His career lasted too long
What is LL Cool J missing that keeps him out of real GOAT discussion?
- Thread starter BBG
- Start date
To me he has endless hits just like Drake. My top 5 has been Pac, BIG, Nas, Scarface, Ice Cube because they have hit records and songs with a message. How many artist can drop a single like Brendas got a baby and be #1.
MisterMajesty
All Star
Absolutely nothing. He's missing nothing. If Ll can't qualify. A heap of rappers don't
Bruce LeRoy
All Star
Some of you sound like you just skimmed through his albums, LL has songs with a "message" and they are easily as good as some of the other artists songs mentioned in here...
FeverPitch2
Superstar
FeverPitch2
Superstar
Hate is the reason why LL isn't mentioned. Because breh had it all.
nikkas have been hating on him since his prime
Dude had:
Beats, rhymes, charisma, hits, influence, classics, stage presence, swagger, street cred, a teen idol look, and played equally well to dudes and chicks.
nikka can even dance. He's got both hardcore and crossover hits. Try to pretend like Around The Way Girl isn't a classic. But then he can put out I Shot Ya and not get clowned.
The love song shyt is a moot point because if you turn on the radio right now all the rap songs by these thug nikkas are brown nosing chicks but with profanity and sexual vulgarity to mask it.
Even thought the quality of his music has declined (what rapper's doesnt?) he has still managed to not fall off.
He's even the first one to tell you some of his music was trash and laugh about it.
On top of that, he transitioned into a successful acting career.
Dude is on a top rated network show right now and it's run long enough that he's getting syndication money.
Breh is in his 50's, looks the same, still cut up, and successfully raised a family while married to his childhood sweetheart.
It's rare that a rapper has racked up that many W's over a lifetime in the business.
That makes people nauseous with jealousy.
35 years of hate and breh is still standing.
Go figure.
nikkas have been hating on him since his prime
Dude had:
Beats, rhymes, charisma, hits, influence, classics, stage presence, swagger, street cred, a teen idol look, and played equally well to dudes and chicks.
nikka can even dance. He's got both hardcore and crossover hits. Try to pretend like Around The Way Girl isn't a classic. But then he can put out I Shot Ya and not get clowned.
The love song shyt is a moot point because if you turn on the radio right now all the rap songs by these thug nikkas are brown nosing chicks but with profanity and sexual vulgarity to mask it.
Even thought the quality of his music has declined (what rapper's doesnt?) he has still managed to not fall off.
He's even the first one to tell you some of his music was trash and laugh about it.
On top of that, he transitioned into a successful acting career.
Dude is on a top rated network show right now and it's run long enough that he's getting syndication money.
Breh is in his 50's, looks the same, still cut up, and successfully raised a family while married to his childhood sweetheart.
It's rare that a rapper has racked up that many W's over a lifetime in the business.
That makes people nauseous with jealousy.
35 years of hate and breh is still standing.
Go figure.
BmoreGorilla
Veteran
This thread is wild disrespectful 
LL is a top five MC no questions asked. He came out in 85 and had his last hit in 04. How many rappers can say they have two decades worth of hits AND multiple classic albums? Jay and that’s it. LL never had the best bars but he was more than capable of holding his own. Plus he was more versatile than all his peers. I’ve said this on here many times but LL is the blueprint for having a career in hip hop. First artist on the hip hops first brand Def Jan. LL is a pillar of the culture. And he’s still carrying that hip hop flag to this day
LL is a top five MC no questions asked. He came out in 85 and had his last hit in 04. How many rappers can say they have two decades worth of hits AND multiple classic albums? Jay and that’s it. LL never had the best bars but he was more than capable of holding his own. Plus he was more versatile than all his peers. I’ve said this on here many times but LL is the blueprint for having a career in hip hop. First artist on the hip hops first brand Def Jan. LL is a pillar of the culture. And he’s still carrying that hip hop flag to this day
the next guy
Superstar
a ridiculous reality show
A big thing is the perception that he "only makes love songs" or "isn't lyrical"... the thing about him is that he was probably the most diverse MC of his prime era. He probably coulda made a strictly super-lyrical album at some point, but that was never the ONLY thing he made or focused in on. He could make those weird silly songs like "Going Back To Cali" or "I'm That Type Of Guy", or those girl-friendly songs like "I Need Love", "Hey Lover", or "Around The Way Girl"... but he also has a lot of songs where he was rhyming with the best of them- those were usually on the albums, not being pushed as singles. Because as history has shown not just with him but with a LOT of our favorite rappers, the lyrical shyt ain't what moves the units, even back then. LL (and more particularly, Russell & Lyor) knew this, and they knew what LL's biggest fanbase was, so they usually marketed his music first and foremost to them. He could rap his ass off but he could also scale it back, and most of his biggest songs were the scaled-back ones.
