This week, the release of LL Cool J’s latest single “Rachet” and Fat Joe’s “Instagram that H**” have generated debate around the internet as to whether the two artists seem credible making the kind of music that has been successful for their much younger counterparts. Both songs seem to be pandering to the teenage audience that likes artists like Drake, LI’l Wayne, Rick Ross and Nicki MInaj, but for each of them, the songs seem out of place given their age and past success. LL, born James Todd Smith in Queens, N.Y. put his rap career on the back burner some years ago to carve out a lucrative niche in films and TV. He’s currently starring on “NCIS: Los Angeles,” part of the CBS ratings juggernaut of crime procedurals.
Now that he’s a 40-somehing father of four, it’s difficult to see LL revitalizing his career with a song that complains about the rachet chicks that get on his nerves. LL ‘s career never depended on objectifying women – his hit “Round the Way Girl” was an appreciation of girls from the ‘hood and even racier songs songs like “Dear Yvette”, “Doin’ It” and “Big Ole Butt” were always delivered a little tongue-in-cheek. As a rapper much more known for his wordplay, it’s hard to see him try to reenter the hip-hop arena with a song so obviously beneath his lyrical talents. And now that he’s hosted the Grammys and the Grammy Nomination concert, which airs from Nashville on CBS December 5, the public views LL much more as a senior statesman in music who might condemn its current rachetness rather than give in to it.
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(Source: Black America Web)
