Love an album cover that’s a triple threat!

LL Cool J 

Radio

1985

Def Jam / Columbia

Let’s start with how badass this picture is. This boombox pic (or if you’re cool enough, Ghetto Blaster) the JVC-M90 looks freakin' great. Tell me this image doesn’t suck you right in and you’re not already thinking about adjusting those dials, flipping switches, pushing buttons, checking the needle levels to achieve sound and volume perfection. Set this cover up on a wall display and my eyes go right to it. *photo and design credit to: Steve Bryan, Robert Lewis, and Josh Cheuse. …You can probably already hear it…

“Make the woofers wallop, and your tweeters twitch Some jealous knuckleheads might try to diss But it's nuthin', ya frontin', ya girl I’m stuntin' And my radio's loud enough to keep you gruntin'. My name is Cool J, I'm from the rock Circulating through your radio non-stop”

…This radio brings me to my next point;  An album cover brings a vibe right away, it can define the music, and this one has my ear drums bumping. I would only expect to hear beats, scratching, and LL’s cocky swagger pounding out of these speakers. On that note track-1 immediately matches energies: ‘I can’t live without my radio’; perfectly paired with the visual art. Or maybe what you’re hearing is the braggadocio in his voice and those first drum shots firing as ‘Rock the Bells’ builds into that classic hip-hop beat his SirusXM channel could only be named after…. 

“L.L. Cool J. is hard as hell. Battle anybody I don't care who you tell. I excel, they all fail I'm gonna crack shells, Double-L must rock the bells” 

…If you’re tacking with me this far then you know I’m getting at how this album cover compliments the culture it represents. Uncle L, Rick Ruben, Simmons, Ad-Rock, and the whole Def Jam label are introducing us to a trend shift on a debut album, from a teenager. There is a whole explosion and expansion of rap and hip-hop growing right here. A new label, a new artist, a new cocky B-Boy attitude, pulling in a wider range of new audiences, an influential blueprint that others will follow. This is one intersection where the art and the music famously collide. 

#ParkersPlaylist not letting the DJ get missed…

“He’ll never skip it, only rip it when he’s on the fader, What my DJ’s name? Cut-Creator!! 

spinning #Radio from #LLcoolJ