LL Cool J says that he is the most important rapper in Hip Hop history

[get these nets]

LL Cool J & Peyton Manning Team On ‘Hip Hop Was Born Here’ Docuseries At Paramount+

Peyton Manning and LL Cool J have teamed on Hip Hop Was Born Here, a docuseries that explores the history of hip hop in New York City, for Paramount+.

deadline.com

debuts on 07/22/25

 

[Dameon Farrow]

He has actually had one hell of a career path. But that's certainly a claim to get real hip hop fans talking. You'd have to lay out the criteria for 'most important' in pages long detail to wrap your head around it, though.

 

[The Prince of All Saiyans]

if I might have a word

 

[UnQuantized]

He might be. He's an important link in the chain in terms of The MC becoming the main character of Hip Hop. That evolution precedes him but he has a lot to do with the persona of the modern rapper. LL, Rakim & KRS One are the three foundations for the modern rapper. Maybe you could add Eazy E in there.

 

[Rusty$hackleford]

Todd is definitely in the conversation

 

[Art Barr]

Oddly i never saw the bat signal for this ll thread.

Over a quarter century of posting.

I am still game to post about the boy king.

As there is no more hiphop.
if the gateway ll smashed open never existed.

As hiphop desperately needed. A segueway to bridge the gap from ol school way of thought to new school way of thought. Which never happens. If ll never makes.
i need a best the long version.
The period of degradation we face now. Would have occurred back then. As hiphop wpuld never have recovered from the degaradation of art house theft to grafitti writers. To the corrosige business practices of rhe mca way and sugar hill.

After july 83 and whodini rocked with freaks.
Hiphop would have died. To become the dreaded fad.
it was originally slated as. If not for ll.




Art Barr

 

[Rusty$hackleford]

Oh, Dixieland
(The relationship between the Mason-Dixon needs some fixin')
I hope you understand what this is all about
(Quite frankly I'm a black Yankee but I've been thinkin' about this lately)
I'm a son of the new south
(The past is the past, you feel me)
And I just want to make things right
(Let bygones be bygones)
Where all that's left is southern pride
(RIP Robert E. Lee but I've gotta thank Abraham Lincoln for freeing me, know what I mean)
It's real, it's real
It's truth

 

[get these nets]

WAS EARL/ E-LOVE THE 1ST HYPEMAN IN HIP HOP?



Noticed Earl's struggle pantomine/sign language for the first time ever, after having watched Krush Groove multiple times.
I guess because LL was so animated, the hype man was understated.

Have funny Earl story that I will say later.

 

[85 East]

LL Cool J definitely has a strong case. Other candidates I would argue are Ice Cube, who pretty much birthed an entire coast as a teenager. As much as LL was the man, Ice Cube changed the trajectory of black music, and more specifically Hip Hop. And you could also argue Will Smith/The Fresh Prince. He helped take Hip Hop to MTV, and sold a ton of albums. Where as LL was the ladies man, and Cube was the bad ass teenager, The Fresh Prince was the one who took Hip Hop international with his hit TV show and eventually a movie career bigger than both LL, or Cube.

This isnt slighting any of the greats who came before or after. It just that these three have careers that have all almost ran parallel to each other's, and I think they are equally important to the timeline of Hip Hop.

 

[get these nets]

Taylor Swift, LL Cool J, David Byrne Among 2026 Songwriters Hall of Fame Nominees

Taylor Swift, LL Cool J, David Byrne, Kenny Loggins and the Go-Go's are among the nominees for the Songwriters Hall of Fame class of 2026.

variety.com

10/23/25