NEW VIDEO CLIPS

- Posted on December 12, 2000

These videos require the RealPlayer. Click on the logo to download it!

EXCLUSIVE NEW LL COOL J CLIPS Courtesy of Y2G

- Posted on November 22, 2000

Real Player Features
'Imagine That'...For the ladies (real audio)
'LL Cool J'...For the streets (real audio)
'Strictly for the Haters' ft Dj Premier...(real audio)
'Mirror, Mirror'...(real audio)
'Homicide'...(real audio)
'Forget about it' ft Meth & Red...(real audio)

Don't Call It A Comeback
What do you do after you have sold 20 million albums, won 2 Grammy's, 15 music awards, 10 Soul Train Awards, starred in movies, your own TV show, and battled emcee's who called you out? You go back into the studio and lay down tracks for your new album, decide to make a music video and call your friends at to watch. At the age of 16 he was the first Def Jam artist to release a single, ("I Need A Beat," 1984). How many rappers can you name from the early '80's are still around? None, except LL Cool J. He's been a significant part of hip hop and will go down in history as the greatest of all time.

Log onto LL Cool J Online every week until the release of LL Cool J's album, "The G.O.A.T.", as we take you behind the scenes of the making of his video, share samples of his album and let you hear directly from Uncle L himself.

Online Chat At VIBE Online and more...
- Posted on October 06, 2000

Call It a Comeback: VIBE Online apologizes to everyone who logged on to chat with LL Cool J last month. LL was not able to chat with his fans because his flight was delayed by inclement weather. As a peace offering, VIBE Online have rescheduled the chat with the G.O.A.T. to Monday, October 9th at 9pET/6pPT.

Check out The Source.com's Exclusive Behind The Scenes Video Interview with LL!

Check out a cool audio interview with LL at Launch.com!

Meanwhile, LL Cool J and Kelly Price is currently wrapping up the video shoot for the new hit single "U & Me" from the "The G.O.A.T." album in Toronto, Canada. The video should be serviced to music video outlets such as BET and MTV soon.

LL Cool J Taken To Court By Promoter and more...
- Posted on October 01, 2000


LL Cool J may have to hand over some of the dough he's generated with his Number One-debuting album G.O.A.T. He is due in New York State Supreme Court Wednesday (October 4) to face a lawsuit filed by angry promoter Jerry L. Costa of JC Entertainment in Boston, who is suing the superstar rapper for $2 million, claiming that the artist (born James Todd Smith) only gave him five days' notice that he would fail to show for a major European festival tour in the fall of 1999.

Costa says that LL bailed on dates in England and the Netherlands in order to shoot the suspenseful shark tanker Deep Blue Sea without adhering to the 60-day cancellation requirement stated in his contract. "He put up a phony excuse at first, and then he admitted what happened," Costa said. "He wants to blame it on his agent and his manager, and he fired them both." Costa added that the issue came to a head recently when LL tried to book another European tour but found he could not because of an injunction filed by Costa.

Attorneys for LL Cool J could not be reached by press time. His label, Def Jam, had no comment.

In other news, VH1.comhas LL Cool J nominated in the following category for the upcoming VH1 My Music Awards on Thursday, November 30th! - Double Threat (Musicicans & Actors) - LL Cool J (Deep Blue Sea) Until Friday, October 20th all voting will be to determine the finalists in each category so vote early and often for LL Cool J! After October 20th the finalists in each category will be posted and you can vote again for the ultimate winner.

LL is slated to release the video for the new hit single U and Me from his No. 1 album featuring Kelly Price to music video outlets soon, as the song is receiving heavy rotation on radio outlets.

LL rips Late Show With David Letterman and more...
- Posted on September 29, 2000



LL Cool J appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS on Friday, September 29th and ripped up the show with Kelly Price on his new hit single "U and Me".

The performance was orchestrated nicely and well received by the studio audience. LL delved into the album, upcoming projects and movies with David Letterman in the post-performance interview. He confirmed that he did receive a ankle injury while filming the movie "Rollerball" in Montreal, Canada.

Also appearing on the show, was Jada Pinkett Smith. LL was scheduled to be on the show on Thursday, but had to fulfil other urgent commitments.

In other news, you can view the transcript of LL Cool J's chat with Teen People Online! You can check out comments from fans at MTV.com on their interview with LL Cool J! MTV Fans

Also, VH1.com has LL Cool J nominated in the following category for the upcoming VH1 My Music Awards on Thursday, November 30th! - Double Threat (Musicicans & Actors) - LL Cool J (Deep Blue Sea) Until Friday, October 20th all voting will be to determine the finalists in each category so vote early and often for LL Cool J! After October 20th the finalists in each category will be posted and you can vote again for the ultimate winner. So remember to vote.

LL on BET's 106th & Park  - Posted on September 21, 2000

LL Cool J will appear on BET's "106th & Park" show at 6pm on Thursday, September 21st at 6pm!

This follows his appearance and head bangin' freestyle on the toilet seat in the booth on BET's hot hiphop show Rap City: Tha Basement with Big Tigga on Monday.

"106th and Park" is hosted by Free and AJ and is now billed as the network's signature show. It delivers an interactive format with call-outs, e-mails and the "Top 10" music videos of the day as voted on by BET viewers. The show airs twice from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. weekdays and repeated from 11:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays. It also features guest stars.

Exclusive Interview with LL and Album signings...
- Posted on September 21, 2000

In his own (sexy) voice, Mr.Smith gives you his greatest of all time --from moments in history to childhood memories. Listen in Real Audio by clicking on the link next to the each question.

