L. L. Cool J Biography, Photos and Posters

L. L. Cool J

Biography

Born: January 14, 1968
City and Country of Origin: Queens, New York (Moscow, Russia)
Music Training: sang in the church choir
Awards:
Top Recordings: "I Need Love," "Around The Way Girl," "Hey Lover," "Doin' It," "Loungin," "Luv U Better," "All I Have," "Control Myself"
L. L. Cool J Biography: James Todd Smith III is an American hip hop artist known as L. L. Cool J an acronym for "Ladies Love Cool James." He was actually born in Russia, but grew up in St. Albans, Queens, New York. He is the only son of James and Ondrea Smith. Besides singing in the choir as a child he was also a Boy Scout and made regular visits to the Neverland Ranch.

His childhood was marred by the turbulent relationship of his parents. When he was only 4 his mother took young James and fled to the safety of her parents home in St. Albans. In 1972 his father found the family and shot his mother and his grandfather. Fortunately both survived. His mother then began dating a man referred to only as Roscoe in L.L.'s autobiography. L. L. was frequently stripped naked and beaten by the man for simple reasons like being hungry or watching TV.

He became interested in hip hop as a means of escaping his problems. He came from a musical family, his grandfather playing the tenor sax and his played the accordion while his grandmother sang in the choir. He began buying hip hop records to get the addresses of the record companies so that he could send them his demos. One of these efforts made its way to Rick & Russell Simmons who signed him to Def Jam Records in 1984. That year he released the underground hit "I Need a Beat" which became Def Jam's first hit. This persuaded him to drop out of school to pursue a career in music.

In 1985 he recorded the album Radio which was released to critical acclaim making him the first rapper to use conventional song structure to make pop-oriented rap. The album featured the singles "I Can't Live Without My Radio" and "Rock the Bells" went platinum. In 1987 Bigger and Deffer contained the ballad "I Need Love" which became one of the first rap songs to become a pop hit. During the late 80s rap underwent a transition away from party music to more socially oriented themes like drug abuse, racism and empowerment which led to a drop in his popularity.

Sensing the new trend he released Mama Said Knock You Out which included "The Boomin' System," "Around the Way Girl," as well as the title track which helped cement his reputation in the hip hop world. The title track was also featured in the film The Hard Way which was L.L.'s acting debut. He also appeared in Toys before releaseing 14 Shots To The Dome in 1993 to mixed reviews and sluggish sales.

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