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Mr. Smith

 
Album Review: Mr. Smith

  • Artist: LL Cool J
  • Rating: StarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: November 21, 1995
  • Type: Contains explicit content
  • Genre: Rap

Review

On the strength of the slow-burning Boyz II Men duet "Hey Lover," LL Cool J returned to the top of the charts with Mr. Smith, meaning the album is somewhat of a comeback for the veteran rapper. LL Cool J's skills had never deserted him, but his previous album, 14 Shots to the Dome, was an exercise in hardcore that only worked in fits and spurts. There are a couple of hard moments on Mr. Smith, but the album is at its most successful when he concentrates on his seductive, romantic side. LL has gotten a bit dirtier since the teenage days of "I Need Love," but he never steps over into the explicit, lewd come-ons of R. Kelly, preferring to suggest everything with a series of double entendres, metaphors, and analogies. Mr. Smith isn't a perfect record -- there are too many slack moments for it to qualify as one of his best -- but it proves that LL Cool J remained vital a decade after his debut. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
The Intro (Skit) Jean Claude "Poke" Olivier, LL Cool J LL Cool J (1:33)
Make It Hot (Lyrics) LL Cool J, Jean Claude "Poke" Olivier, Randy DeBarge LL Cool J (4:31)
Hip Hop (Lyrics) T. Lewis, J. Harris, S. Barnes, LL Cool J LL Cool J (5:00)
Hey Lover (Lyrics) LL Cool J, Rod Temperton Boyz II Men, LL Cool J (4:44)
Doin It (Lyrics) LL Cool J LL Cool J (4:53)
Life as... (Lyrics) LL Cool J LL Cool J (2:44)
I Shot Ya (Lyrics) J. Brown, Jean Claude "Poke" Olivier, LL Cool J LL Cool J (3:51)
Mr. Smith (Lyrics) Hubert Laws, LL Cool J LL Cool J (3:59)
No Airplay LL Cool J LL Cool J (5:43)
Loungin Kyle West, Albert Brown, LL Cool J LL Cool J (4:12)
Hollis to Hollywood (Lyrics) Hal David, Burt Bacharach, LL Cool J LL Cool J (3:58)
God Bless LL Cool J, J. Brown LL Cool J (3:47)
Get da Drop on 'Em (Lyrics) Jean Claude "Poke" Olivier, LL Cool J LL Cool J (3:57)
Prelude (Skit) Jean Claude "Poke" Olivier LL Cool J (:30)
I Shot Ya [Remix] Jean Claude "Poke" Olivier, LL Cool J, J. Brown LL Cool J (5:03)

Credits

Jean-Claude Oliver (Producer), Monica (Vocals), Matt Silva (Assistant Engineer), Tom Coyne (Mastering), Brian Miller (Mixing Assistant), Tony Smalios (Mixing), Oscar Sanchez (Production Assistant), Easy Mo Bee (Producer), George Karras (Mixing), Rashad Smith (Multi Instruments), George Karras (Engineer), Boyz II Men (Performer), Chyskillz (Producer), Grace Jones (Vocals), Chauncey Mahan (Engineer), Rich July (Engineer), J. Nicholas (Mixing Assistant), Foxy Brown (Vocals), Danny Clinch (Photography), Chad "Dr. Seuss" Elliott (Producer), LL Cool J (Vocals), The Emotions (Vocals), Isaac Hayes (Vocals), Rashad Smith (Producer), Leshaun (Vocals), Kevin Thomas (Mixing), Jimmy Lee (Assistant Engineer), Boyz II Men (Vocals)
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Wikipedia: Mr. Smith (album)
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Mr. Smith
Studio album by LL Cool J
Released November 21, 1995
Recorded 1994-1995
Genre Hip hop
Length 58:25
Label Def Jam Recordings
Producer Rashad Smith
Chyskillz
Chad Eliott
Trackmasters
Easy Mo Bee
Professional reviews
LL Cool J chronology
14 Shots to the Dome
(1993)
Mr. Smith
(1995)
All World: Greatest Hits
(1996)
Singles from Mr. Smith
  1. "Hey Lover"
    Released: October 31, 1995
  2. "Doin' It"
    Released: February 20, 1996
  3. "Loungin"
    Released: June 25, 1996

Mr. Smith is the sixth album by rapper LL Cool J, released in 1995. After the commercially disappointing 14 Shots to the Dome, it was a bit of a comeback for the artist, going 2x Platinum and spawning three top 10 hits "Hey Lover", "Doin' It", and "Loungin". Unlike his previous release, which focused on hardcore rap, this album sees LL concentrating on the ballads for which he is now famous. This album was the first of his albums to have Parental Advisory.

