HIP-HOP

Latest CD release reviewed.

LL COOL J
The DEFinition Def Jam
***

The acting roles may be getting meatier - apparently, he's pretty useful in forthcoming cop thriller Edison, although he did just about out-ham that big ol' shark in Deep Blue Sea - but LL Cool J hasn't given up on the rap game. His peers may have hung up their mics but he's still here to take on all comers. The DEFinition is his eleventh album and it shows he still has an ear for what it takes to craft sleek, streamlined hip-hop radio hits. It helps enormously, of course, that he has all the right telephone numbers. After drafting in the Neptunes last time out, it's Timbaland who's on call to supply the crackles to the soundtrack this time, leaving LL to tell us why he's so great on Rub My Back and Every Sip. Modesty? What the hell is modesty?

[ www.llcoolj.com ]