Imagine only knowing Biggie for "Juicy", "One More Chance" or "Big Poppa", but not knowing about the rest of Ready To Die- you woulda never expected to hear "Gimme the Loot" or "Unbelievable" coming from him- the perception would be that he only makes songs with R&B samples and hooks. This is the way many people perceive LL. That's why they used to be shocked when they'd hear him on shyt like "I Shot Ya" or "4321"- because they'd only know him for the radio shyt and didn't know he could "rap like that".
People also don't acknowledge that right before Rakim came out, LL was elevating the vocabulary being used in rap... he was saying shyt like this in 1985, and at 17 years old:
Vocally pulsating, I initiate gyrating
Ya must respond to my bells, there's no waiting
For the duration, there's no articulation
Receiving ovation for the bell association
The vocalization techniques I employ
The voice of my shadow could dust a toy boy
The injection of bells into this beat
The result: enough energy to amputate your feet
Greater insulator microphone dominator
My name is Cool J, manipulator innovator
It's just not the kinda stuff he gets credited with, or that he's recognized for. He's seen more as a rap "superstar" who made a lot of hits and was/is a great performer. He's always gonna be remembered more for his radio joints than the album cuts, except by the people who really listened further into his music. So for that reason, he's not put into that conversation, especially by the people who missed him in his prime and only saw him when he was well past it.
Imagine only knowing Biggie for "Juicy", "One More Chance" or "Big Poppa", but not knowing about the rest of Ready To Die- you woulda never expected to hear "Gimme the Loot" or "Unbelievable" coming from him- the perception would be that he only makes songs with R&B samples and hooks. This is the way many people perceive LL. That's why they used to be shocked when they'd hear him on shyt like "I Shot Ya" or "4321"- because they'd only know him for the radio shyt and didn't know he could "rap like that".
People also don't acknowledge that right before Rakim came out, LL was elevating the vocabulary being used in rap... he was saying shyt like this in 1985, and at 17 years old:
Vocally pulsating, I initiate gyrating
Ya must respond to my bells, there's no waiting
For the duration, there's no articulation
Receiving ovation for the bell association
The vocalization techniques I employ
The voice of my shadow could dust a toy boy
The injection of bells into this beat
The result: enough energy to amputate your feet
Greater insulator microphone dominator
My name is Cool J, manipulator innovator
It's just not the kinda stuff he gets credited with, or that he's recognized for. He's seen more as a rap "superstar" who made a lot of hits and was/is a great performer. He's always gonna be remembered more for his radio joints than the album cuts, except by the people who really listened further into his music. So for that reason, he's not put into that conversation, especially by the people who missed him in his prime and only saw him when he was well past it.
RennisDeynolds
I am untethered and my rage knows no bounds!
Maybe longevity? He was that dude but he was a bit early in the rap timeline, then he switched focus to acting
BmoreGorilla
Veteran
LL always had en extended vocabulary. People don’t give hm enough credit for that. Especially being he came out at a time when bars were very simple. He had the vocab Rakim brought the flow. On I Need Love he finished a bar with the word unfurl
His point is correct. The people who would be vouching for LL as the greatest are mid 40's and up.
His fans are way more likely to be yelling across a barbershop or sipping some dark arguing on a corner than typing on a forum.