Five weeks into 1997, and we’ve had five different number ones (if you count ‘2 Become 1’, leftover from the year before). Dance, indie, rock, and now…
Ain’t Nobody, by LL Cool J (his 1st and only #1)
1 week, from 2nd – 9th February 1997
One of hip-hops OGs. Ladies Love Cool James, or just LL Cool J to his friends. I’m the best when it comes to making love all night… LL announces in this record’s opening lines… Go deep till the full moon turns to sunlight… before commencing on a four-minute rap Kama Sutra, full of lines about bodies intertwining, animal attraction, all that jazz.
It’s based around ‘80s classic ‘Ain’t Nobody’, and I did wonder if it was a full-blown sample, meaning that Chaka Khan could grab a second #1 by association. But no, it’s an interpolation (one day I’ll have to work out the difference). The chorus is sung by an uncredited lady, who doesn’t have Chaka’s pipes, but LL does a neat little reference to ‘I Feel for You’, as he freestyles towards the end.
I’ve talked for a long time about hip-hop gradually coming of age, especially in recent years with hits from Coolio and the Fugees. I’d add this one to the pile. The rapping is tighter, faster, and obsessed with sex. Still no swearing (the Outhere Brothers remain an outlier), though we’re slowly getting saucier: see the lines above, as well as treats like I’m exploring your body and your erogenous zones, Like a black tiger caged up till you come home… And I’m sure he didn’t mean it, but the refrain of You can take it girl, Stop runnin’, Uh… sure does sound a bit dubious to today’s ears.
Other than that, the sample (sorry, interpolation!) works well. I don’t love the song as a whole, and it’s not a patch on the original, but wouldn’t leave the dancefloor if it came on. Plus it sounds like a modern pop song, once again, furthering my argument that late ’96 / early ’97 marked one of those shifts that pop music goes through every decade or so.
This record, standard 90s hip-hop that it is, came from the unlikely source of the soundtrack to ‘Beavis and Butt-head Do America’, which I haven’t seen, and cannot imagine how it fits into the plot. The ‘B’-side was called ‘Come to Butt-head’, which seems much more appropriate.
Despite rap still being a relatively new chart-topping genre, LL Cool J had been around since the early ‘80s, which is seriously early in hip-hop terms. ‘I Need Love’, his slow-jam from 1987, was one of the first fully-rapped songs to be a chart hit in the UK, reaching #8 (meaning LL had a UK Top 10 several years before he managed one on the Billboard 100). ‘Ain’t Nobody’ was his third, and it set him up for a decade’s worth of regular hit making. And before I go, I’ll give a shout out to one of his other 1997 hits, which should have been the #1, ‘the frenetically funky ‘Phenomenon’.
The UK Number Ones Blog 
“Mama Said Knock You Out” is really the only LL Cool J song I know and that song is absolutely awesome. It’s a classic “people calling me soft and pop, so come out and hit back with something hard” track.
This song is interesting. Never heard it before. I’m a big fan of 90s west coast G-Funk and east coast hip hop, but this isn’t really anything like west coast hip hop at the time. Or even east coast hip hop, except for female backing vocals. In fact, this song leans much more pop rap, like Common. Nothing gangsta about it. It’s a fun song.
Also, Sampling is taking a portion of a song and reusing it in a new song. It directly uses existing recordings. Interpolation involves re-creating a musical passage from an existing song using new instrumentation or vocal performances, rather than directly sampling the audio. Like, “Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G. samples the bass-line from “Rise” by Herb Alpert. “Don’t Stop the Music” by Rihanna interpolates “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'” by Michale Jackson for its chorus hook.
Thanks for the clarification! So is this interpolation or sampling…? It’s not the original Ain’t Nobody, but it recreates it so faithfully that it might as well be. It’s almost a cover version, with bonus rapping
It’s interpolation. A re-creation like this no matter how faithful and how alike it sounds would be interpolation. If any element had been directly taken from the original track, it would be a sample.
This is OK, not heard it since the 90’s – it’s no Chaka Khan, but it’s not awful. I rather liked his 1987 I Need Love as a teen rapper, so didn’t mind him coming back all growed up and getting some big hits ahead of his move into acting in the next century. Rap where you can hear the words, and no swearing, it’s such a blessed relief after 20 years of eyeball-raising “here we go again” cliches. Feel the same about Shaznay Lewis’ fab new track with added rap that enhances it from General Levy (Good Mourning) as opposed to cheapening or rap-by-number dial-ins. See Jungle also for album of last year with added rap acts (Volcano).
I know why I backed away from the radio around this time…