“Mama Said Knock You Out” by LL Cool J

The title track of LL Cool J's fourth album, "Mama Said Knock You Out" hit the shops as a single in February 1991, and it lands like a man with a point to prove. Plenty of people had decided his run was over; his grandmother hadn't, and she told him to go out and flatten every last critic. He took her at her word and came out swinging, with a few of the punches aimed squarely at Kool Moe Dee.

Marley Marl produced it and wrote it with LL, who co-produced, with DJ Bobcat pitching in; Marl also shared the recording and mixing with George Karras, David Kennedy and Ivan “Doc” Rodriguez. It climbed to 17 on the Hot 100, went platinum and won the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance, and in 2023 Billboard's list of the 500 best pop songs found room for it.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.