Maps of Music

Bigger and Deffer (1987)

Where the lyrics of Bigger and Deffer take you, and where it was really made.

The cover was shot in front of the Queens high school LL Cool J had dropped out of, with him standing on the hood of his Audi 5000.

Key places

Recording site in New York City (1987)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album is credited as recorded at Chung King House of Metal in New York City. The point is set at city-center level, so the exact building is not pinned here. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Bigger and Deffer, abbreviated BAD on the album cover
• Second studio album by American rapper LL Cool J
• Released May 29, 1987 by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records
• Over two million copies sold in the United States
• One of LL Cool J's best-selling releases
• Features the hit single "I'm Bad"

Background

• Follows the debut album Radio
• Includes "I Need Love", the first commercially successful rap ballad
• Also contains "Go Cut Creator Go", which paid homage to his DJ
• Other popular tracks: "Kanday", "The Do Wop", "My Rhyme Ain't Done", "The Breakthrough", "The Bristol Hotel"
• All tracks written and produced by LL Cool J and L.A. Posse, except where noted
• Personnel includes Bobby Ervin as disc jockey and Russell Simmons as production supervisor

Recording

• Credited as recorded at Chung King House of Metal in New York City
• Steven Ett credited as engineer and mixer
• Howie Weinberg credited with mastering

Cover

• Cover photo taken in front of Andrew Jackson High School in Queens, from which he dropped out
• He is standing on the hood of his Audi 5000 in the cover photo
• Back cover shot in his grandmother's basement, his residence at the time
• Both images shot by Glen E. Friedman

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• James Todd Smith, known as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor.
• He was among the earliest rappers to achieve crossover commercial success alongside new-school acts like Run-DMC.
• Signed by Def Jam Recordings in 1984; his breakthrough single "I Need a Beat" (1984) was followed by debut album Radio (1985).
• Later albums Bigger and Deffer (1987), Walking with a Panther (1989), Mama Said Knock You Out (1990), Mr. Smith (1995), and Phenomenon (1997) brought continued success.
• Released The FORCE (2024), his fourteenth studio album, after re-signing with Def Jam.
• Acting work includes Toys, Halloween H20, Any Given Sunday, and NCIS: Los Angeles (2009–2023) as Sam Hanna.
• Two-time Grammy winner; in 2017 became the first rapper to receive a Kennedy Center Honor; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 (Musical Excellence).

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Robert Christgau wrote that Bigger and Deffer paled beside the debut album Radio
• Christgau credited the debut with guts, musical integrity, and Rick Rubin
• Christgau criticized the follow-up for a swelled head and received beats

Reappraisal

• Other tracks such as "Kanday" and "The Do Wop" were popular with fans
• Those tracks helped make the album a hip-hop classic
• The Source selected the album as one of its 100 Best Rap Albums in 1998

Records

• Spent 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Top Black Albums chart, now the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart
• Peaked at number three on the Billboard 200
• Over two million copies sold in the United States
• Became the fourth hip hop album to receive platinum certification from the RIAA

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The cover photo was taken in front of Andrew Jackson High School in Queens, which he dropped out of, with him on the hood of his Audi 5000.
• The back cover was shot in his grandmother's basement, which was his residence at the time.
• The album's first commercially successful rap ballad, "I Need Love", appears on it.
• The track "Go Cut Creator Go" paid homage to his DJ.
• The Source later named the album one of its 100 Best Rap Albums.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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