1) What's makes LL Cool J the G.O.A.T.? It's just me as an artist...
2) Tell us about the G.O.A.T. album. The album is raw and truthful...
3) What's been your biggest contribution to hip-hop? I introduced a lot to rap...
4) What does LL bring to rap game? I just do what I do...
5) What's the greatest accomplishment made by man? Being created...
6) Greatest influence in your life? My family...
7) Greatest athlete of all time? Michael Jordan...
8) Greatest moment in history? Creation of man...
9) Greatest album of all time? Thriller...
10) Greatest film of all time? Godfather...
11) Greatest vacation spot? Happy at home...
12) Greatest food? Chicken…
13) Greatest drink of all time? Water...
14) Greatest alcohol drink of all time? Vodka…Strawberry Daiquiri...
15) Greatest fear? I don't have any...
16) Greatest sexual experience? Next!
17) Greatest lie you ever told to get a girl? Next!
18) Greatest childhood memory? Christmas with my grandfather...
19) Greatest show you ever had? Africa...
20) Greatest moment in your life? Rick Rubin calling me back...
21) How has hip-hop changed through the years? The essence hasn't really changed...
22) What do you feel is the most important issue for the upcoming elections? Health Care...               23) Are you the greatest of all time? It’s just my opinion...

Enter Interview Part II - LL talks more about Canibus, Def Jam, and his artistry

If you want to meet LL as he signs copies of "The GOAT" at Record Town Mall location near you. Cities, dates and times are listed below.

9/23 - Record Town The Gallery Marketplace 937A Market Street Philadelphia 19107 1:00-3:00pm

9/30 - Record Town Roosevelt Field Mall Space #2052 Garden City, New York 11530 1:00-3:00pm

10/7 - Record Town Ford City Mall 7601 S. Cicero Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60652 1:00-3:00pm

Exclusive online interview of the G.O.A.T., LL COOl J. Hear LL Cool J discuss Rick Rubin, Canibus, his fans and his new video. Brought to you by Def Jam's A&R Bimmy Antney. Click on the either the Low or Hi links below.

1) LL Cool J as an artist. Low  Hi
2) LL vs. Canibus. Low  Hi
3) Rick Rubin / Def Jam Low  Hi
4) On being the best. Low  Hi
5) On the Impact Convention Low  Hi
6) On the Video - "Imagine That" Low  Hi

LL new album "G.O.A.T." debuts at No. 1 on Billboard Charts
- Posted on September 20, 2000    

THE "G.O.A.T." IS NO. 1
After 15 years in the rap game, LL Cool J is still number one. The rap pioneer will bump hip-hop newcomer Nelly from the top of the album chart next week as L.L.'s "G.O.A.T." ("Greatest Of All Time" for those not down with the acronym) was the best-selling album in the land last week. According to sales figures released by SoundScan on Wednesday, L.L.'s latest sold more than 208,000 copies in its first week in stores to debut at number one on next week's "Billboard" album chart. The big sales numbers seem to back the bold statement L.L. made in selecting the title of his latest record, which had raised a few eyebrows.

Until LL, rappers had pretty much done it all. Rappers like Run DMC, KRS - One, Kool Moe Dee, Public Enemy and Doug E. Fresh screamed about hard times and growled their messages in the 80s. They danced and shouted, broke it down and worked crowds into froths with the perfect beat from the most talent Djs. Then others like Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap, Slick Rick and Rakim moved you with their lyrical instructions. And when you thought that superior lyrical intelligence was enough, then Ice T, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and Snoop Dogg introduces us to gangster rap - a blend of searing socio-political lyrics with L.A. gansterisms. This new movement produce the bi-coastal beef between The Notorious BIG and Tupac into the mainstream market. The course of rap changed with the deft blend of humor and pathos, poetry, and hardcore street skills - further expanded by the growls of DMX, lyrical insights of Nas, and the sheer vanity yet honesty of Jay-Z. And finally, the master storyteller Eminem: who took listeners on a lyrical journey filled with gruesome tales of relational murder, part tragedy, and part humor. Leaving you with wonder of where the fantasy ended.

Yet, the most polarizing, and consistent figure in hip hop is the legendary LL Cool J. Since rocketing into immortality as a 16-year old phenomenon, scalding with his cameo verse from "I Can't Live Without My Radio" in the 1985 film Krush Grove. LL has stood out as a battle MC, sex symbol and cultural icon. He has been at the heart of some the fiercest battles on wax - and ultimately won every one. The flurry began with hardcore Radio, continued with Bigger and Deffer, the first album to introduce a rap love ballad. Then the pop flavored Walking With A Panther only to return with his best album, the critically acclaimed Mama Said Knock You Out. With the rap culture embracing gansterism in the early 90s, LL issued 14 Shots to the Dome, a disappointing effort. However he reprise with the brilliant Mr. Smith and the autobiographical Phenomenon.

"Being great is not about me being a greater human being than anybody else because everybody's life is valuable and worth something," L.L. explained to MTV News recently, regarding the now chart-topping album's title. "Obviously, there's always going to be a small percentage of people who resent you saying something like that or are shocked.... But it's a lot more fun than naming my album 'L.L. The Pretty Good Rapper.' I think that might be a little boring." L.L.'s big debut ends Nelly's chart-topping run, which stretched back to mid-August. The St. Louis rapper doesn't drop far, though, as his "Country Grammar" album hangs tough at number two on next week's chart. Eminem rounds out rap's strangehold on the top of the album chart, sliding into the number three slot with "The Marshall Mathers  LP." 

                                                                                        
Excerpts from VIBE Magazine Interview
- Posted on September 15, 2000

DOIN IT WELL
From Hollis to Hollywood, LL Cool J has been jingling longer than any other rapper in the game. After forays into books, television, and movies-and a highly publicized MC challenge - Mr. Smith is back with G.O.A.T. featuring James T. Smith (The Greatest of All Time), his hardest-hitting album since Mama Said Knock You Out. Go ahead, call it a comeback.

