LL Cool J

LL Cool J: Hard as Hell

Interview by Paul Sexton, Record Mirror, January 1986

That's LL Cool J, possibly the best rapper ever and main thrust of Def Jam Recordings, possibly the coolest label this decade. They're both here ...

Def Jam: The Rap Brat Pack

Report and Interview by David Toop, Face, The, March 1986

THE GREATEST CREATIVE CONVERGENCE IN 20th Century music has been the American Jewish/Black independent record company. Reel 'em off: Herman Lubinsky and Savoy Records, Hy ...

LL Cool J: Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Beat Box

Interview by Roy Trakin, Creem, August 1986

LL COOL J COMES on like a rap version of Muhammad Ali, taking delight in clever wordplay with a showman's sense of timing and a ...

LL Cool J: Bad Man Bites Back

Report and Interview by Dele Fadele, NME, May 1987

Woah, boy. This is LL COOL J, sitting behind the wheel of an automobile, sensing disrespect! Our man in the wraparounds and the probe-stick: DELE ...

Def Jam: Don't Knock The Rock – Rap It

Report by Mark Cooper, Guardian, The, June 1987

Mark Cooper on how Def Jam crossed over punk with rap, white with black, and stayed cool with both sides ...

LL Cool J Takes The Rap, Beats The Rap, Raps It Up, Raps Around The Clock, Encourages Bad Puns

Interview by Jon Young, Creem, October 1987

"YOU AIN'T gettin' no scoop, lookin' at me with your beady eyes!" ...

LL Cool J: Rap – A Storm In A Teacup

Report and Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, January 1988

WITH WORLDWIDE sales of his second album, Bigger And Deffer, approaching the three million mark (50,000 in Britain) three times more than the last David ...

Rick Rubin: Mental Metal Master

Interview by Paul Elliott, Sounds, March 1989

From rap to metal, LL Cool J to Slayer, producer Rick Rubin has shaped the definitive street beats of the decade. Paul Elliott hears the ...

U.S. Rap: Listen Up!

Report and Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, January 1990

RAIN IS STREAMING down in sheets on the Long Island suburb of Hempstead but, inside Public Enemy's headquarters, the group's leader Chuck D is just ...

LL Cool J, Canibus and Wyclef Jean: The '4,3,2,1' Beef

Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, 2000

WHEN CANIBUS recorded a verse for LL Cool J's '4,3,2,1' in 1997, he can hardly have realised what was about to unfold. ...

The LL Cool J Interview

Interview by Amy Linden, sonicnet.com, Summer 2000

You were the guy who coined the phrase, "Don't call it a comeback." But it seems that every record has the air of a ...

LL Cool J: Beacon Theatre, New York

Live Review by Mac Randall, New York Daily News, June 2003

At Beacon, everybody loves Cool James ...

LL Cool J, Faith Evans: Grant Park, Chicago

Live Review by Mark Pringle, Rock's Backpages, July 2005

NOW WE KNOW why the Ladies Love Cool James: it’s not for his remarkably buff 40-something body (though they do love that); not even for ...