"Mama Said Knock You Out" is the fourth single by rapper

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

from his fourth studio album of the same name. The song famously begins with the line, ''"Don't call it a comeback/I been here for years."'' Before "Mama Said Knock You Out" was released, many people felt that LL Cool J's career was waning; his grandmother, who still believed in his talent, told him to "knock out" all his critics. The song was produced by

Marley Marl Marlon Williams (born September 30, 1962), better known by his stage name Marley Marl, is an American DJ, record producer, rapper and record label founder, primarily operating in hip hop music. Marlon grew up in Queensbridge housing projects ...

with help from

DJ Bobcat Bobby "Bobcat" Ervin (born December 13, 1967), professionally known as Bobcat or DJ Bobcat, is an American Grammy Award winner and multi-platinum producer, songwriter, DJ, artist and music executive. He has worked with Clive Davis, Russell Simm ...

along with LL. The single reached number 17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, was certified Platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

, and won the

Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance was awarded from 1991 to 2011, alongside the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Previously, a single award was presented for Best Rap Performance. In 2003, this award was split into separate awa ...

. The song takes various shots at

Kool Moe Dee Mohandas Dewese (born August 8, 1962), better known by his stage name Kool Moe Dee, is an American rapper, writer and actor. Considered one of the forerunners of the new jack swing sound in hip hop, he gained fame in the 1980s as a member of one ...

Background

The song uses samples from

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

's "

Funky Drummer "Funky Drummer" is a single released by James Brown in 1970. Its drum break, improvised by Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most frequently sampled music recordings. Recording and composition "Funky Drummer" was recorded on November 20, 1969 ...

", the Chicago Gangsters' "Gangster Boogie",

Sly & The Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-i ...

's "Trip to Your Heart", the drum break from

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-i ...

's Sing a Simple Song, and LL Cool J's own "

Rock the Bells Rock the Bells was an annual hip-hop festival that originally took place in Southern California only, but has since toured throughout the world. The concert featured a line-up of high-profile alternative hip-hop artists, often headlined by a mor ...

" (from his debut album ''

Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

''). The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

features LL Cool J in a boxing ring, rapping into the announcer's microphone. Intercut with this are clips of boxing matches and LL Cool J exercising. LL Cool J said in his autobiography that the idea for the song came from a discussion with his grandmother. He had said to his grandmother that he felt that he couldn't survive as a rapper now that

gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, emerged in the mid- to late 1980s as a controversial hip-hop subgenre whose lyrics assert the culture and values typical of American street gangs and street hustlers. Many gangsta rappe ...

was popular and he was being dissed by several up-and-coming rappers. LL's grandmother responded, "Oh baby, just knock them out!" She is featured in the closing scene of the music video, saying "Todd! Todd! Get upstairs and take out that garbage."

Legacy

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' ranked the song 29th on a 2012 list of the "50 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of All Time".

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

played it in the final slot of the "Mothers" episode of Season 1 of ''

Theme Time Radio Hour ''Theme Time Radio Hour'' (''TTRH'') was a weekly one-hour satellite radio show hosted by Bob Dylan that originally aired from May 2006 to April 2009. Each episode had a freeform mix of music, centered on a theme (such as "Weather", "Money" or "F ...

'' in 2006. Dylan noted the song was "in the same tradition as the Dozens" and recited the first verse before playing it.

Five Finger Death Punch version

American heavy metal band

Five Finger Death Punch Five Finger Death Punch, also abbreviated as 5FDP or FFDP, is an American heavy metal band from Las Vegas, Nevada, formed in 2005. The band originally consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Ivan Moody, rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory, lead gui ...

covered the song for their fourth studio album, ''

The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1 ''The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1'' is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch and the first of two albums released by the band in 2013. It was released on July 30, 2013, thr ...

''. The cover features rapper

Tech N9ne Aaron Dontez Yates (born November 8, 1971), better known by his stage name Tech N9ne (pronounced "tech nine"), is an American rapper. In 1999, he and business partner Travis O'Guin founded the record label Strange Music. He has sold over two m ...

. The single was released on March 25, 2014 by Prospect Park Records.

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{authority control 1991 singles Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance LL Cool J songs Songs written by LL Cool J Def Jam Recordings singles Columbia Records singles 1990 songs Song recordings produced by Marley Marl Diss tracks Songs written by Bootsy Collins Songs written by Marley Marl Songs written by George Clinton (funk musician) Songs written by Sly Stone Songs written by Walter Morrison