By Lola Ogunnaike and Christian Witkin

Just 30 minutes outside Manhattan, at the far end of the Francis R. Buono Memorial Bridge, you'll find the infamous Rikers Island, a sprawling 415-acre prison. Deep in the bowels of this barbwire-encircled compound - past the general-population prisoners playing pickup ball, past the plastic case displaying a gang of confiscated shanks, and far past the posting of this Dostoevsky quote: "The degree to which a society is civilized can be judged by entering its prisons" (American translation)-is the Central Punitive Segregation Unit, or the "Bing." The path to this solitary-confinement ward is as quiet as the inside of a sealed jar. But when the doors to the Bing slide open, you're immediately overwhelmed by the deafening cries of inmates-some fighting to remain sane, others slowly going crazy.
"Let me out of this motherfucker!" yells a man locked in a cell on the second tier.
On the first floor, two pale white hands reach out of the food slot of cell No. 21. They flap around like gasping fish on land before handcuffs quickly choke the life out of them. "It ain't the Holiday Inn," deputy Tim O'Reilly dryly observes. No, it most certainly isn't. Look around and you'll see nothing but the whites of the inmates' eyes. Faceless apparitions floating behind dead-bolted doors with nobody to call their own. More screams. More cries. More pleas for freedom. Metal against metal. And the piercing clang of jingling keys. Prisoners locked down 21 hours a day in 11' x 12' pens. One hour of recreation time. Three showers a week. A personal escort at all times.

LL Cool J remembers all of this. He visited Rikers every day for a week last summer, right before he started writing his new album, G.O.A.T. featuring James T. Smith (The Greatest of All Time). "I went there to show the inmates some love, to give 'em some encouragement," he explains. "It was a cold, lonely, and desperate place. A draining place."

Far away from Rikers, in a plush hotel suite in Montreal, where LL is shooting a big-budget remake of the '70s cult sci-fi film Rollerball, he talks about the tragedy of seeing women and children in prison. The horror of giving birth while incarcerated. It's clear the Bing is forever seared into his memory. "They have to take a shower in a stall that's probably the size of a phone booth with handcuffs and chains on their ankles," he explains. "It was bananas. The shit is unbelievably degrading and unbelievably rough, man. I can only imagine what goes through a man's mind in that situation. You've got to hate the world at that point."

Bimmy Antney, LL's childhood friend and director of A&R at Def Jam, initiated the tour of the prison as an exercise to toughen the rapper up. "I think Rikers was good for him," he says. "LL was too Cali'd out. The mansions, the sushi-all that's fantasy shit. He needed to see some real gutter shit to get back in touch." According to Antney, it was a mind-blowing experience for LL. "After the first day he was like, 'Damn, I don't know if I want to go back.'"But LL returned, giving himself over to the gutter of all gutters. Antney says the experience turned LL into a "lion." "He wasn't sitting around having conversations with Burt Reynolds; he was eating in the mess hall with niggas that was never going home. That shit really made him realize where he could've landed. After we left the island, I didn't hear from L for three days. When I found him, he was down in the basement of his grandmother's house writing." Most of LL's early work was created in that basement. When he emerged, he had written six tracks, including "Homicide" and "Can't Think."

Traces of Rikers run through G.O.A.T. Packed with loads of grit and palpable grime, it sounds nothing like LL's albums of recent years. Conspicuously absent are schmaltzy pop joints like "Hey Lover" and overly fluffy production. G.O.A.T. is angry, unflinching, undeniably hardcore, and completely unexpected. On this album, the veteran rapper is fueled by a burning need to set the record straight. "I have to let people know that I'm the greatest rapper of all time," he says with a smile. Like a bloodthirsty pugilist he pounds his message home song after song after song. "Ain't no rapper dead or alive fuckin' with me / Ask the last bitch that tried to come and get me," he spits on the album's intro. "Why am I called the greatest of all time? / Because for 15 years I kept y'all standing in line." Of course, keeping in mind the fact that a significant number of his fans wear high heels, LL-lover of all ladies, lip-licking lothario-includes a few tracks for the females ("Imagine That," "Hello," and "This Is Us"). For the most part, however, G.O.A.T. is an indefatigable machismo-fest. On "Legendary," the Muhammad Ali of rap states, "You don't understand, I'm just the best that ever did it / When my physical form's gone, I'll spit it from the spirit." And "Mirror Mirror" delivers a no-holds-barred hook that's sure to cause a shitload of controversy once it hits the streets: "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who was the man before Pac and Biggie Smalls?" he asks. Arrogant? Yes. Self-indulged? Extremely. Fun to listen to? Oh, most definitely.

It was even more fun to make, says LL. "I haven't been this excited about an album since Momma Said Knock You Out," he confesses. "With G.O.A.T., I decided to take off all the creative handcuffs. I let myself be free... I've gotten rid of the managers who were slapping my wrist telling me not to curse, to tone it down. I'm not playing the perimeter on this album," he says. "I'm dunking on niggas and taking it straight to the hole." Free from his own musical Bing, LL spares no one. On "You Can't Fuck With Me," he takes a jab at a certain comedian: "Once and for all, what's my opinion on Jamie Foxx? / He pussy, and plus he ain't as funny as Chris Rock" (a pointed reference to the fight LL and Foxx had on the set of Any Given Sunday last year). He uses "Back Where I Belong" to crucify Canibus, who called him a "homo rapper dripping with wack juice" on "Second Round K.O." "I hate to be responsible for destroying your career / A one-hit wonder-no wonder you disappeared," LL spits.

Though he relentlessly disses Canibus on G.O.A.T., calling him a "baboon-looking nigga" that he'll "butt fuck like a ho," LL refuses to malign the MC in real life. "I don't have anything against him. I don't see any reason to dog him in the press," LL says. "Once the mike's turned off I don't hold any grudges. Whatever I need to do on my albums I do and then I leave it separate. The same way that a woman can be a complete freak, nasty, do everything crazy in the world to her husband and then turn around and treat her children like a tender mother."

