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Hip Hop superstar LL Cool J has maintained a prominent position in the rap music community for over two decades. His stage name, an acronym for “Ladies Love Cool James”, identified him as a confident young ladies’ man which helped him gain much attention and interest in his early rapping days. Over the years, he has confirmed his sheer talent becoming one of the greatest hip hop MCs of all time.

James Todd Smith III was born on January 14, 1968 in Bay Shore, Long Island, New York. He grew up an only child in St. Albans, Queens with his mother and grandparents. As Continued...

a youngster, he maintained an active lifestyle singing in the church choir, becoming a Boy Scout and playing football. However many disturbing events would take place altering the young boy’s positive life outlook. In 1972, an argument turned violent led his father to shoot his mother when he followed her home from work late one evening. His grandfather had also been shot during the attack, luckily both survived. A few years later, his mother would get involved in a new relationship with a man who would beat LL while she was at work. Trying to escape his pain, he found comfort in hip hop music and began rhyming at the age of nine. He eventually recorded a demo and sent it to Def Jam Records who immediately signed him in 1984. His debut single “I Need a Beat” became an underground hit selling over 100,000 copies giving him enough confidence to drop out of school to focus on the creation of an album.

Radio was issued in 1985 receiving incredible praise for its pop song structured approach to rap music. The album went platinum owing its success to the hit singles “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” and “Rock the Bells”. The release of Bigger and Deffer followed in 1987 marking the beginning of his commercial success with the hit single “I Need Love”. LL’s third album Walking With a Panther in 1989 had the hip hop community identifying him as a sell-out due to the album’s overtly commercial nature. Nevertheless the album was a Top Ten hit featuring the successful singles “Going Back to Cali” and “I’m That Type of Guy”. In 1990 the reinvented LL made a strong comeback with Mama Said Knock You Out which became his biggest selling album with sales of over two million copies. Prior to the release of his fifth album, LL appeared in two films The Hard Way in 1991 and Toys in 1992. 14 Shots To The Dome was released in 1993 to mixed reviews as the album displayed a harder, gangsta rap sound not well received by LL fans.

In April 1995, LL’s sitcom In The House premiered on NBC and would run until 1999. A few months later, in November 1995, Mr. Smith was issued and became an instant hit. The album featured the smash singles “Hey Lover”, “Doin’ It”, and “Loungin’” and was eventually certified double platinum. He followed up in 1995 with a platinum selling greatest hits compilation, All World: Greatest Hits. The moderately successful Phenomenon was issued in 1997. G.O.A.T. (“Greatest of all Time”) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in 2000 yet failed to generate sales as high as his previous albums. Two years later, LL released his tenth studio album, 10, which featured singles “Paradise”, “Luv U Better”, and the number one hit “All I Have” featuring Jennifer Lopez. The DEFinition proceeded in 2004 peaking at number four on the Billboard 200 charts yet was only certified gold status. LL’s most recent album, Todd Smith in 2006 features collaborations with artists such as 112, Jennifer Lopez, Ginuwine, Juelz Santana, Teairra Mari, and Freeway.

As for future endeavors, LL is expected to debut his “Todd Smith” clothing line in the fall of 2006 and is currently working on his book “LL Cool J’s Platinum Body” with his personal trainer Dave “Scooter” Honig. Todd Smith Pt. 2: Back to Cool, also to be released in the autumn of 2006, will be LL’s last album with Def Jam Records.