Song of the Week: LL Cool J, Redman, Method Man, DMX, & Canibus – “4,3,2,1″
I know I ruffled a few feathers this week with my post about Eminem and him never being the GOAT. So I decided to bring a real GOAT out for this installment of Song of the Week. Yeah, I know I buried LL Cool J in a column, but that was coming from a fans perspective. LL used to be my favorite rapper and I hated to see him still hanging around past his prime (take notes Hov). Some of you got it twisted when I said Em wasn’t battle tested, you guys are thinking I meant he must be involved in a “beef” to make his legacy. NO, that isn’t what I meant, but every GOAT has had a battle that made their claim to the throne legit. LL is one of the most battle tested emcee’s out there. He came up in a time where battling was what you had to do. Some of you may not be old enough to remember his battles with Kool Moe Dee, but I can assure you that they were epic. For the record a battle isn’t one sided, a battle goes back and forth and there isn’t always a clear cut winner (ex. Jay vs. Nas). Enough about history, some of ya’ll think I don’t know my Hip-Hop just because I embrace Beezy and liked Deeper than Rap. Notice how everyone on the track brings their A game, even Erick Sermon was on his shit on the production! We have all heard this one, so I’m not wasting anymore time on talking about it..so enjoy this installment of Song of the Week!
Download: LL Cool J, Canibus, Method Man, Redman, & DMX – “4,3,2,1″
Good pick KJ! This is one of my top favorite LL Cool J songs and probably one of the only ones that I took the time to memorize everybody’s verse. Every rapper or “emcee” in the industry or trying to get in should know this track and took notes from it… I mean if y’all really are emcees (lol). “Rap battles ain’t dead, these rappers just scared” © Jeezy
Yeah this is one of my favorite songs too. I still have the original single on that Father single CD. My 4,3,2,1 has a remix with Master P on it too when Master P was definitely blowing up in the 9-7. I don’t think LL is the GOAT though, he is one of the GOAT. The best album he made was Mamma Said Knock Out. That diss he said about Kool Moe Dee about the Star Trek shades was funny as fuck.
Isn’t this the song that sparked the LL vs Canibus beef? I was feelin Second Round KO, I still don’t see how people gave it to LL just because he’s a pioneer in the game. The stuff LL was doin around 97 – 98 wasn’t all that great. Too bad the beef ruined Canibus’ career, he had potential.
Great pick, definetely one of the best collaborations in rap.