Thursday, July 15, 2010

Thursday Throwback - LL Cool J "Mama Said Knock You Out"


"Mama Said Knock You Out" is still one of my favorite songs of all time.  It's just straight up fight music.  If you ever need to get fired up for something, this is the song you play to get your blood pumping.  It will wake you right the F*** up! 

I almost lost my shit when I saw this video for the first time back in middle school.  It was just ool and different.  I'm pretty sure I had it memorized after the first 5 listens.  I just loved it.  I was already an LL Cool J fan but this took me to the next level.  Other than Run DMC's "Walk This Way" featuring Aerosmith, this was probably one of the first Rap songs to catch the attention of Rock fans as well.  It just has that energy that Rock fans love. 

I'm pretty sure LL was the first rapper to appear on MTV Unplugged and he absolutely killed it.   He also opened up the door for others to go on the show and also gave many rappers the idea to use live instruments while on tour.  This performance very well may have given groups like The Roots the idea to create their unique live sound.  It also probably  had a direct influence on the Rock/Rap groups of the late 90's and early 2000's such as Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.  Something just clicked with people this new live Rap sound and it just took on a new life from there. 

LL's performance of "Mama Said Knock You Out" might be one of the most memorable performances ever from the MTV series.  It's also well known for him strutting around and sweating with no shirt on and displaying that nasty white caked on deodorant in his armpits.  So nasty! 


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