10 is the ninth studio album by American rapper LL Cool J. It was released by Def Jam Recordings on October 15, 2002, in the United States. LL Cool J and 10 hit a milestone in Def Jam history, being the first artist ever on Def Jam to have ten albums (out of his thirteen-album deal) under the same record label. The album peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200, while also reaching number 26 on the UK Albums Chart.
10 earned largely mixed reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 60, based on eight reviews. Uncut called the project his "best album since 1987's Bigger and Deffer" and felt that 10 "sounds as fresh as his first." Dan Leroy from Launch.com noted that the album "isn't a greatest hits collection â it just sounds like one. Reaching this career milestone, rare for any hip-hop artist, has brought on a rush of nostalgia that saturates each of these 15 songs." USA Today critic Steve Jones rated the album three and a half stars out of four and wrote that 10 showed that LL Cool J "isn't slowing down" after 17 years, balancing seductive tracks like "Luv U Better" with tributes to family, while still delivering "battle-ready self-aggrandizement" on songs like "Clockin' G's" and "Mirror Mirror."
Christian Hoard, writing for Blender, noted that the album uses the "tried-and-true combo of ladybaiting pap and streetwise bravado", but added that: "Musically, though, Ten is a small step forward, as a handful of hot beat engineers beef up LLs typically breezy, jet-setting funk with some new-school bounce." PopMatters editor Matt Cibula found that the album "suffers from the inevitable "L.L. album where he's not necessarily all that hungry and therefore a little too self-satisfied" syndrome, but only periodically. There are times on 10 where he's in full effect boyeee with a side order of chips. It's a fun record, it's a frustrating record, it proves my thesis that L.L. is only dope when he's provoked and hungry." AllMusic critic John Bush remarked: "Surprisingly, despite a strong roster of producers (Tone & Poke, the Neptunes, Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence), 10 isn't much of a head-turner [...] Just like on the cover, there's a lot of posturing going on here, but very little substance."
10 debuted and peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200 in the week of November 2, 2002, selling 154,000 copies in its first week of release. By September 2004, 10 had sold 968,000 copies in the United States. The album also reached number 26 on the UK Albums Chart, making it LL Cool J's highest-charting album there to date.
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