LL Cool J Sticks to Tried, True

With his stage decked out like a Space Age bachelor pad, LL Cool J was ready for some “Loungin’ ” (as one of his song titles put it) Friday night at the Freedman Forum Concert Theatre in Anaheim.

But in playing the part of a modern Lothario, the veteran rap star left out any sense of wit, suaveness and self-irony, the qualities needed to give the Don Juan hang some flair.

Instead, LL’s raps covered a range of interests about as wide as a bull seal’s. Dominate the competition, then enjoy the sexual spoils of leading the pack: What life’s all about in the animal kingdom, male division, is what concertizing was all about for LL, a.k.a. James Todd Smith.

After an unrivaled run of 11 years in rap’s commercial upper reaches, Cool J wasn’t about to risk any of that accumulated star capital by being daring. His 37-minute performance stuck to those well-tested basics, ego-asserting action and sex.

The best of the action sequences made clear why LL Cool J has been near the top for so long. Fast, furious renditions of “Rock the Bells” and “Mama Said Knock You Out” turned the notion of “rocking the house” from a cliched boast into an undeniable reality, giving the show its climax. Unfortunately, the many raps devoted to literal descriptions of climaxes were tired and ordinary, as LL trotted out all the crotch-centered cliches of studly stagecraft. Most mamas would say, “Cut that out.”

* LL Cool J plays Thursday at the House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 9 p.m. Sold out. (213) 650-1451.