Contents

Track listing

  1. "The Intro (Skit)"
  2. "Make It Hot" (Produced by Trackmasters)
  3. "Hip Hop" (Produced by Trackmasters)
  4. "Hey Lover" (featuring Boyz II Men) (Produced by Trackmasters)
  5. "Doin' It" (featuring LeShaun) (Produced by Rashad Smith)
  6. "Life As..." (Produced by Easy Mo Bee)
  7. "I Shot Ya" (featuring Keith Murray) (Produced by Trackmasters)
  8. "Mr. Smith" (Produced by Chyskillz)
  9. "No Airplay" (Produced by Chad Elliot)
  10. "Loungin" (featuring Terri & Monica) (Produced by Rashad Smith)
  11. "Hollis to Hollywood" (Produced by Trackmasters)
  12. "God Bless" (Produced by Rashad Smith)
  13. "Get Da Drop On 'Em'" (Produced by Trackmasters)
  14. "Prelude (Skit)"
  15. "I Shot Ya (Remix)" (featuring Keith Murray, Prodigy, Fat Joe & Foxy Brown) (Produced by Trackmasters)

The Track "No Airplay" is edited on both the Edited and Explicit Versions of the Album, However the Explicit only backmasks on the song, the Edited version even edits the intro

Singles

Year Song Chart positions
Billboard Hot 100 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks Hot Rap Singles
1995 "I Shot Ya" - #55 -
"Hey Lover" #3 #3 #1
1996 "Doin' It" #9 #7 #2
"Loungin #3 #4 #1

Samples

  • Hey Lover contains samples of "The Lady in My Life" performed by Michael Jackson and "All Night Long" by the Mary Jane Girls.
  • '"Hip Hop"' contains samples of "Tell Me" performed by The S.O.S. Band
  • Loungin' contains a sample of “Nite and Day” performed by Al B. Sure!.
  • Lounging' Remix (Summer Luv) contains a sample of "Who Do You Love" performed by Bernard Wright and “Dizzy” performed by Hugo Montenegro.
  • Hollis to Hollywood contains a sample of Isaac Hayes' "The Look of Love" and "My Philosophy" by Boogie Down Productions.
  • Doin' It contains a sample of "My Jamaican Guy" performed by Grace Jones, "Wild Thing" performed by 2 Much and "Top Billin'" performed by Audio Two. The original version of Doin' It was recorded by the Beastie Boys in 1989 but did not contain this sample. This version was criticized by producers and never commercially released, but pirated versions made it into the public.
  • I Shot Ya & I Shot Ya (Remix) both contain a sample of "Put it on the Line" performed by Lyn Collins.
  • Make It Hot contains a sample of "I Like It" performed by DeBarge.
  • Mr. Smith contains a sample of "What a Night" performed by Hubert Laws.

Miscellanea

  • There was a previous version of Mr. Smith that was scrapped. Only two songs were used from the original Mr. Smith album, "Mr. Smith" and "No Airplay".
  • The original album contained a tracklist of:
"Intro (Mr. Smith's Party)" 1:10
"No Airplay" 5:43
"Mr. Smith" 4:15 
"Dear Lover" 3:55
"Pump My Sh**" 2:55
"Soliloquy" 0:55
"Candyman" 4:15
"Set It Off, New York" 5:03
"New York Mentality" 4:39
"2 Minute Warning to Shake that Ass" 1:22
"Bring On The Mo's & Ho's" 3:27
"Forever Yours" 4:54 



 
 

 

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Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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