Rapper LL Cool J still a knockout in colorful Fleet Center concert

Rapper LL Cool J still a knockout in colorful Fleet Center concert

Kay Bourne

"Mama said knock you out!" teased LL Cool J. No sooner had the rap star hurled the taunting words into the sellout crowd at the Fleet Center when a cascade of fireworks jetted into the rafters, a multicolored geyser of glittering sparks. Knock us out, he did.

For over a dozen years he's been a major power on the hip-hop scene, and now beyond, with a hit TV series. Still only 28, the lip-licking, provocative rap singer, one pant leg rolled up, delivering his plea to be a father to your child from a crouch like a Russian Army cadet dancing with one leg extended, he retained champion status in the star-studded lineup for radio station Jam'N 94.5's third annual blowout. He's a showman, but sincere for all the pyrotechnics.

At the set's conclusion, he had the 20-voice, red- and black-gowned Berklee Gospel Choir shouting backup to the title number from his new "Phenomenon" CD, as his chorus of scantily clad women dancers pranced around the stage while he prowled the edges, licking a green lollipop.

Then came "Father." Like the Artist formerly known as Prince, the Cool one frankly confides his childhood horror stories of beatings that his mom sustained until she would take no more, and later the absence of any kind of father. So when he pleads, "Love one another, don't kill one another," the sentiment comes from a heart that has found a positive beat despite tribulations. This time the sparks fell like silver tinsel rain onto the stage and, so it seemed, onto the heads of the choir, dancers, and LL Cool J himself.

The Super Jam, which ran for five crowd-pleasing hours, also did a world of good by raising $33,000 for Project Bread, which fights hunger in Massachusetts.

Backstage was often as frantic as onstage. Attractive Jam'N 94.5 deejay Mark Jordan did a batch of interviews with the rap acts shortly after they barreled down a chute exit and flung into the large studio. It was lit up so TV interviewers, as well as newspaper critics, could have a go at the singers too.

Some interesting tidbits that emerged were that Uncle Sam is so named because he has 15 nieces and nephews, nothing political going on here at all.

LSG, the newly formed group made up of Gerald Levert, Keith Sweat, and Johnny Gill, claim that their female backup singers wanted to wear the tiny sweaters that didn't cover everything as the trio sang "My Body," but promised that, O.K., next time it would be their bodies that would be exposed. Of interest to gem lovers, the diamonds that flash from their ears are 2.4 carats apiece, which adds up to about five carats a singer, according to Sweat.

In one of the corridors that run off the arena stood three of Boston's firemen from District 3, on call because of LL Cool J's fireworks, making sure nothing caught fire that wasn't supposed to. It was a long night for Mike Atkins, Mike Spence, and John Darling, but fortunately it was one that went by without incident.

Meanwhile, onstage, Blackstreet took it to another level, Ginuwine had the ladies swooning, the Jamaican Shaggy put a Caribbean spin on the proceedings, Aaliyah proved she is one in a million, and Salt-N-Pepa took it all home.

Graphics for the popular event were done by Artists for Humanity, the artistically talented urban youth outfit that did the fabulous back-to-school window displays for Filene's

Photo (LL Cool J)