"Mama Said Knock You Out" is a number-one hit single by LL Cool J from his album of the same name. The song famously begins with the line "Don't call it a comeback/I've 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[1] with help from DJ Bobcat along with LL. The single reached number 17[2] on the Billboard Hot 100, was certified gold by the RIAA, and won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. The song takes various shots at Kool Moe Dee.
The song was featured in the Michael J. Fox action comedy The Hard Way, in which LL Cool J also co-starred.
Background
The song uses samples from James Brown's "Funky Drummer," the Chicago Gangsters' "Gangster Boogie," Sly & The Family Stone's "Trip to Your Heart" the drum break from Digital Underground's "The Humpty Dance", and LL Cool J's own "Rock the Bells". The music video features LL Cool J in a boxing ring, rapping into a microphone similar to the one an announcer would use in a boxing match. Intercut with this are clips of both 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 was popular and he was being dissed by several up-and-coming rappers. She responded, "Oh baby, just knock them out!"[3] She is featured in the closing scene of the music video, saying "Todd! Todd! Get upstairs and take out that garbage".
Cultural references
The song has been parodied on the 1990s comedy show In Living Color as a music video skit, "Mama's Gonna Kick Me Out" with Shawn Wayans as Jimmie Walker's Good Times character, J.J. Evans;[4] and in the 1994 hip-hop mockumentary film Fear of a Black Hat as a solo single for rapper Tasty-Taste (Larry B. Scott), "Granny Said Kick Yo Ass".[5]
The title was heard in the Futurama episode, "Proposition Infinity," when during a brief hostage taking of Amy Wong in a police holding cell, the police robot unit URL uses the Vulcan nerve pinch from Star Trek to subdue a violent criminal, then afterwards coolly says: "Mama said Spock you out."
In an episode of The Office, when introducing Ryan, Michael Scott remarks "Don't call it a comeback." This song was in the "Pontiac Bandit" episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine when Jake Peralta wore a white suit to a criminal meet. In It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, the song is used in the episode "The Gang Broke Dee".[6] In the Auralnauts Star Wars parody, "Revenge of Middle Management," Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are singing the song during the beginning sequence.
Track listing
Covers
- UK rap rock band Senser covered the song frequently at live concerts during the 1990s along with other hip hop songs that they admired.
- Street Sweeper Social Club covered the song on The Ghetto Blaster EP and have also performed it live.
- The song was included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
- The song was parodied/covered by the punk-rock band Lagwagon in the bonus track "Back One Out", from their 1994 album Trashed.
Five Finger Death Punch version
American heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch covered the song for their fourth studio album, The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1, which features rapper Tech N9ne.[7] The single was released on March 25, 2014 through Prospect Park Records.
Track listing
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"Mama Said Knock You Out" (featuring Tech N9ne) | James Todd Smith | Kevin Churko, Five Finger Death Punch |
2:47 |
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
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Certifications
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References
- ↑ Pareles, Jon (November 18, 1990). "HOME ENTERTAINMENT/RECORDINGS: RECENT RELEASES". The New York Times. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
- ↑ "Mama Said Knock You Out - LL Cool J Song Information". billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ↑ LL Cool J (1998). I Make My Own Rules. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 126–127. ISBN 9780312967314.
- ↑
- ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Various-Fear-Of-A-Black-Hat-Music-From-The-Motion-Picture/release/243420
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2135416/
- ↑ Tobbe (May 30, 2013). "Interview with Five Finger Death Punch's Zoltán Báthory". Metal Covenant. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
We had an idea to cover Mama Said Knock You Out. [...] Then we made the song heavy and when Tech N9ne came it, we thought 'Oh yeah, this is happening. Fuck it, Let's put it on the record.'
- ↑ "LL Cool J: Artist Chart History" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
- ↑ "Australian-charts.com – LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
- ↑ "Charts.org.nz – LL Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
- ↑ "LL Cool J Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for LL Cool J. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
- ↑ "LL Cool J Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs for LL Cool J. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
- ↑ "LL Cool J Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for LL Cool J. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
- ↑ "LL Cool J > Awards". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
- ↑ "American single certifications – L.L. Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out". Recording Industry Association of America. May 15, 1991. Retrieved September 30, 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
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