Musician, actor, philanthropist, label head and multi-generational crush object, LL Cool J is one of America’s most versatile and enduring pop-cultural figures. As he prepares to release The Force, his first album in more than a decade, he will be answering your questions.
Born the considerably more prosaic James Smith, LL Cool J – that’s “Ladies Love Cool James”, remember – broke through in the early years of hip-hop and signed to the nascent Def Jam in 1984. Built from heavy drums, scratches and little more, debut single I Need a Beat showed he was an instant authority on the mic; his platinum-selling debut album Radio helped to demonstrate the huge commercial potential of hip-hop alongside the likes of Run-DMC and Beastie Boys, who he went on tour with.
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