now-iconic image of a chiseled LL Cool J was never second-guessed. But it never came out. LL COOL J: “Mama Said Knock You Out” was pretty much stream-of-consciousness from beginning to end. Over the intervening quarter century, Ladies Love Cool James has become so ingrained in our minds as the muscle-bound mainstay of awards shows and CBS police procedurals, it’s easy to forget that he was once a scrawny Long Island kid known for rocking Kangol bucket hats and track suits. The architect, DJ Bobcat, of the LA Posse, had earned a reputation for building songs that highlighted an MC’s best attributes. There's a wonderful Lloyd Nelson photo which shows Run-DMC and Aerosmith in a tiny, cramped studio on West 24th Stree... Mic Drop is a recurring series featuring the thoughts and opinions of some of the biggest voices in classic Hip-Hop. So I always feel like this…it’s never over because you can always remix and fix songs on an album. I'm writing it down. DJ Bobcat: That's why when he says, “Old English fills my mind,” because we were drinking it. So the "Microphone Mafia Anthem" was it. I had a “The Humpty Dance' in my bag and I put it on there. Part of the inspiration for “Mama Said Knock You Out” was the album cover photograph (shot by photographer Michel Comte). Bolstered by an MTV Unplugged performance that introduced acoustic hip-hop arrangements long before anybody outside of CAPA had heard of The Roots, LL Cool J cemented his legacy in hip-hop with Mama Said Knock You Out. After the disappointing reception of LL Cool's 1989 album Walking with a Panther, Mama Said Knock You Out was released by Def Jam Recordings on August 28, 1990 to commercial and critical success. Bob was always super creative, super talented, and was always about it. DJ Bobcat: We tracked the song using the Sly and the Family Stone loop and James Brown’s “Funky Drummer." She didn’t want to do it because she had done all the visual fun jokes she could do, so she recommended me. "I want her in the video, I think that would be fun to just remind people that all of this fantastic shit happens in your mind, in your basement when you're working out.”. I was watching TV and they said who had won during the non-televised part. "Mama Said Knock You Out" is the fourth single by LL Cool J from his album of the same name. With “Mama Said Knock You Out,” I wanted to actually have him box and see this match with people in the ring and do that whole Don King thing.

It's like the biggest moment of my life and my father fired them.

Marley was like, "We need something to reinforce the beat" —which I always do — but I'm not going to not take advice from Marley Marl. LL COOL J: I redid the vocals — did like a more laid back vibe —and this shit just came out crazy. Talk to me." He was also up against the ropes before Mama Said Knock You Out turned him into MTV royalty. 23 Oct. 2020.

If I was a chef and you came to my restaurant and said, "Hey, I want some spaghetti." I was already energized when we went to record, but her advice was in the back of my mind.

I started as a musician and a composer playing a lot of instruments. It was produced mostly by Marley Marl and recorded at his "House of Hits" home studio in Chestnut Ridge and at Chung King House of Metal in New York City. And that's all the film we had, which was the third happy accident, because it has longer cuts of him performing than any video I've ever done. She passed on everything. Threat (MC): The Microphone Mafia was real intense. I was sitting around in a room full of dudes. My father fired them that night on the spot. Threat: The vibe was incredible right there in North Hollywood. It was Todd’s idea to have his Grandma tell him to take out the garbage. in Queens. Before "Mama Said Knock You Out" was released, many people felt that LL Cool J's career was waning; his grandmother, who still believed in his talent, told him to "knock out" all his critics. We did “Mama Said Knock You Out” and “Around the Way Girl” on the same weekend. At that point, I already lived Upstate and had built a studio. That's how hard-nosed he was. Definitions.net. My performance on the Grammy's is horrible because the band didn't know the song at all. I knew the album wasn't really what the streets wanted.

He only did the song like five or six times. Paris Barclay: We said, “What if we did do it in black-and-white? We were all trying to figure out a way we could come together and do one universal type of crew. I was telling him the story about how when I was little we had a king of school and this dude tried to bully me. DJ Bobcat (DJ/Producer): I originally recorded the “Mama Said Knock You Out” beat in 1989 with my group Microphone Mafia (Threat, K-Born, and Nefertiti). LL apparently walked in with photos from a recent fashion shoot, placed them on the desk, and it was a done deal.

The song was produced by Marley Marl with help from DJ Bobcat along with LL. They literally just winged it after listening to it three times. There’s not a lot to that track. The song famously begins with the line "Don't call it a comeback/I've been here for years." Minor issues notwithstanding, Adams regards the minimalist example as one of his favorite covers, while also saying it signifies a pivotal moment in LL Cool J’s career: when the rapper retired the youthful image of his first three albums and stepped out into the spotlight as both a grown man and a force to be reckoned with in the rap community.