Black Music Month, Spotlight: LL Cool J

James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James),s an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor. He is known for pioneering hip-hop tracks such as "I Can't Live Without My Radio", "I'm Bad", "The Boomin' System", "Rock The Bells", and "Mama Said Knock You Out" as well as romantic ballads such as "I Need Love", "Around the Way Girl", and "Hey Lover".

The outgoing teen signed to Def Jam records in 1984, which was a fledgling rap label at the time, founded by Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin. LL released the hit "I Need a Beat" soon after, which sold more than 100,000 copies. The young artist left school to record his debut album, Radio, which was a hugely successful mix of conventional song structure and pop-oriented rap. Music fans responded enthusiastically to the album's singles, "I Can't Live Without My Radio" and "Rock the Bells," and bought more than one million copies of the recording. He appeared as himself in the feature film Krush Groove (1985) around this time, which was a fictionalized version of the early days of Def Jam. The members of RUN D.M.C., Fat Boys, and New Edition also appeared in the film. 

By the late 1990s, LL Cool J had officially crossed over to a career as a legitimate actor. He appeared in the 1997 comedy B.A.P.S., starring Halle Berry and directed by Robert Townsend, and the 1998 horror flick Halloween H2O, with Jamie Lee Curtis. In 1999's Any Given Sunday, LL showed off his acting chops, taking on a supporting role across from such heavy-hitting stars as Al Pacino, Dennis Quaid, Cameron Diaz, and Jamie Foxx. 


Outside of music and acting, LL Cool J has explored many business opportunities. He launched a clothing line, FUBU (For Us, By Us) in 1996. In 2008, he signed a deal with Sears to design and sell a reasonably priced clothing line for families.

In 2008, LL Cool J returned to music with Exit 13. "I'm not trying to be new school and I'm not old school??I'm classic," he said, in describing his latest release to Jet magazine.