Surprisingly, LL readily admits he was "rusty" when he first battled Canibus. "Ring rust," he says. "If I was in New York I would've come 10 times harder." He also credits the young rapper with rejuvenating his career. "I thank Canibus, and I'm being serious. Right before the Canibus stuff, I was definitely disinterested in rap. I didn't have a challenge, a reason to be aggressive," LL explains. "I actually remember sitting in my driveway in Beverly Hills three years ago saying to Brian [his personal assistant], 'I don't even feel like rapping anymore. I don't have anything to say.' "

Frankly, it's hard to imagine LL Cool J not having anything to say. He likes to talk a lot; he's not long-winded, just a bit effusive. When the topic turns to the tattoo that launched a thousand disses and he's asked whether it hurt being under the needle, the rapper answers in one rambling gush: "Like hell. Crazily. I felt like I had some pink panties on two sizes too small, with a chain-link thong."

At a hulking 6-foot-2, 240 pounds (with a size 14 foot to boot), LL is literally larger than life, but at the same time he's completely real. "He's a gentle giant," says famed actress/choreographer/director Debbie Allen, who worked with Cool J on the TV sitcom In the House. "He's such a sweetheart and he's soooo funny." Silly is more like it. The rapper, who clearly loves performing on- and offstage, has the entire room in stitches when he breaks into old-school dances like the snake and the prep. But he's no joke. When LL Cool J walks into a room, you definitely know he has arrived, and there's no question you're in the presence of a man who gives and commands respect-the word is tattooed on his left bicep. "Gotta have respect," L says. For the record, the lovely, lustful way he licks those succulent pink lips is "a habit," he says. "That sex-symbol shit is corny." And even though he has flown his Queens, N.Y., barber, Bless, north of the border for a shave, LL claims he's not the fussy, pretty-boy type. "I'm a Marlboro type of cat," he says, his chest swelling just a tad (for the record, he doesn't smoke). "I'm not going to be in the mirror more than my girl. I put on some FUBU and keep it moving."

Before he was LL Cool J "the Great" he was James Todd Smith, a scrappy kid from the working-class section of Hollis, Queens, born into a home filled with music. ("My grandfather played tenor sax; my mother played accordion. My grandmother sings in the choir.") By age 9, LL was rhyming. By age 13 he'd already made his first studio recording. In the studio, young L found he could escape from the nightmare of his father pumping bullets into the stomachs of his mother and grandfather, nearly killing them both. In the studio, he could escape from the memories of abuse he endured at the hands of his mother's lover Roscoe-he was often stripped naked and beaten for the crimes of being hungry, watching TV, or looking at Roscoe the wrong way. Understandably, LL doesn't like visiting this period of his life-"I'm not going to get into all of that. It's in my book," he bristles. But he does offer this: "If you're a woman and you're in a situation where your man beats on you and you stay in that relationship, you're a fool. Straight up. You're stupid."

In the studio he would find his wings, and, he says, "fall in love" with his dream to rock the bells from Hollis to Holland. LL's eyes tear up when he remembers recording his first song. "I was, like, 13. It was incredible, like stepping into a ring at Gleason's Gym for the first time. I made a record that means 'stop, look, and listen' in Swahili." Before long, LL had people doing just that. "He rocked a show in our high school automotive class, tore the motherfucker up, and never came back," says Antney. Discovered by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons in 1984, LL was only 16 when he signed a 10-album deal with the fledgling Def Jam Records. He was the label's first artist, "the foundation of the company," Simmons says. "His record 'I Need a Beat' was the epitome of what we were trying to do. It was the perfect record to start a label on."

Over the past 15 years, the LL­ Def Jam union has proved to be a match made in hip hop heaven. Def Jam, due in part to its success with LL, is one of rap's largest record labels. It's hard not to sound like a sycophant when discussing LL's formidable career. He was the first rap artist to release eight consecutive platinum-selling albums. His groundbreaking song "I Need Love," off of his second album, 1987's Bigger and Deffer, was rap's first ballad. Never afraid to navigate uncharted territory, LL was the first rap vocalist to perform on MTV Unplugged. And he has amassed countless awards, including a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1991 for "Momma Said Knock You Out," another in 1996 for "Hey Lover," two NAACP Image Awards, 10 Soul Train awards, 15 New York Music Awards, and a 1997 MTV Video Vanguard Lifetime Achievement award.

Grandfather of ghetto fabulousness (peep model Veronica Webb on the back cover of 1989's Walking With a Panther, clutching bottles of Moët) and arguably the sexiest pinup in rap, LL is undeniably one of hip hop's most enduring icons: a chameleon who, like Madonna, has been able to keep pace with and remain relevant to pop culture. Easily shifting between being a rapper, actor (Deep Blue Sea, In the House), author (I Make My Own Rules), entrepreneur (LL COOL J Inc.), spokesman (FUBU, Coca-Cola), philanthropist (Camp Cool J), and family man (wife Simone, his childhood sweetheart, is pregnant with the couple's fourth child), LL is a modern-day renaissance man. And still a musical force to be reckoned with. "He's one of the most important brands in hip hop," says Def Jam president Kevin Liles. "When you think LL Cool J you think hip hop." And you think Def Jam, but that may change soon.

It's no secret that, in recent years, LL's relationship with his label has been strained. Def Jam's flagship artist believes a portion of the company's profits should've gone to him when it was sold to Universal Music Group for a reported $70 million. He received nothing. It could easily be construed as a slap in the face, but LL says, "I'm not mad at Russell. I forgive Russell. It hurt my feelings, but that's all it did." In his defense, Simmons offers, "I'm sorry that he believes that he deserves a portion of Def Jam, but that's just something we don't see eye-to-eye on." LL, whose contract only calls for one more album, says he hasn't set his sights on leaving Def Jam, "but," he adds cryptically, "it remains to be seen."

