What is LL Cool J missing that keeps him out of real GOAT discussion?

[DANJ!]

His catalogue from the 90’s and on isn’t that strong. Once Nas, Pac, Big, Jay, Wu, Etc came in the game, he kept dropping music but never dropped an album that really showed he was as good as everyone that came in the game shortly after him.

He had some dope emcee moments like I Shot Ya, 4321, and the Canibus beef, but his discography wasn’t that strong once the golden era started.

But even this here is a generational thing too... because during the golden era that you're speaking of, it wasn't being recognized as a golden era... the golden era then was the era in which LL was one of the top guys.

IMO, and depending on who you ask, there's two Golden Eras... the late-80s when hip-hop started getting hella competitive and diverse, and then the era that started with the Chronic and ended when BIG and Pac passed... and then, arguably, there's just one loooooong ass Golden Era that started in the late 80s and didn't end until the late '90s. Because it's not like rap took a dip at any point between any of those years.

And of course, some people who are younger than most of us don't consider any of that the Golden Era but that's another discussion.

I look at rap the same way sports goes... the kids who came up watching Lebron and don't really go back to look at Magic Johnson or Wilt Chamberlain probably don't have them on their list. But people who know their shyt about basketball are obviously gonna include them. Such is the case with the MCs whose primes were in the 80s.

 

[Pop123]

LL has had a 30 year run.

A 35+ year career...but a run? A run is continuous, there have been huge chunks of nothing or next to nothing in LL's career

 

[GoFlipAPack]

A 35+ year career...but a run? A run is continuous, there have been huge chunks of nothing or next to nothing in LL's career

Maybe no music wise but you know hes out there grinding

 

[Yehuda]

Ice-T is light-skinned not no fukking LL. And by that logic Ice-T should've been more successful than LL lol.

 

[Homeboy Runny-Ray]

this thread shouldnt be 5 pages.

hes missing absolutely nothing.

and hes indeed in the goat discussion amongst people who were actually around for his heyday.

hip-hop fans need to step their history game up. i mean, look at the booth right now. all-time legend ectsasy passes away and gets up to 15 pages after two weeks. meanwhile, MF Doom's death is annohnced and hes instantly at like 60 pages within a couple days. MF Doom has accomplished nothing in comparison to ecstasy. but we saw how that played out. that pretty much says it all.

LL absolutely gets his props. some of yall just arent aware of it because those people arent on the internet or influential in media. hip-hop history was never properly represented in either avenue. even the so-called golden grail of the source magazine in its "heyday" did a chitty job at it.

Ice-T is light-skinned not no fukking LL. And by that logic Ice-T should've been more successful than LL lol.

i dont know what this is about, as i didnt read much of the thread.

but Ice T is fair-skinned. hes lighter than light-skin.
LL is light-skin.

I'll be 30 this year bruh, I have memories as a kid riding around with my dad listening to pac and biggie. it wasn't easy to pinpoint who was GOAT back then with piff dropping every damn week. time tells all though, pac been #1 for as long as I've been able to talk

its because they died in their prime.

otherwise, they wouldve faded just like everybody else.

 

[ISO]

this thread shouldnt be 5 pages.

hes missing absolutely nothing.

and hes indeed in the goat discussion amongst people who were actually around for his heyday.

hip-hop fans need to step their history game up. i mean, look at the booth right now. all-time legend ectsasy passes away and gets up to 15 pages after two weeks. meanwhile, MF Doom's death is annohnced and hes instantly at like 60 pages within a couple days. MF Doom has accomplished nothing in comparison to ecstasy. but we saw how that played out. that pretty much says it all.

LL absolutely gets his props. some of yall just arent aware of it because those people arent on the internet or influential in media. hip-hop history was never properly represented in either avenue.





i dont know what this is about, as i didnt read much of the thread.

but Ice T is fair-skinned. hes lighter than light-skin.
LL is light-skin.

MF Doom a whole legend for the underground inspired tons of MC’s to this day, even had a career dating back to the late 80’s. The love he’s getting is no surprise.

 

[En Sabah Nur]

The youngness and cacness throughout this thread

 

[Nigerianwonder]

Lol at folks saying LL ain't lyrical or only made girl songs. You definitely ain't well versed in hip hop. LL's problem is that a lot of younger folks only heard the wack stuff later in his 30 year career and make terrible threads like this. No MCs wanted to battle LL. He was a monster.

If LL aint in your top 10 you don't know hiphop. Period. I have him top 5 personally over Biggie and behind Jay and Pac.

My personal top 10 in no order:
Jay, pac, LL, biggie, nas, ice cube, Slick Rick, Snoop, DMX, Rakim

 

[Rakim Allah]

But even this here is a generational thing too... because during the golden era that you're speaking of, it wasn't being recognized as a golden era... the golden era then was the era in which LL was one of the top guys.

