Plain and simple, Ladies Love Cool James.

LL Cool J knows that ingratiating himself to the females has been a key to his 17-year-long career in the rap game, yet on his last LP, G.O.A.T., he got caught up in spitting raw rhymes to cement himself as the all-time best MC.

Now, instead of sipping Hennessy on a street corner with thugs, Cool J is back to licking his lips while popping champagne bottles with the finest of women on his new album, Ten. This LP is not about reinventing LL Cool J, said the project's A&R rep, Eric Nicks — it's about going back to his roots.

The Neptunes-produced "You Should," which is likely to feature Ronald Isley on the hook, is a lyrical instruction manual on how you should treat your woman. "I'm 'a make you feel good/ It'll be my pleasure to take you out the 'hood," LL rhymes in his trademark laid-back, seductive tone. "I'm 'a caress your face and give you the keys to your place.../ Take you to church and teach you who God is."

The Trackmasters sample Keni Burke's 1982 track "Rising to the Top" for "Paradise." Missy Elliott's songbird protégé Tweet weighs in on the chorus, singing, "For the right price, I'll take you to paradise."  Meanwhile, Uncle L follows up on that Chivalry 101 motif by promising to "lay the mink down, let you walk over a puddle."

And even when LL forgets some of his own relationship philosophies, like on his first single "Love You Better" (Nicks says he wants to get the single to radio in May after 112 lay their vocals on the hook), the ladies can't be mad at him. He's not afraid to admit his mistakes.

"I stop tellin' you the lovin' was good/ Too busy frontin' in the hood," he says as he pleads for forgiveness on the song. Throughout the track he reflects on the life he and his wifey share, and he realizes he doesn't want to lose it.

Although he heavily caters to the women on the album, he doesn't lose touch with the fellas. "Niggy Nuts" is an urgent freestyle, and Cool J throws on his ruthless-rhymes voice — like on "Mama Said Knock You Out." The Neptunes, who produced five of the LP's ten tracks, deviate from their futuristic sonics in favor of less abstract sounds. Here, they bring LL back to the street with a beat that comes off like a fire alarm.

"10 Million Stars," which may be going out to mixtape DJs in the next three weeks, is another street-flavored freestyle. Rapping over Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence's operatic beat, LL tells all the "hardcore cats" that they'll be "getting stomped on like doormats" when he's done with them. He starts the song with the album's most revealing line — he tells the world, "You could call it a comeback."

Yes, LL knows he has something to prove, not only to the fans and his peers, but to record label execs. The LP is tentatively scheduled to drop around Independence Day. Fitting, considering the release marks the fulfillment of his contract and the start of his musical free agency.