Friday 20 September 2024

Hanging on the telephone

LL Cool J - 1-900 L.L Cool J
(From Walking With A Panther album; 1989)



What's an LL album track beloved by you and seemingly only you? I'm a 1-900 L.L Cool J type of guy, meself. Uncle L used the 1-900 number concept before The Convicts or Roc-A-Fella, and hit the same Watermelon Man loop as the Dolly My Baby remix before Super Cat, Biggie et al. And LL did it while sounding effortlessly smug in a flow which probably made MC Shan real mad. In a perfect world 1-900 L.L Cool J woulda been the 4th single from Walking With A Panther instead of the nauseating ballad One Shot At Love.

Shit's got me thinking about what the first Rap song to start with a phone call was. Earliest I can think of is Spoonie Gee's The Big Beat. If not, The Big Beat was definitely the first Rap song to feature a "freak this" breakdown with the sound of squeaking bed springs. Insert your own Puffy joke here ----> _________.

Spoonie Gee - The Big Beat
(From The Big Beat 12" single; 1983)


2 comments:

Yohan said...

Love that Blondie tune (that entire album really)

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

One of the best albums ever 4 real. Blondie made that song their own like the Ramones made Do You Wanna Dance? their own.