^ 'LL Cool J Chart History (Hot 100)'.^ ' LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out'.Then we made the song heavy and when Tech N9ne came it, we thought 'Oh yeah, this is happening. We had an idea to cover Mama Said Knock You Out. 'Interview with Five Finger Death Punch's Zoltán Báthory'. ^ '50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time'.^ 'Mama Said Knock You Out - LL Cool J Song Information'.'HOME ENTERTAINMENT/RECORDINGS: RECENT RELEASES'. 'Why LL Cool J's Most Famous Album Almost Never Happened'. ^ LaGrave, Katherine (August 21, 2015).Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. The single was released on Maby Prospect Park Records.Ĭharts Weekly charts Chart (1990) Single by Five Finger Death Punch featuring Tech N9neįrom the album The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1įive Finger Death Punch singles chronologyĪmerican heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch covered the song for their fourth studio album, The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1. Five Finger Death Punch version 'Mama Said Knock You Out' Dylan noted the song was 'in the same tradition as the Dozens' and recited the first verse before playing it. īob Dylan played it in the final slot of the 'Mothers' episode of Season 1 of Theme Time Radio Hour in 2006. Rolling Stone ranked the song 29th on a 2012 list of the '50 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of All Time'. LL's grandmother responded, 'Oh baby, just knock them out!' She is featured in the closing scene of the music video, saying: 'Todd! Todd! Get upstairs and take out that garbage.' He had said to his grandmother that he felt that he couldn't survive as a rapper now that gangsta rap was popular and he was being dissed by several up-and-coming rappers. LL Cool J said in his autobiography that the idea for the song came from a discussion with his grandmother. Intercut with this are clips of boxing matches and LL Cool J exercising. The music video features LL Cool J in a boxing ring, rapping into the announcer's microphone. It succeeded mightily, making him an across-the-board superstar and cementing his status as a rap icon beyond any doubt.The song uses samples from James Brown's ' Funky Drummer', the Chicago Gangsters' 'Gangster Boogie', Sly & The Family Stone's 'Trip to Your Heart', the drum break from Sly and the Family Stone's Sing a Simple Song, and LL Cool J's own ' Rock the Bells' (from his debut album Radio). It leaves no doubt that Mama Said Knock You Out was intended to be a tour de force, to regain LL Cool J's credibility while proving that he was still one of rap's most singular talents.

The album's hits are a microcosm of its range - 'The Boomin' System' is a nod to bass-loving b-boys with car stereos 'Around the Way Girl' is a lush, winning ballad and the title cut is one of the most blistering statements of purpose in hip-hop. Even apart from the sympathetic musical settings, LL is at his most lyrically acrobatic, and the testosterone-fueled anthems are delivered with a force not often heard since his debut. Marl's productions on the slower tracks are smooth and soulful, but still funky as a result, the ladies'-man side of LL's persona is the most convincing it's ever been, and his ballads don't feel sappy for arguably the first time on record.

But its greater variety and more layered arrangements make it LL's most listenable album, as well as keeping it in line with more contemporary sensibilities. Mama Said Knock You Out isn't quite as hard as Radio, instead striking a balance between attitude and accessibility. Part of the credit is due to producer Marley Marl, whose thumping, bass-heavy sound helps LL reclaim the aggression of his early days. Increasingly dismissed by hip-hop fans as an old-school relic and a slick pop sellout, LL Cool J rang in the '90s with Mama Said Knock You Out, a hard-edged artistic renaissance that became his biggest-selling album ever.

Ll cool j mama said knock you out