James Todd Smith III (born January 14, 1968), better known as LL Cool J, is an American hip hop artist and actor. He is best known for romantic ballads like "I Need Love" as well as pioneering pop rap like "I Can't Live Without My Radio", "I'm Bad", "Boomin' System", and "Mama Said Knock You Out". 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 sometime in May, 2007. The album will be the last for LL's record deal with Def Jam Recordings, a deal which has lasted for about twenty two years, making it the longest single hip hop deal to date.

Early years

Born in Bay Shore, Long Island, New York, James Todd Smith grew up in the working-class neighborhood of St. Albans, Queens, as the only child of James Smith, Jr. and Ondrea Smith -- Todd, as he would be known. He would spend his youth singing in the church choir, participating in the Boy Scouts and delivering paper as a paperboy.

Unfortunately, LL's parents had a troublesome, often violent, relationship. As a result, his mother left his father when LL was four and they moved in with her parents in St. Albans. The relationship turned bloody, when late one night in 1972, his father shot his mother after she returned home from work. According to LL Cool J, who recounted the event in the song "Father" from his Phenomenon album, the elder James was seeking revenge after being abandoned by his family. LL's father shot his mother as she ran into her parents' house for safety. She was hit in the legs and back. LL's grandfather was also shot in the stomach. Both survived the attack.

LL's mother later began dating a man who would also bring much pain into the young rapper's life. The man, whom LL named Roscoe in his autobiography, would routinely beat him, often while his mother was at work. These beatings had a profound effect on young LL. He stated that around this time he began compulsively wearing hats.

LL found that hip hop music and rapping were ways of escaping his problems. He grew up in a musical family; his grandfather played tenor saxophone, his mother played accordion and his grandmother, Ellen Griffith, sang in the choir. By age 11, LL was rapping, and by the age of 12, he had made his first studio recording.

LL Cool J lived in North Babylon, Long Island, New York with his mother in his junior high years

Music career

Building Def Jam

LL Cool J, an acronym for Ladies Love Cool James, has admitted that he would buy hip hop records to get the label's address so he could send his demo tapes. Afterwards, he then sent a tape to Def Jam. Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys found his tape while hanging out in Rick Rubin's dorm room and convinced Rick & Russell Simmons to sign LL Cool J. He was signed to Def Jam in 1984 and released the underground hit "I Need a Beat" (see 1984 in music). 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 pop-rap songs to be a hit. Critics generally denounced this direction, and by the release of Walking With a Panther (1989), he was booed at a Harlem rally for slain teenager Yusef Hawkins.

"Don't call it a comeback"

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.

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.

Life after "Mr. Smith"

After the double platinum status of "Mr. Smith", LL's albums have not been able to regain the same levels of success. In 1997, he released the album Phenomenon. The first single, "Phenomenon" was a minor hit but the autobiographical single "Father" was a major hit. The other single off the album, "I Shot Ya Remix", provided the opportunity for an upcoming rapper Foxy Brown to start her career.

The second single from Phenomenon was "4, 3, 2, 1" which featured Method Man, Redman, DMX and Canibus. In the original version of the song, Canibus rapped "Yo L, is that a mic on your arm? Lemme borrow that", referring to LL's tattoo of a microphone. LL heard the verse and responded to it with his own verse. This essentially created a battle between two MC's in the same song. In an attempt to calm tension, LL later called Canibus to say he saw the line as disrespect, and asked him to change it, to which Canibus complied. LL did not remove his verse, believing that with Canibus' verse gone no one would know who he was referring to in his verse. However, the original version of the song was leaked to the public. This would set up a rivalry. Canibus released his single "Second Round K.O.", containing lyrics dissing LL, who later responded with "Ripper Strikes Back". In this song he not only dissed Wyclef, Canibus' producer, but went on to berate ex-friend Mike Tyson for appearing on "Second Round K.O.". LL did another diss, with "Back Where I Belong". Canibus replied to both tracks with his "Rip the Jacker" using LL's "I'm Bad" backing track.

In 2000, he released the album G.O.A.T., which stood for the "greatest of all time." The critically acclaimed album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, giving him his first chart-topper on that chart. Nonetheless, the album failed to produce the numbers of LL's previous releases.Although it went platinum as all of his previous albums have.

LL Cool J's next album 10 from 2002, which denoted LL's 10th studio album, did not fare much better than his 9th. Although it included the popular singles "Paradise" (featuring Amerie), "Luv U Better," and the hit 2003 Jennifer Lopez duet, "All I Have", the album reached platinum status. His 11th album, The DEFinition (2004), saw some hits and went platinum as well.

LL's latest studio album, Todd Smith, was released on April 11, 2006. It includes collaborations with 112, Ginuwine, Juelz Santana, Teairra Mari and Freeway. The first single was the Jermaine Dupri produced "Control Myself", another song with singer Jennifer "J-Lo" Lopez. LL and J.Lo shot the video for "Control Myself" on January 2, 2006 at Sony Studios, New York. The second video, directed by Hype Williams, was "Freeze" featuring Lyfe Jennings. LL has blamed disappointing sales of the album on Def Jam President Jay-Z.

In July 2006, LL announced details about his final album with Def Jam recordings, the only label he has ever been signed to. The album is titled Exit 13. The album will reportedly be executively produced by fellow Queens rapper 50 Cent. The duo have worked together previously on the remix to the single "Freeze" from the Todd Smith LP, which was titled "Bump This". Exit 13 had been slated for a fall 2006 release, however, the album did not emerge and now seems likely to surface in 2007 instead. It will be LL's final Def Jam Album, and he's rumored to sign with Columbia Records or G-Unit Records.

