Accurate LL Cool J Lyrics

LL Cool J

James Todd Smith III (born Aug 16, 1968), better known as LL Cool J, is a hip hop artist and actor. LL Cool J is one of a few hip-hop stars to sustain a successful recording career for more than two decades.

LL Cool J, an acronym for Ladies Luv Cool James, 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. "I Need a Beat" was the first hit record for Def Jam and its success persuaded him to drop out of school to record Radio in 1985.

Following a shift in consciousness in the late 1980s, LL released Mama Said Knock You Out leaning towards a tougher street image and less materialism. 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. "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 for a bit, LL Cool J released 14 Shots To The Dome to muted sales and mixed reviews. He starred in the NBC sitcom In the House before releasing Mr. Smith in 1995, which went on to sell over two million copies. Its singles, "Doin' It" and "Loungin", were two of the biggest songs in 1996. Another of the album's singles, "Hey Lover", earned LL a Grammy Award.

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 directly mention 2Pac but Tupac at the time was attacking any rapper attempting to involve themselves in "East Coast-West Coast" conflict as a way to boost record sales.

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 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.", acclaimed by some as one of the best diss records ever containing harsh lyrics dissing LL. LL would respond with "Ripper Strikes Back". With allegations of being blackballed thrown around, Canibus' mainstream career was ruined.

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.

Though LL continues to raise eyebrows with new releases here and there, he sales figures are no longer comparable to the best in the business though he still enjoys tremendous fame.

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 tentatively titled Exit 13. The album will reportedly be executively produced by rapper 50 Cent. . Exit 13 is slated for release in the Summer of 2007. It will be LL's final Def Jam album.

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