The grimy fifth album from LL Cool J, 1993’s 14 Shots to the Dome arrived during a transitional time for New York hip-hop. As Los Angeles gangsta rap began to dominate the conversation, East Coasters like Black Moon, Onyx, Lords of the Underground, Trends of Culture and a teenage Mobb Deep were countering with a gritty hardcore sound that reeked of sewer smoke and subway grease. Among them was LL Cool J, a veteran with four platinum albums to his name—and whose 14 Shots to the Dome proved to be the roughest and most rugged release of his career. Though he’d experienced no shortage of crossover success, on the opening track “How I’m Comin’”, LL made it clear, well, how he was coming: “You can call me R&B, that’s only if it stands for ‘rough brother’/Word to my grandmother.” Tracks like “Buckin’ Em Down”, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ This” and the steely “Straight From Queens”—featuring the dancehall stylings of Lieutenant Stitchie—stomp like Timbaland boots, with LL at his most gun-crazy and bloodthirsty. And he teams with New Jersey’s Lords of the Underground on “(NFA) No Frontin’ Allowed”, which finds LL leaning a little more violent than usual, but no less dexterous: “Soul survivor of a thousand beats/Sendin’ funeral wreaths to all you used-to-be chiefs.” Though the album captures the hard-edged sound of the early 1990s—from its title down to its mean-mugging cover photo—the most enduring moments on 14 Shots are two lip-licking LL Cool J pop-rap classics that happened to share the two sides of a 12-inch. The A-Side, “Pink Cookies in a Plastic Bag Getting Crushed by Buildings”, is based on a whimsical phrase he invented while on the phone with a girl; the song’s quirky beat, surrealistic sex metaphors and punny plays on rapper names give the song an almost Native Tongues feel. The B-Side, “Back Seat”, details a steamy tryst in his ride that skips his CD player and fogs up his windows. 14 Shots proves that, even at his toughest, LL Cool J still needs love.