James Todd Smith III (born January 14, 1968), better known as LL Cool J, is an American hip hop artist and actor. He is best known for romantic ballads like "I Need Love" as well as pioneering pop rap like "I Can't Live Without My Radio", "I'm Bad", "Boomin' System", and "Mama Said Knock You Out" "4, 3, 2, 1". He has also appeared in several films. LL Cool J is one of a few hip-hop stars of his era to sustain a successful recording career for more than two decades. He has released 12 albums and a greatest hits compilation so far, with his next album, Exit 13, set to be released September 4, 2007. The album will be the last for LL's record deal with Def Jam Recordings, a deal which has lasted for over twenty two years, making it the longest single hip hop deal to date. LL Cool J stands for "Ladies Love Cool James."
[edit] Early years
Born in Bayshore, Long Island, James Todd Smith grew up in the working-class neighborhood of St. Albans, Queens, as the only child of James Smith, Jr. and Ondrea Smith -- Todd, as he would be known. He would spend his youth singing in the church choir, participating in the Boy Scouts and delivering paper as a paperboy.
Unfortunately, LL's parents had a troublesome, often violent, relationship. As a result, his mother left his father when LL was four and they moved in with her parents in St. Albans. The relationship turned bloody, when late one night in 1972, his father shot his mother after she returned home from work. According to LL Cool J, who recounted the event in the song "Father" from his Phenomenon album, the elder James was seeking revenge after being abandoned by his family. LL's father shot his mother as she ran into her parents' house for safety. She was hit in the legs and back. LL's grandfather was also shot in the stomach. Both survived the attack.
LL found that hip hop music and rapping were ways of escaping his problems. He grew up in a musical family; his grandfather played tenor saxophone, his mother played accordion and his grandmother, Ellen Griffith, sang in the choir. By age 11, LL was rapping, and by the age of 12, he had made his first studio recording.
LL Cool J lived in North Babylon, Long Island, New York with his mother in his junior high years