Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Starr Blackshere (vocals, background vocals); Teresa Williams, Brian Mavi, Arnold Tucker, Sharise Jackson, Paula Hollaway, Nahemma Harper, Lyric Tucker, Lawrence Newton, Jennifer Burton, El Ahmad Barack, Lil' Mo, Barbara Walker, Charlene Holloway (vocals); Dave Clauss (guitar); Thomas Flanagan (sitar); Tamae Lee, Luigi Mazzochi, Ghislaine Fleischmann, Louigi Mazzoechi, Igor Szwec, Emma Kummrow, Olga Konopelsky, Gregory Teperman, Charles Parker (violin); Alexandra Leem, Peter Nocella, Davis A. Barnett (viola); Jennie Lorenzo (cello); Greg Riley (tenor saxophone, horns); Mike A. Jarosz, Jon Virtue (trumpet, horns); Matt Gallagher (trumpet); Phil Arbogast (tenor trombone, bass trombone, horns); Paul Arbogast (tenor trombone, bass trombone); Dan Paul, Dana Paul (piano); Infamous, Infamous (keyboards); Paul Gehman (bass instrument); Brian Farr (drums); Leonard Sideman (tabla); David Nelson , David Nelson (Dahveed Ben Israel) (timpani); DJ Scratch, Scratch (scratches); Mariko Koda (background vocals); Brent Behrenshausen, Zach Larimer, Mark Figueroa, Gabriel Staznik, Frankie Hill. | | Audio Mixers: Jaycen Joshua; Dave Pensado; Glen Marchese; Marley Marl; Brian Stanley . | | Recording information: Big House Studio, Farmington Hills, CT; Chung King Studios, New York, NY; Daman Pro Audio Recording Studio, New York, NY; Platinum Sound Recording Studio, New York, NY; Quad Recording, New York, NY; Ray's Place, Yonkers, NY; Scratch's Lab, Brooklyn, NY; The Studio Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA; Triangle Sound Studios, Atlanta, GA. | | Photographer: Joseph Cultice. | | Unknown Contributor Roles: Brent Behrenshausen; Zach Larimer; Gabriel Staznik; Frankie Hill. | | Arranger: Larry Gold. | | The 13 in LL Cool J's latest LP represents the number of albums that he's recorded for Def Jam, the label he helped build from the ground up dating back to 1984. Much like Ice Cube and other aging hip-hop stars who have crossed over to mainstream celebrity, LL has little to prove but still plenty of talent to burn. As he says on "Get Over Here," "It ain't where ya from, it's how hot you are," and the man they call Todd Smith liberally borrows production styles from hip-hop's ever-expanding geography, while throwing in the occasional history lesson. Opener "Old School New School" is rousing and boastful, feeling awfully similar to a Kanye West cut off GRADUATION. He then heads down south for "Over Here"'s stutter-step bounce (and the phenomenal, drumline-centric "American Girl"), and goes literally global via the seductive Indian inflections of "I Fall In Love." But the highlight is "Ringtone M.," a minimalist track backed by a verse from genre pioneer Grandmaster Caz. EXIT 13 demonstrates that LL's influence has become genre- and era-blind, and as an MC, his flow is still as crisp, confident, and commanding as ever. | | Wrapped in what is possibly the most prog rock sleeve design in hip-hop history, Exit 13 marks LL Cool J's departure from Def Jam, the pioneering label the MC helped build. It begins with the blustery and overblown "It's Time for War," an embittered reclamation where he sounds more like he's shooing kids off his lawn than reigning over his territory. There are a couple tracks where LL sounds as on fire as ever, usually when his targets are specific rather than general, as on "You Better Watch Me" and "This Is Ring Tone M..." But the album's tone tilts toward the reactionary in its clear desire to sound just like a standard 2008 mainstream rap album, with unnecessary references to Petron and Cognac and in-your-face evidence that LL really wants you to know he's not behind the times: "Let's take our clothes off, bombs away/Pick a song -- Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, or Ray-J." Head-scratching career low points are more common than highlights, from the horndog patriotism of "American Girl" ("I'm so glad the French helped us out/Now you're free to walk around and let your cleavage bounce"; "You go, girl, you make me wanna holler/I'll take George off and put your boobs on the dollar") to the sub-50 Cent "Come and Party with Me." Out with a whimper, not a bang, Exit 13 is an off-ramp leading to a boulevard of several mismanaged White Castle knock-offs. ~ Andy Kellman | | Wrapped in what is possibly the most prog rock sleeve design in hip-hop history, Exit 13 marks LL Cool J's departure from Def Jam, the pioneering label the MC helped build. It begins with "It's Time for War," an embittered reclamation where he sounds more like he's shooing kids off his lawn than reigning over his territory. There are a couple tracks where LL sounds as on fire as ever, usually when his targets are specific rather than general, as on "You Better Watch Me" and "This Is Ring Tone M..." Still, the album's tone tilts toward the reactionary in its clear desire to sound just like a standard 2008 mainstream rap album, with unnecessary references to Petron and Cognac and in-your-face evidence that LL really wants you to know he's not behind the times. ~ Andy Kellman |
Producer: C. "Tricky" Stewart; Illfonics; DJ Scratch; Dream Team; Marley Marl; Ryan Leslie; C. "Tricky" Stewart; The-Dream; Cue Beats; Suits; Ray Burghardt; Raw Uncut; Marlon Williams, Jr.; Illfonics; Dame Grease; Absolut; Marley Marl; Scratch; Streetrunner; The Dr |
Engineer: Anthony Palazzole; Glen Marchese; Dave Clauss; Brian "B-Luv" Thomas; Ky Miller; Jeff Chestek; Ryan Leslie; Brian Stanley |
Musical Guests | | 50 Cent | | Ticky Diamondz | | Jiz | | It's Ya Girl Nicolette | | Lyrikal | | The-Dream | | Richie Sambora | | Grandmaster Caz | | Ryan Leslie | | Elan | | Wyclef Jean | | Funkmaster Flex | | Fat Joe | | Sheek Louch |
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