| Walking with a Panther | ||||||||||
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| Studio album by LL Cool J | ||||||||||
| Released | June 9, 1989 | |||||||||
| Recorded | 1987–1989 | |||||||||
| Genre | Golden age hip hop | |||||||||
| Length | 76:45 (CD) 84:29 (cassette) |
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| Label | Def Jam/Columbia/CBS Records CK 45172 (North America) 465112 (international) |
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| Producer | LL Cool J Dwayne Simon Rick Rubin DJ Cut Creator The Bomb Squad |
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| LL Cool J chronology | ||||||||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| AllHipHop | (favorable)[2] |
| Robert Christgau | (A-)[3] |
| Q | [4] |
| Rolling Stone | [5] |
| Trouser Press | (mixed)[6] |
| Yahoo! Music | (favorable)[7] |
Walking with a Panther is the third studio album by high-selling hip-hop artist LL Cool J. Released in 1989, the album was a commercial success, with several charting singles ("Going Back to Cali," "I'm That Type of Guy," "Jingling Baby," "Big Ole Butt," and "One Shot at Love"). The album however was often criticized by the hip-hop community as being too commercial and materialistic, and for focusing too much on love ballads.[8] According to Billboard, the album peaked at #6 on the Billboard 200 and was LL Cool J's second #1 R&B Album where it spent four weeks.
While the previous album Bigger and Deffer, which was a big success, was produced by The L.A. Posse (at the time consisting of Dwayne Simon, Darryl Pierce and, according to himself the most important for crafting the sound of the LP, Bobby "Bobcat" Erving), Dwayne Simon was the only one left willing to work on producing Walking with a Panther. Bobcat said he wanted more money for the album after realizing how much of a success the previous album really had become but Def Jam refused to change the contract which made him leave Cool J.[9] According to Bobcat this is the reason that Walking with a Panther was met with very mixed reception at the time of its release.[10]
The cover of the album features a North American melanistic jaguar.
Contents |
All songs produced by LL Cool & Dwayne Simon except where noted