Architect of one of the longest careers in hip hop history, LL Cool J always has a point to prove.
If we're honest - and we have to be, because the biggest ego in the most egocentric music ever invented certainly won't admit it - LL hasn't made a show-stopping album since 1990's 'Mama Said Knock You Out'. And, while 'G.O.A.T.' (please!) is his best for a decade, that's hardly saying much.
His late '90s efforts proved uncomfortable listening for fans, as the master of the art of the brag slid into self-parody. So it's good news for long-term fans that Cool J has got back into the boasting on this, his eighth long player.
Stung by his abortive battle with Canibus (a long drawn out saga that he belatedly attempts to conclude here), L is back to burn, throwing the PG-rating out of the pram along with the rest of the baggage left unresolved in his 1997 autobiography, 'I Make My Own Rules'.
There's plenty here to suggest that the arrogant battle rhymer of legend is still active somewhere within Cool J's professional psyche, and on occasion he's matched with beats that recall the glory days.
But, the honourable exceptions of 'Homicide' and 'Can't Think' aside, 'G.O.A.T.' is depressingly bereft of considered content. There's nothing outrageous or offensive, just plenty of the unthinking and inarticulate sex talk that L's been spouting between the brags for years.
It's nowhere near the levels of depravity the likes of Eminem reach, of course, but the frustrating lack of imagination belies his status as one of the genre's giants.
So while there's plenty of concessions to make an album that sounds and smells like most of the other high-profile, commercially successful hip hop of the late '90s, there's still enough to convince you LL still needs to make music.
But it's a close run thing, which is a worry - and even his staunchest supporters may be forced to admit that this album tries the
patience once too often.