IMO, and depending on who you ask, there's two Golden Eras... the late-80s when hip-hop started getting hella competitive and diverse, and then the era that started with the Chronic and ended when BIG and Pac passed... and then, arguably, there's just one loooooong ass Golden Era that started in the late 80s and didn't end until the late '90s. Because it's not like rap took a dip at any point between any of those years.

And of course, some people who are younger than most of us don't consider any of that the Golden Era but that's another discussion.

I look at rap the same way sports goes... the kids who came up watching Lebron and don't really go back to look at Magic Johnson or Wilt Chamberlain probably don't have them on their list. But people who know their shyt about basketball are obviously gonna include them. Such is the case with the MCs whose primes were in the 80s.

86 was the the precursor to the Golden Era. 1987-1996.

 

[Homeboy Runny-Ray]

86 was the the precursor to the Golden Era. 1987-1996.

people refer to the early '80s, mid-80s and early '90s as golden eras too.

i just chalk all that chit up as the golden ages. 1979-1997.

that whole 18-year period.

MF Doom a whole legend for the underground inspired tons of MC’s to this day, even had a career dating back to the late 80’s. The love he’s getting is no surprise.

lesbianest.

nobody knows MF Doom except rippity-rap internet nerds.

and even with that, these nerds wouldnt be on the internet talking about rap in the first place if it wasnt for the whodinis of the world.

theres no way you can slice that chit to make it look presentable. just be real and call it what it is.

 

[Rakim Allah]

Ice-T is light-skinned not no fukking LL. And by that logic Ice-T should've been more successful than LL lol.

So if Ice T represents light and Wesley Snipes represents dark. Would that mean everything in between is brown skin.

 

[Silky Johnson]

Because he's not that nice & LL is a fukk boy from an era when fans and peers didn't forget about the fukkery you did. He never did anything for anyone outside of himself when it comes to hip hop and that is why he's thrown on the scrap heap.

The Canibus situation was some hoe shyt and he used a half bar as an excuse to redo his wack ass verse. He delivered nothing but weed plates after Mama Said Knock Out and that was like 92. He went Hollywood, burned bridges and then tried to come back with the HGH pack and some lip gloss when the sitcom & movie roles slowed down.

 

[Rakim Allah]

people refer to the early '80s, mid-80s and early '90s as golden eras too.

i just chalk all that chit up as the golden ages. 1979-1997.

that whole 18-year period.






lesbianest.

nobody knows MF Doom except rippity-rap internet nerds.

and even with that, these nerds wouldnt be on the internet talking about rap in the first place if it wasnt for the whodinis of the world.

theres no way you can slice that chit to make it look presentable. just be real and call it what it is.

When it comes to recorded rap music. Early 80s is Old School and mid 80s is New School. There were not enough rap albums, let alone enough good ones, for Golden Era before 1987.

 

[Silky Johnson]

Lol at folks saying LL ain't lyrical or only made girl songs. You definitely ain't well versed in hip hop. LL's problem is that a lot of younger folks only heard the wack stuff later in his 30 year career and make terrible threads like this. No MCs wanted to battle LL. He was a monster.

If LL aint in your top 10 you don't know hiphop. Period. I have him top 5 personally over Biggie and behind Jay and Pac.

My personal top 10 in no order:
Jay, pac, LL, biggie, nas, ice cube, Slick Rick, Snoop, DMX, Rakim

fukk outta here with this revisionist nonsense. LL'S problems started with 14 shots when he did pink cookies and never stopped. He was putting out bullshyt and occasionally got saved by features (I shot ya remix comes to mind)

 

[Homeboy Runny-Ray]

fukk outta here with this revisionist nonsense. LL'S problems started with 14 shots when he did pink cookies and never stopped. He was putting out bullshyt and occasionally got saved by features (I shot ya remix comes to mind)

LL's .legacy was already etched in stone by that point.

he was in year 10 and survived 3 eras in the golden age as a top rapper when he dropped 14 shots.
and this is back in the golden age when longevity actually meant something.

and pink cookies was the chit.

sassy ass post. sit down girlfriend

ehh

youre mad cuz he shut down your thread with that post.

Lol at folks saying LL ain't lyrical or only made girl songs. You definitely ain't well versed in hip hop. LL's problem is that a lot of younger folks only heard the wack stuff later in his 30 year career and make terrible threads like this. No MCs wanted to battle LL. He was a monster.

If LL aint in your top 10 you don't know hiphop. Period.

THIS

and dudes is killin me with the "girl song" chit. they got dudes in here comparing him to drake.

LL COOL J IS HARD AS HELL!!!

When it comes to recorded rap music. Early 80s is Old School and mid 80s is New School. There were not enough rap albums, let alone good ones, for Golden Era before 1987.

bolded is false

and that idea is pushed because hip-hop media doesnt pick up before the late '80s/early '90s - the period where most "critics" first got into hip-hop like that.