LL Cool J's egotism is his m.o., his sex appeal, his greatest strength. He'd been on top of the world since he started scoring hits as a teenager, but anyone who's been in the rap game for five years, as he'd been when Mama arrived, has something to prove. So he came out swinging-literally-with the title track, which claims boxing trash talk as proto-rap and turns it into a declaration of ongoing mastery. Beyond that, Mama, with it's ultra-hard Marley Marl production, pumps up his love-man rep (the sweetly affectionate "Around the Way Girl" and an even hornier remix of "Jingling Baby") and his ego (pretty much everything else). It's mostly just old-school boasting, but damn if it isn't deserved.

Tracklist:

1 The Boomin' System
2 Around the Way Girl
3 Eat 'Em Up L Chill
4 Mr. Good Bar
5 Murdergram
6 Cheesy Rat Blues
7 Farmers BLVD. (Our Anthem)
8 Mama Said Knock You Out
9 Milky Cereal
10 Jingling Baby (Remixed But Still Jingling)
11 To Da Break of Dawn
12 6 Minutes of Pleasure
13 Illegal Search
14 The Power of God