It's well past 1 a.m. on a breezy night in Montreal, and the same LL Cool J who said he was ready to retire for the evening an hour ago cannot sit down. The rapper has just returned from his Suburban RV, where he listened to G.O.A.T.'s title track three times in a row (there's no sound system in his luxury suite). "I'm the G-O-A-T, the greatest of all time," he chants over and over again until he bursts into uproarious laughter. He tickles himself. He knows only one rapper in the history of hip hop would have the audacity, the sheer balls to declare himself the greatest of all time. He knows that lone soldier is him. It's this very knowledge that excites him and moves him to make grandiose statements off wax.

"I am the greatest rapper of all time. Why wouldn't I think that?" Mr. Smith asks, genuinely puzzled that someone might think otherwise. "For 16 years I've been one of the most popular rappers out. Every single one of my albums has sold at least one mil. I have Grammys for 'Hey Lover' and 'Momma Said Knock You Out.' I think I'm more qualified for the job than anyone else."

But when you add up all of these things, do they make him the greatest? "Yes," says DJ Scratch, who produced eight tracks on LL's album. "Motherfuckers did a 10-year bid in jail for killing niggas over sheepskin and leather bombers, came out, and LL is still making fucking records," Scratch continues. "If you can't respect that then you're a fucking hater. Artists need to study him and take notes." "If you use longevity as your barometer, LL's accomplishments are unprecedented," says Nelson George, hip hop critic and author of Hip Hop America. "When we think of Biggie we think of a particular flow. When we think of Snoop we think of a particular flow. But LL has shouted, he's whispered, he's rhymed over R&B and rock beats. He's been a master at adapting whatever is hot at the time to his style. He's been dead a couple of times, but he keeps coming back."

To his credit, LL is one of the few rappers who has battled rival MCs his entire career: MC Shan, Kool Moe Dee, Ice-T, and Canibus. This may actually be one of the reasons he remains popular, says Method Man, who's featured on G.O.A.T.: "Every time someone battles him they add five years to his career."

But, in what's sure to be the hip hop debate of the year, there will be those who vociferously argue that LL isn't the greatest. They'll cite Rakim, Kool G Rap, KRS-One, Too Short, Biggie, and Tupac; LL's name will surface somewhere in the middle. Old-school rapper Kool Moe Dee-whose battles with LL in the late '80s were infamous and infinitely entertaining (the cover of Dee's 1987 album, How Ya Like Me Now, shows him standing in front of a Jeep that has run over LL's signature Kangol)-laughs hard and long at LL's claim to the throne. "That's one of the funniest things in hip hop history I've ever heard," says Dee, who remembers LL being a "punk" afraid to battle onstage at one of his shows. "Hardcore he wasn't. I challenge anyone to take what he was saying and take what I was saying and honestly say that I didn't win [our battles]. Clearly, it was no contest." Dee once said the initials LL stood for "lower-level, lackluster, last, least, limp lover, lousy, lame," and a host of other unflattering "L" words. " There was simplicity to the 10th power on a lot of LL's songs," he says. Yet Dee does place LL on his top-10 list of rap greats, calling him a shrewd businessman, a good actor, and a talented artist who's not afraid to take chances. "I know it sounds ironic, but when I look at LL, I'm like a proud father. He's definitely one of my offspring. He followed the map I laid out. Watching him definitely gives me more pride than anything else." Guess what? LL Cool J cares about none of this. The G.O.A.T. debate can rage on for years and he will be as resolute as he is at this moment. "I don't give a fuck; I'm the greatest right now," he declares confidently. "I'll yell it on top of a mountain with a torch in my hand like Arnold [Schwarzenegger] in Predator. I just really feel in my heart that I'm the greatest."

It's a long way from Hollis to Hollywood. On the set of Rollerball, nobody calls the guy rocking a red 'do rag and FUBU gear LL Cool J; that character doesn't exist here. He's Todd, and Todd isn't a rapper, he's an actor, a "real actor," says the film's director, John McTiernan (Die Hard, Predator). "Half the bozos running around Hollywood don't have the sense of showmanship he has."

In the film, Todd and Chris Klein (American Pie) unwittingly entangle themselves in a blood sport. The role requires that Todd know how to ride a motorcycle. So in the barren fields of Montreal, behind an abandoned cement factory filled with weeds, he practices riding his small blue Yamaha-with the same tenacity and dedication he has given his rap career-until the sun begins to set. There's no question he's a hard worker and clearly eager to prove to the movie industry there's room for more than one rapper named Mr. Smith who can juggle both worlds with equal dexterity. He has already convinced McTiernan and his wife, Kate, Rollerball's costume designer. "I think Todd could be the next big action star," she gushes.

All this will come in time. For now, LL says, in a moment of humility, "I'm just a black man trying to feed my family and live my dreams." He's that type of guy.

ENTER VIBE Online LL Cool J Contest

Are you LL Cool J's biggest fan? Then prove it by participating in VIBE Online's exclusive "Seven Minutes in Heaven" contest where you can win a chance to interview LL Cool J for VIBE Online. Register to win your chance to interview the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Times) simply by logging on to http://www.vibe.com and correctly answering 10 questions about LL's rise to stardom. You can also register to win great runner-up prizes like the entire LL Cool J catalog.

I gotta warn you - that the questions won't be easy. VIBE Online wants fans with natural journalistic instincts. The sooner you register, the sooner you can begin preparing for your interview with the G.O.A.T. Good luck.
The LINK is Seven Minutes In Heaven With LL
LL is slated to hold a Listening Party at VIBE Magazine for "The G.O.A.T. featuring James T. Smith - The Greatest Of All Times" (This is the official title of the album) on Wednesday, September 6th at 9pm EST / 6pm PST.

LL Cool J received 4 ratings out of a possible 5 for the new album "The Greatest Of All Times" set to be released on September 12th from VIBE Magazine's Ronin Ro. The rating indicates a EXCEPTIONAL ALBUM one short of A MASTERPIECE. Ro's review stated that the album is "...LL's most enthralling in years..." The Source Magazine also gave the album 4 mics out of a possible 5. The album is said to be LL's most lyrically since is auspicious emergence on Def Jam. If features DMX, Meth and Red, Ja Rule, Carl Thomas, Kelly Price, Amil, and LeShaun with production from Dj Skratch, Rockwilder and Dj Premier. Cop the album when it drops. Ya heard!

