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LL Cool J

LL Cool J (born James Todd Smith III on January 14, 1968 in New York, New York) is a American hip hop artist and actor. He is known for romantic ballads such as "I Need Love" and "Hey Lover" as well as pioneering hip-hop like "I Can't Live Without My Radio", "I'm Bad", "Boomin' System", "Mama Said Knock You Out", and "4, 3, 2, 1". He has also appeared in several films. LL Cool J is one of a few hip-hop stars of his era to sustain a successful recording career for more than two decades. He has released 12 albums and a greatest hits compilation so far, with his next album, Exit 13, set to be released early 2008. The album will be the last for LL's record deal with Def Jam Recordings, a deal which has lasted for over twenty two years, making it the longest single hip hop deal to date. LL Cool J stands for "Ladies Love Cool James." He now resides in Manhasset, NY with his wife and four children.

LL Cool J, an acronym for Ladies Love Cool James, bought hip hop records to get the best label's address so he could send in his demo tapes, having much foresight at a young age. He was the first artist signed to Def Jam in 1984 and released the underground hit "I Need a Beat". The song was the first hit record for Def Jam, and its success persuaded him to drop out of school to record Radio (1985). The album was released to critical acclaim, as LL Cool J was one of the first rappers to use conventional song structure to make pop oriented rap. "I Can't Live Without My Radio" and "Rock the Bells" were successful and helped the album go platinum. "Rock the Bells" and another track, "Dear Yvette", both spawned 'answer records' to which L.L. never responded. In 1987, he released Bigger and Deffer. The ballad "I Need Love" was one of the first hit pop-rap songs.

Around the late 1980s, hip hop began experiencing a shift in consciousness away from the music's early themes of partying and braggadocio, to more socially aware issues such as drug abuse, race and racism, and economic empowerment. LL Cool J, as a result, experienced a drop in popularity due to the view that his music was behind the times and materialistic.

Following this, LL released Mama Said Knock You Out, generally leaning towards a tough street image. The record reestablished his reputation in the hip-hop community. It spawned three hit singles, "The Boomin' System," "Around the Way Girl," and the title track, which received special notice after LL Cool J's dynamic performance of it during an episode of MTV Unplugged. It was also featured in the film The Hard Way. The album included themes of police misconduct, spirituality along with back-to-basics hip-hop party rocking. Mama Said... eventually went on to sell over two million copies. It marked the first of many self-reinventions LL Cool J would undergo to adapt to hip-hop's often changing atmosphere.

After acting in The Hard Way and Toys, he released 14 Shots To The Dome (1993) to muted sales and mixed reviews, despite producing the small hit "Back Seat of My Jeep." He starred in In the House, an NBC sitcom, before releasing Mr. Smith (1995), which went on to sell over two million copies. Its singles, "Doin' It" and "Loungin", were two of the biggest songs in 1996 and both songs' music videos were hugely successful on MTV. Another of the album's singles, "Hey Lover", featured Boyz II Men sampling Michael Jackson's "Lady of My Life," which eventually became one of the first hip hop music videos to air on American VH1. The song also earned LL a Grammy Award. Yet another single from the album, "I Shot Ya Remix", is notable for providing the opportunity for upcoming rapper Foxy Brown to start her career.

In 1996, LL also helped to launch a clothing line named FUBU — an acronym for "For Us, By Us", meaning the clothes were made for, and marketed to, African-Americans by African-Americans. Around this time he became partially involved in the East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry when 2Pac dissed him, apparently in response to LL Cool J's "I Shot Ya" and its remix, both of which were featured on his "Mr. Smith" album. Neither of the songs however mention 2Pac or the simmering East Coast-West Coast conflict.

Radio is an East Coast rap album by hip hop artist LL Cool J, released in 1985 (see 1985 in music). LL Cool J had dropped out of high school to record the album (after the 12" "I Need A Beat" became a moderate success the year before), and he was seventeen years old when it was released. Widely considered one of the first hip-hop LPs that are a cohesive whole, the album was surprisingly popular for a hip-hop album in the mid-1980s. Rick Rubin's sparse production was also influential; its stripped-down beats and gritty sound inspired The Bomb Squad (best known for producing Public Enemy) and several other future hip-hop producers. "I Want You" and "I Can Give You More" are often considered the first hip hop ballads.

Radio peaked at #6 and #46 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums and Billboard 200 albums charts. It ranks at #69 on Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Best LPs of the 80s". In 2003, the album was ranked number 478 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source Magazine's 100 Best Rap Albums.

The song "I Can't Live Without My Radio" appeared on the soundtrack to Krush Groove.

Trivia: "Rock the Bells" was supposed to be the music video for the first album, but LL Cool J overslept the first day of shooting the video. Afterwards, Rick Rubin said that there will be no music video of "Rock the Bells".

Bigger and Deffer (1987) is the 2nd album by rapper LL Cool J and is remembered most by containing the first commercially successful "rap ballad," "I Need Love." It also contains the single "Go Cut Creator Go", which pays homage to his DJ and contains an interpolation of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode", and the breakthrough single in the U.K. "I'm Bad". In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source Magazine's 100 Best Rap Albums.

The front cover photograph on the album was taken in front of LL's local high school, and the back cover was shot in his grandmothers basement where he was living at the time, (both shot by Glen E. Friedman).

