LL Cool J

LL Cool J

CountryUnited States United States
GenderMale
BirthdayJan. 14, 1968
BiographyJames Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip hop acts Beastie Boys and Run-DMC.

Signed to Def Jam Recordings in 1984, LL Cool J's breakthrough came with his single "I Need a Beat" and his landmark debut album, Radio (1985). He achieved further commercial and critical success with the albums Bigger and Deffer (1987), Walking with a Panther (1989), Mama Said Knock You Out (1990), Mr. Smith (1995), and Phenomenon (1997). His twelfth album, Exit 13 (2008), was his last in his long-tenured deal with Def Jam. He later re-signed with the label and released his fourteenth album, The FORCE (2024).

LL Cool J has appeared in numerous films, including Halloween H20, In Too Deep, Any Given Sunday, Deep Blue Sea, S.W.A.T., Mindhunters, Last Holiday, and Edison. He played NCIS Special Agent Sam Hanna in the CBS crime drama television series NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: Hawaiʻi. LL Cool J was also the host of Lip Sync Battle on Paramount Network.

A two-time Grammy Award winner, LL Cool J is known for hip hop songs such as "Going Back to Cali", "I'm Bad", "The Boomin' System", "Rock the Bells", and "Mama Said Knock You Out", as well as R&B hits such as "Doin' It", "I Need Love", "Around the Way Girl" and "Hey Lover". In 2010, VH1 placed him on their "100 Greatest Artists Of All Time" list. In 2017, LL Cool J became the first rapper to receive the Kennedy Center Honors. In 2021, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category.

Biography from the Wikipedia article LL Cool J. Licensed under CC-BY-SA. Full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Part of Crew

Recently Updated Shows

Recently updated shows that might be of your interest.
Out There
Upcoming

Out There

A drama that will depict the stealthy, surreptitious invasion of the land our farmers cherish, with devastating consequences, as his livelihood, homestead and family life are threatened by local county lines drugs dealers, essentially urban gangs using the British countryside as a field of operations, moving drugs and money between their inner-city hubs and provincial areas.

Swamp People
Running

Swamp People

The Swamp People featured in this History series are the proud descendants of French Canadian refugees who settled in the swamp region of Louisiana in the 18th century. Cameras follow members of this fiercely independent group as they struggle to preserve their way of life in the Atchafalaya Basin during the most important time of the year for them: alligator-hunting season.

Pawn Stars
Running

Pawn Stars

Long before banks, ATMS and check-cashing services, there were pawn shops. Pawning was the leading form of consumer credit in the United States until the 1950s, and pawn shops are still helping everyday people make ends meet. Pawn Stars takes you inside the colorful world of the pawn business. At the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop on the outskirts of Las Vegas, three generations of the Harrison family - grandfather Richard, son Rick and grandson Corey - jointly run the family business, and there's clashing and camaraderie every step of the way. The three men use their sharp eyes and skills to assess the value of items from the commonplace to the truly historic, including a 16th-century samurai sword, a Super Bowl ring, a Picasso painting and a 17th-century stay of execution. It's up to them to determine what's real and what's fake, as they reveal the often surprising answer to the questions on everyone's mind, "What's the story behind it?" and "What's it worth?"

The Curse of Oak Island
Running

The Curse of Oak Island

The Curse of Oak Island documents brothers Rick and Marty Lagina as they pursue their lifelong dream of solving more than a 220-year old Oak Island mystery. For over two centuries, teams of searchers, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, have attempted to crack the code that will unearth the treasure believed to be buried on the small island off the coast of Nova Scotia. Armed with the knowledge of those that came before them, the muscle of heavy machinery and decades of engineering know-how, the Lagina's and their partners may be closer than anyone in history to finding the treasure that has so far claimed the lives of six men.

The Good Ship Murder
Running

The Good Ship Murder

The Good Ship Murder is set aboard a luxury cruise liner touring everyone's favourite Mediterranean holiday hotspots bubbling with intrigue, rivalries, glamour, money and class divides – but its new cabaret singer, ex detective Jack Grayling, soon discovers there are also more sinister elements below the surface. 

On a cruise out of Southampton, Jack meets newly promoted First Officer, Kate Woods. Fierce and ambitious, she's a woman in a man's world with plenty to prove. After a passenger is found murdered in their first port of call, Kate's dream of her own command is thrown into jeopardy and Jack finds himself thrust back into his former life as a detective. What follows is a wave of murder mysteries – each set against the backdrop of a different stunning coastal destination where the ship has dropped anchor.