LL COOL J is laying claim to being the “most important” rapper in history – though he won’t take on the G.O.A.T. title, despite being the one to coin the phrase.
Appearing on an episode of Apple Music’s Le Code published on Thursday (November 28), Cool James made his case for why he’s the most important.
“I’ma say this humbly but I really mean this,” he began. “I think one day people are going to wake up and realize that LL COOL J is the most important rapper that ever existed. I truly believe one day people are going to say that. They’re gonna look and they’re gonna say, ‘Wow, when it comes to the jewelry – this is the guy who introduced all the diamonds and the ice and the champagne.’ They’re gonna say, ‘When it comes to the love songs, this is the guy who introduced us to love songs and all the love shit.'”
He continued: “When it comes to the bad boy vibe, they’re gonna realize, ‘Oh this is the guy who introduced all the rebellious bad boy vibes before it was done.’ When it comes to the G.O.A.T. terminology, they’re gonna say, ‘This is the guy who came up with the G.O.A.T. stuff.’ They’re gonna say when it comes to Def Jam, ‘Wow, this is the first artist that was on Def Jam.’ When it comes to solo [rap] artists, they’re gonna say, ‘Wow, this is the first solo artist to take it all the way around the world.’ I could go on and on and on.
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“They’re gonna say when it comes to Fubu, ‘Yo, this guy introduced the whole idea of putting clothing lines. Even before that, he did Troop.’ When it comes to endorsements, ‘Oh this is the guy who did Kangol and made the Kangol popular before people even did that.’ When they talk about television, they gon’ say, ‘Oh this is the guy who did incredible stuff on TV and at the same time was still making incredible records.’ It wasn’t just doing TV and using rap as a launch pad. When it comes to business… I could go on and on and on and on.
The conversation begins around the 49:36 mark below.
Later in the convo, LL COOL J explained why he doesn’t actually claim to be the G.O.A.T. rapper, despite saying in on his songs.
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“No, [I’m not saying I’m the greatest rapper of all time] because that’s still subjective,” he explained. “Because there’s still a kid that the 2Pac album is the most important album to them and that changed their life. There’s still a kid that thinks Snoop made the records that changed their life. There’s still a kid that loves Biggie or loves Nas for their music and they should and have the right to do that.
“Do I call myself G.O.A.T. on the record? Of course, yes. I will say a lot of things on a record. But outside of being on the mic as an MC, there are too many rappers who have done too many important things for me to try to claim that I’m the one.”
Though he didn’t add this to his list of reasons for considering himself the most important rapper, LL also recently claimed that he’s partly responsible for Air Jordans being part of the Hip Hop uniform.
Sitting down for an extensive interview with Big Boy earlier this month, the legendary rapper spoke about being the first rapper to wear MJ’s iconic basketball sneakers in the mid 1980s, before they became a staple in Hip Hop culture.
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“My first album cover, I had the Jordan sneakers on when he was a rookie. I was the first person with the Jordans on in the Radio album cover,” he said, referencing the image of him on the back of the 1985 LP rocking black and red Air Jordan 1s.
“Michael Jordan was a rookie when I did that. Everyone was wearing Adidas and Puma, bro. I put the Jordans on. He ain’t even have no championships. He was just a rookie. I liked the sneakers.”
The “Rock the Bells” rapper previously admitted he was never paid for wearing the now-iconic sneakers in his Radio artwork.
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Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2019, LL said: “He never cut me a check. But you know what? I just loved it. When that album came out, Michael Jordan was a rookie. Those were the first Jordans the first year that they came out.”
