Eminem made a rare appearance on Rock the Bells Radio paying homage to LL Cool J’s classic album and rapping his verse.
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out”, Marshall came in under the guise of his Slim Shady persona but swiftly switched to his “rap scholar” side and shared his appreciation to LL’s artistry, paying attention to both lyrics and production. He started from analysing the eponymous eighth track off the album:
This is Eminem on LL Cool J Rock the Bells Radio (Get it? Hello Cool J?) and you are listening to “30 Years of ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’”. Yeah, I don’t even know which one to do, this is going to be tough because “Mama Said Knock You Out” for me was such an unorthodox hit. LL has been such an innovator because for a song like that to be a hit… He is so raw on that song. That something like that could become a hit it just changed the whole game. Because you didn’t have to have a singing pop hook or anything like that to get on the radio. And the radio played the fuck out of that song. And to m that was not even an attempt to make a hit, it was more like him getting this shit off his chest. But the song was so good that you couldn’t frown on it and it just became something that was organic. It gives you chills man.
Eminem raps LL Cool J’s “Eat Em Up L Chill”:
The second song Eminem wanted to spin for his listeners was “Eat Em Up L Chill”:
Marshall’s here. We are on Rock the Bells Radio and we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of “Mama Said Knock You Out”. One of the reasons why this album is so significant it is because it’s LL Cool J’s fourth album and for me, it was his fourth classic in a row.
One of my favourites on the album… I’ll start with “Eat Em Up L Chill”. [raps:]
Bring on the mo’s and ho’s
Don’t snooze or doze
‘Cause I’m rippin’ up shows
Hold your nose, dead bodies are around
I leave scratch marks under the tears of a clownHis vocal tone on that and the way the beat… Shout out to Marley Marl, by the way, because the beat on this fucking song is crazy. And the way LL’s rhyming scheme complements this beat and vice versa is incredible.
Listen to Eminem’s segment below:
