Hip-hop is notorious for short-lived careers, but LL Cool J is the
inevitable exception that proves the rule. Releasing his first hit,
"I Can't Live Without My Radio," in 1985 when he was just 17
years old, LL initially was a hard-hitting, streetwise b-boy with spare
beats and ballistic rhymes. He quickly developed an alternate style, a
romantic — and occasionally sappy — lover's rap epitomized by his
mainstream breakthrough single, "I Need Love." LL's first two
albums, Radio
and Bigger
and Deffer, made him a star, but he strived for pop stardom a
little too much on 1989's Walking
With a Panther. By 1990, his audience had declined somewhat,
since his ballads and party raps were the opposite of the chaotic, edgy
political hip-hop of Public
Enemy or the gangsta rap of N.W.A,
but he shot back to the top of the charts with Mama
Said Knock You Out, which established him as one of hip-hop's
genuine superstars. By the mid-'90s, he had starred in his own
television sitcom, In the House, appeared in several films, and
had racked up two of his biggest singles with "Hey Lover" and
"Doin' It." In short, he had proven that rappers could have
long-term careers.



Of course, that didn't seem likely when he came storming out of Queens,
NY, when he was 16 years old. LL Cool J (born James
Todd Smith; his stage name is an acronym for "Ladies Love Cool
James") had already been rapping since the age of nine. Two years
later, his grandfather — he had been living with his grandparents
since his parents divorced when he was four — gave him a DJ system and
he began making tapes at home. Eventually, he sent these demo tapes to
record companies, attracting the interest of Def Jam, a fledgling label
run by New York University students Russell
Simmons and Rick
Rubin. Def Jam signed LL and released his debut, "I Need a
Beat," as their first single in 1984. The record sold over 100,000
copies, establishing both the label and the rapper. LL dropped out of
high school and recorded his debut album, Radio.
Released in 1985, Radio
was a major hit and it earned considerable praise for how it shaped raps
into recognizable pop-song structures. On the strength of "I Can't
Live Without My Radio" and "Rock the Bells," the album
went platinum in 1986. The following year, his second album, Bigger
and Deffer, shot to number three due to the ballad "I Need
Love," which became one of the first pop-rap crossover hits.



LL's knack for making hip-hop as accessible as pop was one of his
greatest talents, yet it was also a weakness, since it opened him up to
accusations of him being a sellout. Taken from the Less
Than Zero soundtrack, 1988's "Goin' Back to Cali"
walked the line with ease, but 1989's Walking
With a Panther was not greeted warmly by most hip-hop fans.
Although it was a Top Ten hit and spawned the gold single "I'm That
Type of Guy," the album was perceived as a pop sell-out effort, and
on a supporting concert at the Apollo, he was booed. LL didn't take the
criticism lying down — he struck back with 1990's Mama
Said Knock You Out, the hardest record he ever made. LL
supported the album with a legendary, live acoustic performance on MTV
Unplugged, and on the strength of the Top Ten R&B singles
"The Boomin' System" and "Around the Way Girl"
(number nine, pop) as well as the hit title track, Mama
Said Knock You Out became his biggest-selling album,
establishing him as a pop star in addition to a rap superstar. He soon
landed roles in the films The Hard Way (1991) and Toys
(1992), and he also performed at Bill Clinton's presidential
inauguration in 1993. Mama
Said Knock You Out kept him so busy that he didn't deliver the
follow-up, 14
Shots to the Dome, until the spring of 1993. Boasting a harder
gangsta rap edge, 14
Shots initially sold well, debuting in the Top Ten, but it was
an unfocused effort that generated no significant hit singles.
Consequently, it stalled at gold status and hurt his reputation
considerably.



Following the failure of 14
Shots to the Dome, LL began starring in the NBC sitcom In the
House. He returned to recording in 1995, releasing Mr.
Smith toward the end of the year. Unexpectedly, Mr.
Smith became a huge hit, going double platinum and launching two
of his biggest hits, with the Boyz
II Men duet "Hey Lover" and "Doin' It." At the
end of 1996, he released the greatest-hits album All
World, while Phenomenon
appeared one year later. G.O.A.T.
Featuring James T. Smith: The Greatest of All Time, released in
2000, reached the top of the album charts, and 2002's 10
featured one of his biggest hits in years, "Luv U Better."
With the help of producer Timbaland,
he unleashed the tough DEFinition
album in 2004 as his James Todd Smith clothing line was hitting the
malls. "Control Myself," a hit single featuring Jennifer
Lopez, prefaced 2006's Todd
Smith album.