Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Rewind That : LL Cool J " 4,3,2,1"

LL Cool J feat. Redman, Method Man, Cannibus, DMX & Master P . This was the hottest track and the best collaboration in 1997. I remember recording this song on my tape recorder when they played it on Hot 97 and trying to memorize the Lyrics 

so i can go to school and spit it back  to my homeboyz in the hallways, and of course my ass got caught by security and had to go back to class.  


Here's a little history on this Track and the Rivalry between LL & Canibus : 


In the original version of the song, Canibus rapped "Yo L, is that a mic on your arm? Lemme borrow that", referring to LL's Tattoo of a microphone on his arm. LL heard the verse, interpreted it as a diss, and responded to it with his own verse. This essentially created a battle between two MCs in the same song. In an attempt to calm tension, LL later called Canibus to say he saw the line as disrespect, and asked him to change it, to which Canibus complied. LL did not remove his verse, believing that with Canibus' verse gone no one would know who he was referring to in his verse. However, the original version of the song was leaked to the public. This would set up a rivalry .Canibus released his single "Second Round K.O.", containing lyrics dissing LL, who later responded with "Ripper Strikes Back." In this song he not only dissed his producer Wyclef ,but went on to berate ex-friend Mike Tyson for appearing on "Second Round K.O." LL did another diss, with "Back Where I Belong" featuring Ja Rule .Canibus replied to both tracks with his "Rip the Jacker" using LL's "I'm Bad" backing track.



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