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LL Cool J is without doubt one of the greatest MC’s of all-time and while many may consider him to be the actual GOAT of the rap game, LL himself is going a step beyond that assessment and labeling himself the most important rapper in Hip-Hop history.
Recently, Ladies Love Cool James appeared on Apple Music‘s Le Code podcast and gave an in-depth interview about himself and his career. While speaking about his place in Hip-Hop among the gods of the game, LL basically labeled himself Hip-Hop’s anchor being “humbly” saying, “I think that one day people are going to wake up and realize LL Cool J is the most important rapper that ever existed.”
While LL’s evaluation of himself is debatable (and it will be in many Hip-Hop circles and think tanks), the man did know how to balance hardcore Hip-Hop songs along with R&B tunes that made women swoon as soon as they came on the radio.
Continuing to make his case as “the most important rapper that ever existed,” LL stated, “They’re going to look and say, ‘Wow when it comes to the jewelry, this is the guy that introduced all the diamond and the ice and the jewelry and the champagne. They’re going to say when it comes to the love songs, they’re going to say, ‘This is the guy that introduced the love songs and all the love sh*t.’
“When it comes to the bad boy vibe, they’re going to realize that this is the guy who introduced all the bad boy vibes before it was done. When it comes to the GOAT terminology, ‘This is the guy who came up with all the GOAT stuff.’ They’re going to say when it comes to Def Jam, ‘Wow this is the first artist that was on Def Jam.’”
Well, the man isn’t wrong. He continued to explain he was the first rapper to make endorsements for clothing brands and attire a thing in the rap game and helped paved the way for rappers to become actors on television and movies. Whether or not that actually makes him Hip-Hop’s anchor being is up for debate, but he made some pretty solid points about his impact on not just the Hip-Hop game but the Hip-hop culture overall.
Check out the interview in its entirety, and let us know what your thoughts are in the comments section below.