You can download a new screensaver from DEF JAM promoting the album "The G.O.A.T." There are two versions: WINDOWS BASED and a MACINTOSH BASED. Download it now!

You are also invited to join the growing unofficial LL fan club at The LL Cool J Fan Club. You are welcome to post news, photos, messages and enter chatrooms on LL with club members. Take a visit. You'll love it.

Exclusive COVER PICTURE from THE SOURCE MAGAZINE

BONUS PICTURE

SOURCE Picture courtesy of Melissahoneybee

Promotional Features on BET, Teen People, Vibe and Rap Pages...
- Posted on September 15, 2000


As the new album "G.O.A.T. featuring James T. Smith - Greatest Of All Times" hit the stores, LL Cool J can be seen or heard on several radio and television outlets on a promotional roller coaster ride.

You can chat with him at Teen People.com (via AOL) on Tuesday, September 19th at 8pm EST/5pm PST!

LL Cool J will mix it up with his fans as he chats with Vibe.com (via Yahoo! Chat) on Monday, September 25th at 9pm EST/6pm PST!

BET.com will have LL Cool J chatting up a storm about everything from his movie career to his new album G.O.A.T. on Tuesday, September 26th at 8pm EST/5pm PST!



LL Cool J can now be seen on the cover of The SOURCE Magazine, Vibe Magazine and RAP PAGES

For a timeline of LL's albums and music, visit MTV. You will be able to listen and watch video and audio tracks plus quotable quotes from The G.O.A.T. Don't skip a stop on the timeline, 'cause you might miss the bonus beats -- live L.L. performances from the MTV archives.

Remember to check out our special interview FEATURE with LL. You can watch and hear him talk about his movies, music, Canibus, Wyclef, kids, sex and his future with Def Jam. You can also listen to his new album and watch all of his videos.

Album Update, Refreshed Defjam LL Site and Giveaways...

- Posted on September 12, 2000

The latest album from LL Cool J "G.O.A.T. featuring James T. Smith - Greatest Of All Times" drops on September 12th. TODAY! Get It!

The album contains some blazin' tracks and features artists such as DMX, Method Man, Redman, Ja Rule, Kelly Price, Carl Thomas, Snoop Dogg, Xzhibit, Jayo Felony, CASE, Funkmaster Flex, Big Kap, Amil, LeShaun, Prodigy and Queens newcomer Tikki Diamondz. With production from Trackmasters, Dj Skratch, Da Rockwilder, Q-Tip, Vada Nobles, and more. The album is quite lengthy and is loaded with a variety of tracks. A sure pleaser for everyone and welcome return to the rap game from LL. His best work since "Mama Said Knock You Out". You can listen to and buy the album by visiting ALBUM PROMO.

In other news, LL appeared on BET's Harlem Block Party on Monday, September 11th - introducing the artists on the show. The party marked BET's long awaited homecoming to New York and featured artist such as Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Wyclef, Mary J. Blige, Wu-Tang Clan, Eve, Queen Latifah, Erykah Badu and much more.

Def Jam Records recently updated the LL Cool J label site to provide more information on LL as his new album hit the streets. Although the site contains several construction glitches, it is much better than the last one. It features Flash Animation from Macromedia with the latest news, biography, discography and interaction with LL. Visit DEFJAM LL SITE for more data. To view it properly, your computer system must have the plugins from Macromedia Flash, Apple QuickTime 4 or higher and Real Player.

Finally FUBU, LL's official clothing line is giving away one copy of "The G.O.A.T." album per day until 10/11/2000. So check it out at FUBU

EXCLUSIVE AND EXTENSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH LL

- Posted on September 07, 2000

THE FOLLOWING IS A TEXT AND REAL AUDIO CHAT OF AN INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY Vibe Magazine's Dara Cook, Michael Romulus and Gabriel Man of Russell Simmons' OMBTV

He's young. He's pretty. He's got endurance. He brashly talks trash to his opponents inside and outside the ring and backs it up. And after surviving lyrical battles with Kool Moe Dee, Canibus, Ice-T, Wyclef Jean, and MC Hammer, he declares himself to be the greatest of all time. Replace the boxing gloves with a microphone, and you've got the Muhammad Ali of hip hop, LL Cool J. While many hip hop heads will contest LL crowning himself the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time), his resume is filled with credentials that most rappers could only dream of. Since he made his entrance into hip hop 15 years ago with his 1985 debut single, "I Can't Live Without My Radio," LL has recorded 8 albums (most of which have obtained gold or multi-platinum status), established a successful career in Hollywood by starring in such films as Deep Blue Sea (Warner Bros., 1999), Any Given Sunday (Warner Bros., 1999) and In Too Deep, (Dimension, 1999), and written a book entitled I Make My Own Rules (St. Martins, 1999).

With his ninth album G.O.A.T. featuring James T. Smith - Greatest of All Time, LL returns to remind the hip hop world to pay homage to one of the greatest rappers that ever touched a microphone. In this video interview with LL, the heavyweight rapper comes out swinging as he discusses everything from his beefs with Canibus and Jamie Foxx, to reviving his career and being a sex symbol. He even dispels rumors about his supposed beefs with JAY - Z and TuPac.

