Before we do any critical reevaluation, it's worth noting that LL Cool J's 14 Shots to the Dome went gold. That's not too shabby, until you consider it's flanked by projects (Mama Said Knock You Out, Mr. Smith) that both went double platinum. It's not a stretch to say the audience was either perplexed by 14 Shots or distracted by other releases. 

Here he reteams with Marley Marl, who does his best to effect a harder West Coast-influence that was the flavor at the time, if only partially suited to the rapper's sensibilities. The previous year saw the Deep Cover soundtrack and Ice Cube's The Predator. Both would help solidify "Gangsta Rap" as a subgenre and a pejorative to describe music that mainstream media deemed harmful. But LL Cool J, while never exactly wholesome, was not a convincing gangsta, and donning the drag of one at twenty-five gave the impression of an elder statesman trying to keep up with his younger, edgier nephews. 

This is just a small misstep in a legendary career. 14 Shots to the Dome's misguided nature makes it worth revisiting all these years later if only to acknowledge how, in 1993, an artist was allowed to release four singles from an album no one likes—virtually unheard of today. 

As someone who watched LL Cool J perform "Jack the Ripper" in concert and considers it a life-changing experience, I can say he's one of the greatest live performers, in hip-hop and overall. That's because it's easy to buy into his bravado. But there are moments on 14 Shots where it's not so easy:

Smack, slap, smack, slap, smack, slap, smack.

Click, click, boom, stop dead in your tracks.

Stick the steel in your mouth,

Buck, buck, buck, buck, buck, lights out.

As the lead single, "How I'm Comin'," was meant to herald the album's overall style and pivot in the rapper's image. Other album cuts are more effective at this, like "(NFA) No Frontin' Allowed" with Lords of the Underground.

The remaining singles are about love and sex, and "Back Seat" was the most successful. It is the only song from 14 Shots to be included on his 1996 greatest hits compilation All World and is the most quintessentially LL track from 14 Shots. The QDIII beat would gain new life just two years later with Monica's platinum debut single "Don't Take It Personal (Just One of Dem Days)."

The original Marley Marl production revisits the "Blind Alley'' sample he used for Kane's "Ain't No Half Steppin'." Easy Mo Bee was called in for the remix and utilizes "That's All Right With Me" by Esther Phillips, which would go on to be another popular reference in the genre. This is LL at his most smooth and lyrical, flipping the names of his rap counterparts into entendres for a sexual encounter. 

But all this brilliance lives behind one of the longest, most perplexing song titles in hip-hop. While “Pink Cookies in a Plastic Bag…” obviously referred to sex, we were never clear just how. We eventually got our answer from the rapper on Twitter:

LLCOOLJ on X: "“Pink Cookies in a plastic bag ” is when you literally turn the 🍑💦 inside out. (looks like pink cookies lol) Getting “crushed by buildings”. Is standing/carrying your (sex) partner then tossing them on the bed at the HEIGHT of the “O” 💦😲🤯🥰" / X

The final single is a personal favorite and is notable for three reasons: 

• His delivery on "Stand By Your Man" is more aggressive than the subject matter warrants but makes sense considering the song's original production. This wasn't the last time he yelled on a commercially-released single, but it can be argued his most successful tracks took a smoother approach.

• It's remixed by Teddy Riley, and if the melody sounds familiar, look no further than Jane Child's "Don't Wanna Fall in Love," which he also remixed for urban radio. 

• "Stand by Your Man" was nominated for a "Best Rap Solo Performance" Grammy but lost to Dr. Dre's "Let Me Ride," which might have been the final clue that Todd needed to hang up the gangsta duds and re-evaluate his choices going into Mr. Smith.

And that's what makes 14 Shots to the Dome necessary. For Mr. Smith to be such a success (again, 2x platinum and catchier singles that leaned even more into the lover man persona), the reception to this album had to be humbling and a lesson that a legend only needs to be himself.