LL Cool J 1968-

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LL COOL J 1968-

(James T. Smith, James Todd Smith)

PERSONAL: Name an abbreviation of "Ladies Love Cool James"; born James Todd Smith, January 14, 1968, in New York, NY; son of Jimmy Nunya; married Simone Johnson (some sources spell name Symone), August, 1995; children: Najee, Italia, Samaria Leah Wisdom, Nina Symone Beautiful.

ADDRESSES: Office—Def Jam, 825 8th Ave., New York, NY 10019; Bad Boy Entertainment, 3311 Kensington Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19134-1401. Agent—William Morris Agency, 151 El Camino Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212-2775.

CAREER: Actor, comedian, and rapper. Appeared in films (sometimes as James T. Smith and James Todd Smith), including (as himself) Krush Groove, Warner Bros., 1985; (as rapper) Wildcats (also known as First and Goal), Warner Bros., 1986; (as Detective Billy) The Hard Way, Universal, 1991; (as Captain Patrick Zevo) Toys, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1992; (as Jason St. Julian) Out-of-Sync, LIVE Entertainment, 1995; (as himself) B∗A∗P∗S, New Line Cinema, 1997; (as himself) Touch, United Artists, 1997; (as Darryl) Woo, New Line Cinema, 1998; (as Roger) Caught Up, Live Film and Mediaworks, 1998; (as Ronny Jones [campus security]) Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Dimension, 1998; (as Dwayne Gittens/God) In Too Deep, 1999; (as Julian "J-Man" Washington [number 33]) Any Given Sunday, Warner Bros., 1999; (as Sherman "Preacher" Dudley) Deep Blue Sea, Warner Bros., 1999; (as Mr. Jones) Charlie's Angels, Columbia, 2000; (as Ray Bud Slocumb) Kingdom Come, Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2001; (as Marcus Ridley) Rollerball, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 2002; (as Ray Adams) Deliver Us from Eva, USA Films, 2002; (as David "Deke" Kay) S.W.A.T., Sony Pictures, 2003; (as Gabe Jenkins) Mindhunters, 2004; (as Deed) Edison, 2004; and Slow Burn, 2005. Played Marion Hill in television series In the House, National Broadcasting Company (NBC), 1995–96, then UPN, 1996–99. Appeared as himself in television miniseries Say It Loud: A Celebration of Black Music in America, VH1, 2001. Played Charles Red Taylor in television movie The Right to Remain Silent, Showtime, 1996. Appeared as himself in television specials, including History of Rap (documentary), Music Television (MTV), 1991; and MTV Unplugged, MTV, 1991. Appeared in televised awards presentations, including MTV Video Music Awards 1991, MTV, 1991; (as presenter) 1993 MTV Movie Awards, MTV, 1993; and (as host, with others) 28th Annual American Music Awards, 2001. Guest star on episodes of television series, including The Arsenio Hall Show, Mad TV, The Howard Stern Show, Oz, Clive Anderson, The Real World/Road Rules Extreme Challenge, WWF Smackdown!, and Ned and Stacey. Appeared in music videos, including "Mama Said Knock You Out," "Curious," by LSG; "Get Ur Freak On," by Missy Elliot; "It's So Hard," by Big Punisher; and "Thong Song," by Sisqo.

AWARDS, HONORS: Video Vanguard award, MTV Video Music Awards, 1997; Quincy Jones Award for outstanding career achievement, Soul Train Music Awards, 2003; named male star of tomorrow, ShoWest, 2003.

WRITINGS:

(With Karen Hunter) I Make My Own Rules, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1997.

And the Winner Is … (children's book), Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002.

RECORDINGS; AUTHOR OF LYRICS, WITH OTHERS

Radio, Def Jam, 1985.

Bigger and Deffer, Def Jam, 1987.

Walking with a Panther, Def Jam, 1989.

Mama Said Knock You Out, Def Jam, 1990.

14 Shots to the Dome, Def Jam, 1993.

Mr. Smith, Def Jam, 1995.

All Change, Def Jam, 1996.

All World-Greatest Hits, Def Jam, 1996.

Phenomenon, Def Jam, 1997.

G.O.A.T Featuring James T. Smith, the Greatest of All Time, 2000.

10, Universal, 2002.

ADAPTATIONS: Songs included in films, including Krush Groove, Warner Bros., 1985; Less than Zero, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1987; Driving Me Crazy, First Run, 1988; Class Act, Warner Bros., 1992; Bebe's Kids (animated), Paramount, 1992; Encino Man, Buena Vista, 1992; and Gladiator, Columbia, 1992.