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINKS FOR AUDIO AND VIDEO INTERVIEWS:
LL discusses the development of Def Jam, his career and future endeavours in this OMBTV Featured Interview
U Can't F*ck With Me! In this clip, LL sets the record straight about his beefs with Canibus and Jamie Foxx. He also explains how battling Canibus helped him revive his career. VIBE Interview Clip One
I'm Kinky LL explains what inspires him to write such sexy, yet nonsensical memorable lines like "Pink cookies in a plastic bag getting crushed by buildings" and "Tongue kiss the cat." He also explains why sex should be a pleasurable activity. VIBE Interview Clip Two
Living In the Moment LL has seen and done it all. At this stage in his life, he doesn't take anything for granted. Instead of trying to predict what will happen in the future, LL explains why he lives in the moment in this clip. VIBE Interview Clip Three
Imagine That LL wears his sex symbol status as interchangeably as his career as an MC or an actor. In this clip, hip hop's original heartthrob tells stories about how members of his high heel constituency have thrown themselves at him. VIBE Interview Clip Four
Word On The Street It's no secret that LL went to war with Canibus, Ice-T, MC Hammer, and Kool Moe Dee on wax, but where did the rumors begin to surface that he had beef with Jay-Z and 2Pac? In this clip, not only does LL seem surprised to hear these rumors, but he also dismisses them. VIBE Interview Clip Four

Charlie's Angels, VIBE Listening Party, Yahoo! Online Chat...

- Posted on September 06, 2000

You can watch LL Cool J in the new trailer for the upcoming movie Charlie's Angels 2000 : The Movie slated for a November release. The movie stars Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu and is released through Columbia Pictures. The link is: Charlie's Angels Trailer In-order to view the trailer, you must have Apple QuickTime 4.0 or higher.

VIBE Online will be hosting a listening party for LL's latest album "The G.O.A.T. featuring James T. Smith - Greatest Of All Times" on Wednesday, September 6th @ 9pm EST / 6pm PST for more go to: VIBE SPECIAL Remember that LL Cool J will be on the cover of VIBE’s October issue on newsstands Sept. 5th to Oct. 2nd.

You can watch the new LL Cool J video "Imagine That" at Yahoo! Music anytime you want from September 4th through September 11th! More news on Yahoo!, the online chat with LL that which was slated for Tuesday September 5th did not take place due to LL's unavailable. LL is currently shooting the movie "Rollerball", an update of the 1970s James Caan classic film. Yahoo! Music and LL will be rescheduling the event soon. We will keep you posted as details are released.

NEW Album Listing, Album Reviews, HipHop Stars pay tribute to LL...

- Posted on September 06, 2000

Here is the new track listing for "G.O.A.T. featuring James T. Smith - The Greatest of All Times"

Intro
Imagine That featuring LeShaun
Back Where I Belong featuring Ja Rule
L.L. Cool J featuring Kandice Love
Take It Off featuring LeShaun
Fuhgidabowdit featuring Redman, Method Man and DMX
Farmers featuring Tikki Diamondz
This Is Us featuring Carl Thomas
Hello, Hello featuring Amil
U & Me featuring Kelly Price
Homicide
You Can't F*ck With Me featuring Snoop Dogg, Xzhibit, & Jayo Felony
Can't Think
Queens Is featuring Prodigy
The G.O.A.T.
M.I.S.S. I featuring Case
Bonus Track: Ill Bomb featuring Funkmaster Flex and Big Kap

For a review of the entire album visit Sixshot.com
. You can also view Rolling Stone Magazine's Review

Rah Digga in a audio tribute to LL: Rah's Tribute Nelly, Guru, Camron and more in a video tribute to LL: Video Tribute Nature: in a audio tribute to LL: Nature's Tribute If you want to win a catalogue containing all of LL Cool J's albums or a copy of his highly anticipated album G.O.A.T. Go to LL Contest. Answer all five (5) questions correctly and you could be one of the lucky winners! Submit your answers by October 4th. Winners will be chosen at random and notified via e-mail.

LL Cool J - LIVE ONLINE CHAT AT YAHOO!

- Posted on September 03 , 2000

LL's making it hot in a LIVE audio chat with you. Don't miss out, Tuesday September 5 at 8pm Eastern and 5pm Pacific Time.
You will need the free Windows Media Player or a free Yahoo! Player as well as audio capabilities on your computer, to hear this event.
If you don't have those capabilities, this event will also be broadcast in text-only chat. Add this to your calendar!

LL's new baby  - Posted on August 12 , 2000

Congratulations to LL Cool J and Simone. Simone gave birth to a healthy baby girl on August 10th, 2000. Welcome to the World Ms. Nina Simone Beautiful Smith! We will post more details later. Stay tuned.

LL vs CANIBUS - EXCLUSIVE CHAT WITH DEFJAM A&R BIMMY ATNEY 

          Posted on August 10 , 2000

Hip Hop has always had its moments of beef from the day's of KRS-One and MC Shan, to the infamous Bad Boy Entertainment and Death Row Records beef. But no beef made as much noise and caught so much attention as the Canibus and LL beef. Excluding the deadly B.I.G and Tupac beefs, it was LL Cool J and Canibus who sparked a flame of nostalgia in hip hop which had been dying. LL while working on his Hollywood career was confronted on record and caught by surprise by new comer Canibus and all hell broke loose soon after. Many new school hip hop fans who were just thoughts in their parents eyes when LL came out proclaimed Canibus the winner. It was the old school fans who remembered LL and his contribution to hip hop that proclaimed blasphemy and challenged Canibus to a full out battle on wax.

Canibus decided not to respond to LL and instead, focused on the promotion of his album which in the end garnered a Gold Plaque. Many critics and hip hop fans believed that the Canibus diss was meant to jack sales and he never fully recovered. Canibus' album fell short of the underground freestyle's we were used to hearing and in end never lived up to Canibus' potential.

LL although surprised by Canibus' attack was not afraid to strike back. LL's been at war on records with many including the infamous LL vs Kool Moe Dee beef so all this was not new for him. LL came out with his own diss album titled, "The Ripper Strikes Back" which fans soon scooped up on the internet.

LL Cool J Online brings you our interview with Def Jam's A&R Bimmy Atney. Bimmy speaks on the Canibus beef.

