ALBUM REVIEW : LL Cool J Gets Back on Track

Most rappers have such hard-core, outside-the-mainstream images that a little thing like commercial success can totally unhinge their careers. That’s what almost happened to LL Cool J. While he’s suffered his share of artistic flops and setbacks, he’s rarely veered off track for long. He’s still the brainy, street-bred upstart he was in his mid-teens.

“14 Shots to the Dome” (Def Jam/Columbia) is a respectable follow-up to 1990’s “Mama Said Knock You Out,” a well-crafted album that ranks among his best. What’s noteworthy about LL is that he doesn’t bother trying to sound harder and angrier than he is in order to maintain his B-Boy credentials. The socially conscious “Diggy Down” would probably only rate a yawn out of Ice Cube. LL is on steadier footing with “Pink Cookies in a Plastic Bag Getting Crushed by Buildings”--a romantic song of sorts on which names ranging from Public Enemy to Salt-n-Pepa and Hammer are interwoven into his lover’s rap.

If only the hard-core survive, LL may face more credibility problems in the future as younger, hungrier talents bite into his territory. Trust him to bite back. This album strongly suggests that his most creative ideas are still ahead of him.