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Trivia
Birth name: James Todd Smith
Date of birth: 14 January 1968
Place of birth: Bay Shore, Long Island, New York, USA
Nickname: Uncle L, The Future of the Funk, Nickelhead, LL,
LL Cool J, Future of the Funk, Jack the Ripper, John Mickens, L, Mr. Smith, L. Michael
Smith
Height: 6' 1½" (1.87 m)
Spouse: Simone Johnson (7 August 1995 - present) 4 children
Was named the 10th greatest hip hop MC of all time by MTV.
Almost always wears a hat, and wears one of his pant legs rolled up.
LL Cool J stands for "Ladies Love Cool James."
LL Cool J's infamous lip-licking, although seen as flirtatious, is actually a nervous habit he picked up when he was younger.
Was the first rap artist on MTV Unplugged series.
Regarded as one of the most successful rap artists of all time.
Separated from girlfriend Simone Johnson sometime after the birth of
their second child.
He was a paperboy before his rap career.
LL writes for other rappers, for example, Run DMC's hit "Can You Rock it Like This"
Hosted the 2001 American Music Awards with Britney
Spears. [2001].
Bruce Lee is LL's inspiration and influence for doing movies. LL has said, "The person that made me want to make movies, and the reason I do films, is
Bruce Lee. He was an incredible actor, and he had a lot of charisma. Handsome, action, you know, everything was there. I loved Bruce Lee."
Has four children (one boy and three girls): Najee (b. 1989), Italia (b.
1990), Samaria (b. 1995), and Nina Simone (b. 2000).
LL was turned down from Tommy Boy Records and Sugar Hill Records before being signed to Def Jam.
LL performed with the Red Hot Chili Peppers for the song "I Make My Own Rules" for the Private Parts OST, but his name was not credited due to Def Jam threatening legal action if Warner Bros. had placed his name in the credits. LL said, "It was something that I wanted to do because I think that as an artist I should explore all different avenues of music, and I think that [Def Jam] was afraid that me doing a rock record might tamper with [the image I have] from some of the other music like 'Hey Lover' and 'Doin' It'."
LL Cool J is the author of two books, with the children-oriented book called “And The Winner Is...” and his autobiography co-written with Karen Hunter, “I Make My Own Rules”.
LL is also a producer, producing tracks for himself and for other artists such as MC Lyte.
Started his own music label in 1993 called P.O.G (Power Of God).
Formed company Rock The Bells to produce music.
LL has been seen at Republican Party fundraisers and was a supporter of New York governor George Pataki in the past.
LL was originally in the film Rugrats Go Wild! as the voice of a Piki doll, but his character was cut from the film.
The only job he had besides being an entertainer was that he was briefly
a paper boy.
Appeared with Rollerball (2002) co-star Chris Klein on World Wrestling
Federation programming in early 2002 to promote the film. They appeared
with APA members Ron Simmons (aka Faarooq) and John Layfield (aka
Bradshaw), both of whom appear in the film along with a number of other
WWF Superstars.
Once dated Kidada Jones (daughter of Quincy Jones).
He has been on Def Jam Records longer than any other artists from its
start in 1985 to the present.
ABC hired him for it's pregame music during its coverage of the 2003 NBA Finals.
LL has lyrically battled Jay-Z and Jaz-O whilst at an industrial party early on in his career.
Has had rivalry with MC Shan, Ice-T, MC Hammer, Kool Moe Dee, Wyclef Jean,
Jamie Foxx & Canibus. He has also shown his disapproval of Mike Tyson and Naomi Campbell in his songs, "The Ripper Strikes Back" and "Rasta Imposta" respectively.
Wrote and performed the first ever rap love song "I Need Love"
in 1985.
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