Walking With a Panther is the third album by high-selling hip-hop artist LL Cool J. Produced in 1989, the album was a commercial success, with several charting singles ("Going Back to Cali," "I'm That Type of Guy", "Jingling Baby," "Big Ole Butt"), however, the album was often criticized by the hip-hop community as being too commercial, and focusing too much on love ballads albeit with some highly danceable songs.

Mama Said Knock You Out marked the first of many self-reinventions LL Cool J would undergo to adapt to the hip-hop's changing atmosphere. Made as a comeback album after the critically-maligned Walking With a Panther, Mama Said Knock You Out revived the hardcore image of LL Cool J's early days that appeared to be damaged by his previous album. It was a critical and commercial success, and helped restore his reputation as a hip-hop icon.

The album spawned four hit singles: "The Boomin' System," "Around the Way Girl," (which sampled clips from the Mary Jane Girls song "All Night Long"), the hard-hitting title track itself (which received special notice after LL Cool J's dynamic performance of it during an episode of MTV's Unplugged), and "6 Minutes Of Pleasure." The diss record "To Da Break Of Dawn" was named number 11 on XXL's 20 greatest diss records of all time.The album included themes of police misconduct, spirituality along with back-to-basics hip-hop party rocking. The album reached No. 16 in the U.S. charts, and eventually went on to sell over two million copies according to the RIAA. In 2005, comedian Chris Rock listed it as the sixth greatest hip-hop album ever in a guest article for Rolling Stone.

14 Shots To The Dome is the fifth album by rapper LL Cool J, released in 1993, and the first since his highly successful comeback album Mama Said Knock You Out. Unlike that release, which saw him have success on his own terms, 14 Shots sees LL adopting the sound of his West coast gangsta rap contemporaries, especially that of Ice Cube and Cypress Hill. Many fans saw this as a jarring departure, and the album met mixed critical and commercial response, going only Gold.

Mr. Smith is the sixth album by rapper LL Cool J, released in 1995. After the commercially disappointing 14 Shots to the Dome, it was a bit of a comeback for the artist, going 2x Platinum and spawning the hits "Hey Lover", "Doin' It", and "Loungin'". Unlike his previous release, which focused on hardcore rap, this album sees LL concentrating on the ballads for which he is now famous.

Phenomenon is the seventh full-length original album by rapper LL Cool J. After the success of his previous release Mr. Smith, the same basic principles are followed here, with several R&B-influenced tracks, and a couple of more hardcore Rap tracks. The album was not as commercially successful as Mr. Smith in terms of sales, but it did go Platinum. The album is executively produced by Sean "Puffy" Combs and therefore features production from his in-house roster of producers The Hitmen.

G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) is the 8th studio album by American rapper LL Cool J, issued on Def Jam Recordings. It was released on September 12, 2000 and peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200.

10 is the ninth studio album (excluding All World: Greatest Hits) & 10th release overall by American rapper LL Cool J, issued on Def Jam Recordings. It was released on October 15, 2002 and peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200. LL Cool J and "10" hit a milestone in Def Jam history, being the first artist ever on Def Jam to have 10 albums (out of his 12 album deal) with the same Record Label.

is the 10th studio album by American rapper LL Cool J, issued on Def Jam Recordings. It was released on August 31, 2004 and peaked at #4 on the U.S. Billboard 200. Although debuting in the top 5, The DEFinition seemed to only go Gold in the United States.

Todd Smith is LL Cool J's 11th studio album, released on April 11, 2006. It includes collaborations with Pharrell Williams, Juelz Santana, Teairra Mari, Ginuwine, Mary J. Blige, 112, Mary Mary, Ryan Toby (from City High) and Freeway. The first single is the high-intensity, Jermaine Dupri produced dance track "Control Myself", another song with singer Jennifer Lopez. LL Cool J and Jennifer Lopez shot the video for "Control Myself" on January 2nd 2006 at Sony Studios, New York. The video was shot by Hype Williams. Originally the song was to feature Fergie (from The Black Eyed Peas), however difference in terms of payment resulted into her being replaced by Jennifer Lopez.[1] Todd Smith scored horrible reviews, although most critics enjoyed tracks "Preserve The Sexy" and "Freeze". Freeze was the album's second single and it features Lyfe Jennings. The album shipped 500,000 copies but sold just 367,000 copies.[citation needed] Despite the fact the album debuted at number-six, it quickly fell off in 6 weeks. LL Cool J said he will be doing his last album on Def Jam which is a sequel to Todd Smith. Todd Smith has been the only LL Cool J to fall off the Billboard 200 Chart without going Platinum.[1] The original title for the album was called "My Favorite Flavors" and this is the 4th album of LL's where he has appeared either shirtless, or has used a bare/exposed part of his body as the cover of the album.

Producers on the project include Pharrell Williams, Scott Storch, Bink, Shea Taylor, Keezo Kane and Trackmasters.

The album premiered on the Billboard charts at #6, selling 116,000 units and premiered at #79 on the UK albums chart and #40 in Canada. The album has been certified Gold by the RIAA.

Exit 13: The Icon Verses the Wolfpack will be the 13th and final album on LL Cool J's record deal with Def Jam Recordings, a deal that has lasted for more than twenty years. The album was originally titled, Todd Smith Pt. 2: Back To Cool and Exit 13.

This album will also be the first LL Cool J album since G.O.A.T. to contain parental advisory lyrics.

The album was reworked with 85% of the songs scrapped, with only the remaining 15% intact, as LL stated ,"it wasn't good enough". The current concept of the album is young rappers going against LL.

The album will see an early 2008 release.

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