SIDELIGHTS: LL Cool J is a rarity on several levels in the rap world. He was one of the pioneers of rap music in the mid-1980s, but unlike most of the other early stars of that genre, his recording career continued on. His music is also notable for being more positive, less explicit, and less violent than much other rap music.

When LL Cool J published his autobiography, I Make My Own Rules, he did not attempt to hide the dark sides of his life. Readers discover that as a child LL Cool J—born James Todd Smith—was in the house when his father shot and wounded his mother and grandfather during a domestic dispute, an incident that is at the root of his antipathy to violence. As a boy he was largely raised by his grandparents, who instilled in him a love for music and for reading. His grandfather, a jazz enthusiast, got LL Cool J some recording equipment as a present when the boy was thirteen, which he used to record his own demo tapes. On the strength of such tapes, he was signed by the then-fledgling Def Jam label, which before long would come to dominate the rap scene. At sixteen LL Cool J released his first single, "I Need a Beat," which is notable in music history as the first single ever released by Def Jam; his first album, Radio, was also Def Jam's first album release.

In his music, LL Cool J mixes old-school rap fundamentals with lyrics that are often about romance and love, rather than violence and hate. While he "has rhymed about other topics, nothing has made an impact or made him the legend that he has become more than the songs in which he sweet-talks his lady fans," Kevin Chappell explained in Ebony. On the musical side, LL Cool J's albums "take pleasure in rap basics," as David Browne wrote of 14 Shots to the Dome in Entertainment Weekly. That album, Browne continued, treats rap basics "with the same pride and dignity and elder bluesman would give four-bar chord changes and done-me-wrong lyrics."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 16, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1997.

Contemporary Musicians, Volume 5, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1991.

Newsmakers 1998, Issue 2, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1998.

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, five volumes, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 2000.

PERIODICALS

Billboard, May 1, 1993, Havelock Nelson, review of 14 Shots to the Dome, pp. 18-19; October 21, 1995, J.R. Reynolds, review of Mr. Smith, p. 29.

Black Issues Book Review, November-December, 2002, Mondella S. Jones, review of And the Winner Is …, pp. 38-39.

Daily Variety, February 28, 2003, Carl Diorio, "Future Is Hot for Cool J," p. 52; March 5, 2003, Jennifer Netherby, interview with LL Cool J, p. A10.

Ebony, January, 2003, Kevin Chappell, interview with LL Cool J, pp. 116-119.

Entertainment Weekly, April 9, 1993, David Browne, review of 14 Shots to the Dome, pp. 50-52; May 12, 1995, Ken Tucker, review of In the House, pp. 47-48; December 1, 1995, Kate Meyers, review of Mr. Smith, p. 74; July 11, 1997, Matthew Flamm and Alexandra Jacobs, review of I Make My Own Rules, p. 61; September 22, 2000, review of G.O.A.T. Featuring James T. Smith, the Greatest of All Time, p. 78.

Essence, February, 1996, Nelson George, interview with LL Cool J, pp. 73-78.

Hollywood Reporter, March 5, 2003, Dylan Callaghan, interview with LL Cool J, p. S-16.

In Style, July 1, 2001, interview with LL Cool J, p. 93.

Jet, April 24, 1995, review of In the House, pp. 56-59; September 22, 1997, interview with LL Cool J, pp. 37-41, "LL Cool J Honored at MTV Video Music Awards," pp. 60-62.

MediaWeek, September 9, 1996, Betsy Sharkey, review of In the House, pp. 16-18.

Music & Media, November 16, 2002, Gareth Thomas, review of Luv U Better, p. 14.

Newsweek, September 25, 2000, Allison Samuels, "Cool like That: LL Returns to His Roots," p. 72.

People, September 4, 1989, David Hiltbrand, review of Walking with a Panther, p. 19; October 1, 1990, David Hiltbrand, review of Mama Said Knock You Out, p. 16; April 17, 1995, Kim Cunningham, interview with LL Cool J, p. 136; April 24, 1995, David Hiltbrand, review of In the House, p. 16; October 2, 2000, review of G.O.A.T., p. 51; November 4, 2002, Chuck Arnold, review of 10, p. 47; February 17, 2003, Karen S. Schneider, "Hip Pop: Rap Tital LL Cool J Works His Charm at the Movies—and at Home with His Kids," p. 107.

Publishers Weekly, August 19, 2002, review of And the Winner Is …, p. 89.

R&B Airplay Monitor, December 6, 2002, Minal Patel, review of "Paradise," p. 4.

School Library Journal, March, 2003, Kristin de Lacoste, review of And the Winner Is …, p. 192.

Sports Illustrated, February 10, 2003, Pete McEntegart, interview with LL Cool J, p. 26.

Time, October 14, 2002, Josh Tyrangiel, interview with LL Cool J, p. 79.