“Hip-hop's always reached out to kids. If you look at the last 10 big albums it might seem ironic. But when I look at the history of this music it's always had a lot of positivity.”

American rapper and actor

LL Cool J, born James Todd Smith, is an American rapper and actor. He emerged in the early era of new-school hip-hop and became one of the first rappers to find broad commercial success. He is closely associated with the crossover of rap into mainstream popular culture, alongside acts such as Run-DMC. His career spans both music and acting, and his public image has long been shaped by that early breakthrough.