This is a very good album. I know a lot of people are not going to respect it because of LL's imagery but if you really listen to the album you'll realize it's one of the best hip-hop albums of the year.

There are a number of standout tracks... Namely, "You better watch me", "ring tone murder", and "we rollin". All very solid songs that showcase LL's versatility.

His core audience will also love it. He has a number of very solid LL love songs on the album including "Like a Radio" and the 50 Cent assisted "Heartbeat." Trust me, the fellas will love these when their girls start rocking to them. I was expecting another weak performance by LL, but he really surprised me. No, he's not in his prime and there are some missteps, "American Girl" being the most blatant, but he proves once again that he can spit with anyone. And he can spit any style. He's an elder statesman who just keeps proving himself. A lot of people are harsher critics of LL than they are of all these other rappers who drop albums. This album is far better than Game's latest and Young Jeezy's latest. It's one of the better albums of this year.

You should buy it and really listen to it.

LL Cool J has been around since 1985 after appearing in the cult film "Krush Groove" and dropping the classic Rick Rubin produced "Radio", one of the first albums to come out of Def Jam, aswell as one of the greatest Rap albums of all time with it's hard minimalistic style and no-nonsense lyrics. He invented the Hip Hop ballad with "I Need Love" from his next album "Bigger and Deffer" and he helped bridging the gap between Hip Hop and crossover appeal on "Walking with a Panther" aswell as being the fore runner for Bling Bling with it's album cover. And One year later finding the perfect weight between commercialism and attitude on the Marley Mark produced "Mama Said Knock You Out", another Hip Hop classic. However his greatest strengt was always the songs for the ladies. LL rarely had explicit lyrics on his album, only happened twice and he was also able to find good colaborations at any time, working with anyone from Diddy, to Timbaland and the Neptunes. A career that stretches over three decades is impressive, especially considering that none of the Rappers from the mid 80's are still popular. But lately LL's albums haven't been so good, they always had hit singles but overall they weren neither too memorable or grounbreaking. His last album "Todd Smith" left alot to be desired to say the least. On his new album "Exit 17", originally called "Todd Smith 2 : Back To Cool" he tries to rejuvenate himself further. Handpicking in demand producers like JR Rotem, Ryan Leslie and Tricky Stewart aswell as calling old collegues like Marley Mark and DJ Scratch. This is his third album that got explicit lyrics and part of the reason is that he's trying way hard to aply to current trends. But that's isn't entirely a mainstream album, LL gives us songs for the ladies "American Girl", "Cry" and the hit "Baby" with the Dream aswell as classic hard edge songs "You Better Watch Me", "This Is My Ring Tone" and one political manifestation "Mr President" just in time for the presidential race and one about the demise of Hip Hop, called "Dear Hip Hop". The naughty "Feel My Heart Beat" with 50 Cent is just embarrasing and is everything that LL never did in the past and on "Old School New School" he seem to be saying he's one of the best, which is true if the year was 1993 and a failed party song called "Time For Party" with Fat Joe, that sounds more like 50 Cent by the way. But apart from some weak moments, there are highlights too. The Tricky Stewart produced Hit "Baby" is great aswell as "Cry" with Lil Mo with a really nice hook. On the somewhat cheesy "Like A Radio" Ryan Leslie goes old skool with beats resembling the 80's and a title that makes references to his classic album. I actually enjoy "Mr President" with Wyclef Jean singing a great hook over a funky beat and LL talking about problems going on in USA. The aformentioned closer "Dear Hip Hop" is another highlight, simular to the song Nas did some years ago but this one is very soulish in production.


Overall, This one got it's fair share of lacklusters, especially with songs where LL tries to rejuvenate himself by trying to sound mianstream, but on other songs he disses contemporary Hip Hop claiming that he's one of the pioneers and still the best (huh?). However, it also got some pretty good songs like the some songs for the ladies and some harder songs, aswell as "Mr President" and "Dear Hip Hop" that both are welcome surprises. Hence the album is better then people are saying. While it's sometimes unfocused, give credit to the man for sticking around and still making good music every now and then. I've heard better I've heard worse, but who cares LL still got my full respect. He's been there, he's done that. He's LL. 3'5 stars.

Over the past few years there's been some criticism of going soft so LL Cool J felt the need to address some critics and haters with the release of his "Exit 13" album. This is easily one of the best albums of the year, LL Cool J is back to vintage form with hot tracks like "Rocking With The G.O.A.T.", "Old School New School", "You Better Watch Me", "Ur Only A Customer", and "Mr. President" featuring Wyclef, I give it a strong 9/10! Watch out haters 'cause the Jordan of rap is back with a vengence, it you're a real hip hop head or a fan of great music in general this is an album to appreciate, let's support this real artist, peace!

After reading some of the reviews of this album, it's obvious that most of you are young'uns. Here's the real...There's a HUGE difference between HIP-HOP and RAP. There's a HUGE difference between MC's and RAPPERS. LL COOL J is one of the only cats in the game that is capable of doing both but he's truly an MC in the HIP-HOP game. THE GOAT ! This album is vintage LL of the last 10 years. Some tracks are hard hip hop and some are radio ready rap songs. The people that diss this album know nothing about hip hop. I'm not knocking what music you like but you have to give the veterans in this game respect. If it's not about murder, drugs, clubbin and sex, it considered not hot. Learn your history and MR. SMITH is a part of Hip Hop History...A REALLY BIG PART.

Sure LL has made better albums but in my opinion, this one is the best since MR. SMITH. Tracks like OLD SCHOOL NEW SCHOOL, GET OVER HERE, ROCKING WITH THE GOAT, RINGTONE MURDER, UR ONLY A CUSTOMER and DEAR HIP HOP show that he still can flow with the best of them. Radio/Club tracks like BABY and CRY pays the bills. But when it comes to the art of the MC Battle, few do it better than UNCLE L.

Pick the album up if you are a fan of LL...don't think you'll be disapointed. I hope it's not his last for DEF JAM or his last period. LL still got it !

YO TODD ! Grab Rick Rubin and Marley Marl for the next one. Let's take it back to the REAL BOOM BAP. Back to LL HARD AS HELL. Back to ROCK THE BELLS...teach these kids a little something !

First off this cd is not as bad as you heard...it's a decent effort by one of the greatest to ever do it, in this being his 2008 version of himself. I was ready to write him off myself as a recording artist with some of the TRASH he had released recently, but I can see that if he wants to make a decent product he still has it in him...one of the things that I like about this cd is it's use of "old school" elements like something as simple as scratching...a lost element in hip-hop in 2008...lyrically LL can still drop verses clear and concise....of course this album does have some filler and I think one of his biggest mistakes with this album was choosing "Baby" as the lead single...that's going to turn-off most "real" hip-hop heads who will automatically think "There goes LL again catering strickly to the ladies"...well if you know this man's career then you already know that he hasn't made one album without something dedicated to either Love or the Ladies hence his name Ladies Love Cool James...but it's always been his versatility that kept him around for so long anyway....he's a love emcee...a battle emcee....a hardcore emcee...he wears a few different hats...anyway Exit 13 is a good effort by the 2008 version of LL Cool J...He'll never be as good as the 1985 version of himself again anyway so I'll have to get used to this other guy...and if he can continue to improve on this '08 version of himself then he'll surpass a 30 year hip-hop recording career easily...something unheard of for the hip-hop game...that remains to be seen...he's a free agent now off of Def Jam...let's see if he can regain that hunger and keep releasing hopefully even better material!

My top five are:
1.Dear Hip-Hop
2.Ringtone Murder
3.Old School New School
4.Rocking With the G.O.A.T.
5.Feel My Heartbeat