How did you feel about Canibus coming at LL?
To me it affected hip hop. Ya know when you go at a person that's been in the game for fifteen years and he opened the door for a guy like Canibus or a guy like myself. I was working with Method Man at the time and me and Meth discussed it and we were like that's wrong. You know me as an artist or an A&R person that's wrong. Because here's a man that set the tone for everybody to get what they got to get. He dissrespected his family his kids his wife, everybody.

How did LL Cool J react to the Canibus diss?
He was in Hollywood at the time and he was working on a movie and he had called my phone. He asked me what the people in the hood were saying. And I told him, "they're saying Canibus got you. You know what I mean, you gotta come back." So he said , "I am" and then he hung up. (laughter)
Damn that's kind of scary man!  To speak on the Canibus thing. When I first started on L's project I had said to L I said, "Yo man let's just shock hip hop and let's do a record with Canibus. I got the producer and everything". I said, "Let's just shock hip hop and show them that there's really unity in here. We all can live together, we can fight on records but we can still get paid together. And he (LL) said, "Let me think about it."

But in his heart he still had it for him cause he woke up one morning and said, "Yo I'm ready to set it on him. I'm gonna start it this time. I'm in New York now (he moved back to NY) and he said Bim let's get him." So I said, "Yo let's get him. I'm with you." So we have a record getting him. And then Canibus' people called me and said, "Yo Bimmy we heard your dissing his mother!" I said, "Did you hear how he dissed his kids, did you hear second round knockout?" Then he said, "oh oh oh . Wel we aint gonna come back at yall." I'm waiting because we have a record waiting. You know what I mean? For the world to hear. We got him.

LL Performs on Farmclub.com on USA Network
- Posted on August 11, 2000

LL Cool J performed on the hip USA Network show Farmclub.com on Monday August 07th, 2000. His performance was excellent. He performed the smash hit single "Imagine That" and "Take It Off". Only "Imagine That" was showcased on television, the other song is available online.

In addition LL was featured in backstage discussions and extended interviews with hosts Matt Pinfield and Ali Landry. He disclosed that the album will be available on September 12th and it features DMX, Snoop Dogg, Amil, Kelly Price, Meth and Red, Dj Premier, Kelly Price among others.

For more information check out Farmclub's LL Cool J Page or visit Farmclub's LL Photo Gallery.

Here are a few clips of LL performing "Imagine That".

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES from Imagine That Video

BONUS MUSIC:
Carl Thomas "I Wish" Remix Featuring LL COOL J

New preview of album
- Posted on August 08, 2000

Hey LL Cool J Fans. Here are couple new links to the new album.
"The G.O.A.T. Album Preview
This Preview contains the songs:
"Intro" freestyle for Dj Clue
"Imagine That" featuring LaShaun
"LL Cool J"
"Hello, Hello" featuring Amil
"Mirror, Mirror"
and can be heard on the Nutty Professor II Soundtrack on Defjam Label

BONUS LINKS
"Imagine That" featuring LaShaun
"Forget About It" featuring Meth and Red
"Strictly For The Haters" featuring Dj Premier
"Back Where I Belong (Farmers)" featuring Ja Rule
"Mirror Mirror"
"LL Cool J"
"Homicide"
"East to the West (You Can't F**k With Me - Dissing Jamie Foxx)" featuring Snoop Dogg, Xzibit and Jayo Felony

Song clips made possible courtesy of AllWorld 2000, Snoop's Dogghouse, Tha Real, and ReviewzXL

LL Cool J Discusses Film Work, New Album

- Posted on August 08, 2000

If there's one thing LL Cool J doesn't have time for, it's writer's block. "Thank God," he exclaims. "I just write the songs when I go into the studio," the MC and actor tells LL Cool J Online during a break from filming his latest movie, a remake of the 1975 James Caan-starring futuristic action film, Rollerball.

A chart-topping recording artist since the age of 16 whose eighth Album, G.O.A.T. Featuring James T. Smith (Greatest of All Time), is due Sept. 12 on Island/Def Jam, and a busy actor averaging two movies per year since the mid-'90s, not to mention the fact that he is a father of three with another child just on the way, LL is thankful that coming up with top-notch rhymes is never a problem.

Born James Todd Smith in Queens, N.Y., LL says his relocation back to NYC, after a four-year stretch living in L.A. has influenced his new album in an "aggressively hip-hop" direction, away from the more emotionally-themed songs of his previous album, 1997's Phenomenon. "I haven't made a record in a while, and I haven't made a real hip-hop record in a while," he says. "That was the type of record I wanted to make and I went for it." Despite a street-level credo that fires straight from the hip at would-be dissenters, G.O.A.T does not forsake LL's trademark romantic paeans. "I don't know what it is about hip-hop music, but sometimes I feel that people think when I make romantic songs it's like I'm reverting to a tactic. I don't understand that. If you removed all the romantic songs from the history of music how many songs would be left?" While in conversation his voice never rises to more than an amiably emphatic purr, such accusations of softening up musically or selling out to Hollywood obviously sting. "The only things I would hope to achieve musically with G.O.A.T. is the respect of my peers and to see my audience loving it, and knowing that I had given them something from the heart as opposed to making a record that is just a way to support my film career."

LL's acting roles continue apace: following recent roles in Any Given Sunday with Al Pacino, and Deep Blue Sea with Samuel L. Jackson, the 32-year-old shot Kingdom Come earlier this year with Whoopi Goldberg (due for a spring 2001 release), and his current action-packed role as Marcus Ridley ("He's one of the world's best Rollerball players," notes LL) in Rollerball (which also stars electronic artist BT, Chris Klein and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) is keeping him busy until October. Though film roles may weigh against touring for G.O.A.T following the wrap, LL isn't sweating it: "All it is, is a matter of setting up the dates; just some scheduling," he shrugs. As for that audacious acronym that titles his new record, LL simply laughs, "It's a lot more exciting than LL Cool J: The Okay Record. I don't know how exciting 'I'm Pretty Good' is for a title."

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