Other works and ventures

Fashion

LL launched a clothing line (also called Todd Smith), which is aimed towards the higher end of the market while a less expensive range will be released called "T.S". Consultancy work by Dolce & Gabbana and Marks & Spencer is an influence on the designs. LL partnered with fashion executives, Ronald and William Gallo to form a company called Standard Fashion, where Ronald & Smith are both co-managing directors. The aim of marketing for the clothes line is to be oriented towards the clothing rather than LL Cool J. Smith had previously dabbled in fashion, having worked behind the scenes with the mid-eighties Hip-Hop sportswear line TROOP and, as mentioned earlier, he helped launch the Hip-Hop fashion line FUBU in the 1990s. The future face of Todd Smith fashion line is rumored to be Sean John/Ralph Lauren model Kevin Navayne.

Books

LL Cool J has authored three books, with his first venture in 1998 “I Make My Own Rules”, his autobiography co-written with Karen Hunter. His second venture into the literary world came with the children-oriented book called “And The Winner Is...” in 2002. In 2006, LL and with his personal trainer, Dave "Scooter" Honig wrote a book providing detailed information on how and what people can do to better themselves physically in terms of diet, workout, philosophy and ideology.

Businessman and entrepreneur

LL has started his own businesses in the music industry such as the music label in 1993 called P.O.G. (Power Of God) and formed the company Rock The Bells to produce music.

Acting career

LL has had his share of acting roles and cameos in various television shows and movies. LL has stated that his main inspiration and influence for becoming an actor is from the late martial artist Bruce Lee. His first acting role was as Captain Patrick Zevo, the militant cousin of Robin Williams in the cult classic Toys, although previously he had a non acting cameo in the 1985 hiphop movie, Krush Groove.

LL has appeared in many TV series, with one of his earliest guest appearance as the teacher Mr. Throneberry on the cult Nickelodeon children's series The Adventures Of Pete & Pete, to more recent as a death row convict on the show House (TV series). His most notable role on television was the role he played as Marion Hill in the NBC and UPN sitcom In the House for 5 seasons before the show was cancelled. They originally centered around the interaction between Marion and Jackie Warren (Debbie Allen), but with the introduction of new characters the show turned to the story behind his sport clinic. The show received rave reviews for its depiction of African-American males (Marion was a vegetarian, meditated, and rarely swore).

LL has also expanded his career with providing voice-over for animations where he was originally in the film Rugrats Go Wild! as the voice of a Piki doll, but his character was removed from the final cut

LL is currently working on a CBS pilot called "The Man" with The OC's Melinda Clarke to be shown in 2007.

Trademarks

• LL is rarely seen without a hat.

• His infamous lip-licking, although seen as flirtatious, is actually a nervous habit he picked up when he was young.

• He is also known for his infectious laugh, which can be heard at the end of his song "Back Where I Belong".

Honors and dedications

• Sonic Youth wrote their song "Kool Thing" about an interview Kim Gordon conducted with LL.

• In Sheila E's video for "Love Bizarre", the name "LL Kool J" can be seen on the wall to the right of Shelia.

• Was named the 10th greatest hip hop MC of all time by MTV.

• Bob Dylan has admitted to being a fan of LL, playing a track by LL on his radio show.

• Fat Joe cited LL as his favorite rapper and main inspiration in his appearance on MTV's Cribs.

• Former Def Jam CEO Lyor Cohen has cited LL Cool J as his favorite rapper; in an edition of the hip-hop magazine XXL, Cohen stated "All you other fly guys, holler at me when you're twenty albums deep, then maybe I'll have a little drink with you."

Trivia

• LL Cool J has collaborated with Michael Jackson on the song "Serious Effect" in 1990 for the album Dangerous. The song has not made the final album tracklisting, but has been leaked over the internet. Sony Music canceled a scheduled re-release of the album containing a bonus disc which included this song.

• Was the first rap artist on the MTV Unplugged series.

• LL has been seen at Republican Party fundraisers and was a supporter of New York governor George Pataki in the past.

• LL is also a producer, producing tracks for himself and for other artists such as MC Lyte.

• LL writes for other rappers, for example, Run DMC's hit "Can You Rock It Like This"

• LL was turned down from Tommy Boy Records and Sugar Hill Records before being signed to Def Jam.

• Once dated Kidada Jones (daughter of Quincy Jones).

• He admitted that the film he starred in Rollerball "sucked."

• Was the first artist signed to Def Jam (RUN-DMC was signed to Profile).

Discography

Albums

Singles

Filmography

Awards

MTV Video Music Awards

• 1991 - MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video, for "Mama Said Knock You Out"

• 1997 - MTV Video Music Vanguard Award, for "career achievement"

NAACP Image Awards

• 1996 - Best Rap Artist, for "Mr. Smith"

• 1997 - Best Rap Artist, for "Mr. Smith"

• 2001 - Outstanding Hip-Hop/Rap Artist, for "G.O.A.T."

• 2003 - Outstanding Male Artist

Grammy Awards

• 1991 - Best Rap Solo Performance, for "Mama Said Knock You Out" from Mama Said Knock You Out

• 1996 - Best Rap Solo Performance, for "Hey Lover" from Mr. Smith

Soul Train Music Awards

• 1987 - Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap - Single for "I Need Love"

• 2003 - Quincy Jones Award, for "outstanding career achievements in the field of entertainment"

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards

• 2000 - "Favorite Supporting Actor - Action" from Deep Blue Sea

The New York Music Awards

• 15 New York Music Awards

Soul Train Awards

• 10 Soul Train Awards

Billboard Awards

• 1 Billboard Awards

Rock The Vote Award

• 1997 - "Patrick Lippert Award"

Source Awards

• 2003 - Source Foundation Image Award, for "his community work"