‘THE FORCE’ is strong with LL Cool J as the rap legend makes an attention-commanding effort out of his first record in over a decade.

Stream: ‘THE FORCE’ – LL Cool J

LL Cool J is now as old as he once was young.

Merely 17 when he first made his entrance into the rap game, LL lit the world on fire with 1985’s Radio, and also help to demonstrate that hip-hop could be more than mere block party music and really serve as the template for cohesive full-length LPs – a not-yet-fully-proven concept at the time.

LL maintained his title as a hip-hop heavyweight over the years that followed, but then age caught up with him, it seems, and he wound up going a decade-and-change without either releasing or performing much music. The past year, though, has seen him stage a two-pronged return to form. One part of it was embarking on The F.O.R.C.E. Tour, his first headlining arena tour in 30 years. And now, to complete the comeback, he is releasing his first album in not-quite-so-many years – 11 of them; still a pretty long time by most other standards – also entitled THE FORCE.

THE FORCE - LL Cool J — THE FORCE – LL Cool J

As soon as the record kicks off with “Spirit of Cyrus,” LL proves what a master of his craft he remains. He’s never been considered a “gangsta rapper,” but the lyrics of this one are surprisingly violent: “Your life, you won’t live it, your death will be horrific,” he warns all of his rivals. “A 147 grain bullet, to be specific. My 9, I’m liftin’ it to execute a hypocrite.” Maybe lines like these are simply the latter-day version of “Mama said knock you out! I’m gonna knock you out!“ – a guy who, nice though he may be in real life, is alerting all that he will be entering full savage mode as soon as he walks in the studio.

Mr. Cool J keeps the octane level high across the course of THE FORCE. Another example of this comes on “Murdergram Deux,” on which he declares himself to be the “Reincarnation of the Ripper. I give stitches and chest zippers. Cinderellas get propellered out they glass slippers.” He sounds convincing and menacing enough to hold his ground with Eminem, a rapper who’s far better known for lyrics of that threatening nature.

LL’s probably aware that, now that he’s 56 and been away for so long, he’s got a little fighting to do in order for him to be taken seriously across the board as an active MC; yet he does everything in his power to earn those very rights. “I’m on a mission of beating the odds, feed me some more,” he raps on “Post Modern.” “Got a vision, I’m raising the bar up to the Lord… You see him, ya man’s peaking.”

The F.O.R.C.E. Tour that LL helmed last year played out like a hip-hop Hall of Fame reunion – the Roots, Queen Latifah, Slick Rick, Naughty by Nature and plenty more all stopped by for various shows – and, unsurprisingly, the accompanying album follows suit.

The most prominent example of this lies in the production department – the beats here have almost uniformly been crafted by another rap elder statesman, Q-Tip. Despite both hailing from Queens, young LL Cool J never got around to collaborating much with A Tribe Called Quest back in their mutual heyday in the ’80s and ’90s. So, it’s fabulous to see them make up for lost time, with Q-Tip composing multiple memorable beats – ones that contain whiffs of his cherished work with the Tribe, while also being appropriately updated for the 2020’s crowd – and LL rapping energetically over them as well.

Another quality that makes The FORCE a major nostalgia project is the lineup of guest artists. It includes a rapper who did get around to collaborating a lot with ATCQ back in the day – Busta Rhymes, who contributes his signature snarling vocals to “Huey in the Chair” – along with a healthy range of other old-school hip-hop cats, including Fat Joe, Snoop Dogg, and Nas. The latter of these proves especially devastating with his assertive appearance on “Praise Him,” which chronicles his and LL’s mutual transition from “[raising] hood toddlers” in Queens to now being “in the Zoom meetings, sipping Veuve Clicq’ and eating, reminiscing when I got my new sheepskin.”

**Ladies Love Cool James (hence the rapper’s stage name), and a couple of them demonstrate that affection by making valuable vocal contributions to his new album.**

On “Proclivities,” Saweetie delivers some a suave mélange of singing and rapping, making this track the more lighthearted foil to the otherwise grittier lyrical fare on THE FORCE. Probably the album’s least expected guest feature also winds up being one of its more rewarding ones – Sona Jobareth, a kora player from Gambia, delivers some West African chanting and string-plucking to “Black Code Suite,” and the results are golden.

The final line is that this hiatus-busting new album, THE FORCE, represents a remarkable return to form for the veteran rapper. “Over the competition, I’m towerin’!” is a line he still deserves to declare, almost 35 years later.

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