LL Cool J @ Ram’s Head Live - Baltimore, MD
Coming into Ram’s Head Live (a pretty nice venue in downtown Baltimore) I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect of an LL show. Would we get the Ladies Love R&B artist that has been present the last few albums or would we get the hardcore LL who smashed songs like ‘I’m Bad’ and ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’? Tickets were mad pricey going from $30-$50 but you were pretty much right next to the stage in the open room, which is the only way you should ever watch a hip hop show.
Anyhow, as LL took his time to come out I got a little nervous as this huge dude starts bringing out mad towels and bouquets of roses. By the way the audience was about 85% women clamoring for LL to probably lick his lips or something but I digress. Finally around 10:30 LL with Cut Creator in tow hits the stage and sets it off with ‘Radio.’ He ran through a couple more classics before switching into Lady’s mode and dribbling water on his shirt and throwing towels dabbed in his sweat to the crowd. At one point he threw one in the crowd and this little white dude and huge black lady were wrestling over the towel as L rocked ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ with intense energy. Hilarious to say the least. L then proceeded to call quite possibly the ugliest group of women in the crowd to come on stage and dance with him, giving kisses on the forehead to the closest gremlin. While his emcee skills were never in question I’m starting to worry about his vision.
Ugly women aside overall LL rocked and showed how he has been able to stay current for so long by catering to both the hardcore heads and the fans in high heels. He performed with the type of energy that forced you to really get into it. Of course I would have preferred less R&B joints but it was a small price to pay to see one of the legends in the game killing a show while still in his prime.
