LL Cool J ‘Radio’ 30th Anniversary
This week (18th November 2015) marked the 30th Anniversary of LL Cool J’s debut album ‘Radio’. We’ve catalogued many 20th or 25th Anniversaries here, but this is our first 30th. Produced in its entirety by Rick Rubin, the album bears many of the hallmarks of Rubin’s productions for the likes of Run D.M.C and the Beastie Boys, fusing hard hitting drums with rock sonics. Perhaps most famous among the tracks using this sonic template was the single ‘Rock the Bells’ and the AC/DC guitar stab that it incorporated and subsequently became a ubquitous scratch sample.
Whilst Ego Trip have not published a list of the year’s biggest rap albums (albums were still in sufficiently short supply at this point in time that they were not sufficient in number to warrant a list) ‘Rock the Bells’ comes in a #3 in the year’s Top 40 Rap Singles.
Stream the full album on Youtube here.
[Purchase physical copies / check release details on Discogs here]