James Todd Smith was born on January 14th 1968 in the Suburb of Westchester County, New York. At a young age his family moved to Hollis, Queens. James was an only child and had a terrible childhood. At 4 years old, LL's father shot his mother as she ran into her parents' house for safety. She was hit in the legs and back. His grandfather was also shot in the stomach. Both survived the attack. His mother would later date another abusive man who would beat the young LL. James sang in the church choir and joined the boy scouts as an escape from the abuse at home.
By the age of 9, LL began rhyming and recording music.
In 1984, at the young age of 16 LL cool J signed with Def Jam and released the underground hit "I Need a Beat". The single was a hit so James dropped out of high school to pursue a rapping career.
In 1985 James dropped his debut album Radio; the album went platinum with the help of two successful singles "I Can't Live Without My Radio" and "Rock the Bells".
In 1987 he dropped his second album Bigger and Deffer the album went 2x platinum with the help of "I Need Love" and "I'm Bad."
In 1989 he released another platinum selling album Walking With a Panther. Four singles were released for this album "Going Back to Cali," "I'm That Type of Guy", "Jingling Baby" and "Big Ole Butt".
In 1990 James Todd Smith came out with a hardcore album and tried to stay away from the love ballads. He dropped the album Mama Said Knock You Out which went 2x platinum, with the help of "Around The Way Girl" and "Mama Said Knock You Out". He received a Grammy award Best Rap Solo Performance, for "Mama Said Knock You Out".
In 1991 LL Cool J appeared in his first major movie in Hollywood THE HARD WAY, he also appeared in the movie Toys the following years.
In 1993 James released 14 shots to the dome. The dismal album only reached gold selling status, as it saw him adopting the sound of West coast gangsta rap.
In 1995 he came back with the 2x platinum selling album Mr. Smith.
Three singles brought this albums success, "Hey Lover", "Doin' It", and "Loungin". He starred in In the House, an NBC sitcom; he also appeared in the movie out-of-sync.
In 1996 he released a greatest hits album called All World: Greatest Hits. It was certified Platinum from the songs he had from his first album to Mr. Smith album. He received a grammy award Best Rap Solo Performance, for "Hey Lover".
LL Cool J also helped to launch the clothing line FUBU that year.
In 1997 he dropped his seventh album Phenomenon, which went platinum due largely to three singles "Phenomenon", "4,3,2,1"(featuring Redman, Method Man & DMX) and "Father". He also appeared in the movie Touch.
In 1998 the acting bug hit LL cool J and he decided to persue an acting career for a while. He first appeared in the movie WOO and then starred in the movie Halloween H20: 20 Years Later.
In 1999 he took on more film roles, he starred in three major movies. Deep Blue Sea,
In Too Deep and Any Given Sunday. Even though his film career has taken off, he hasn't forgotten his love of hip-hop music.
In 2000 he released the Gold selling album G.O.A.T., only one single was released "Imagine That". He also appeared in the movie Charlie's Angels.
In 2001 he starred in the comedy film Kingdom Come.
In 2002 he released his 9th studio album (10) the album sales were a bit disappointing again, selling only 500,000 copies. Later that year he starred in the movie Rollerball.
In 2003 he took time off from music and starred in two hit movies Deliver Us from Eva and S.W.A.T. Both movies were a success for LL cool J.
In 2004 he released the album (The DEFinition), he released two singles "Headsprung" and "hush".
The album only went Gold. He also starred in the crime thriller film Mindhunters.
In 2005 he appeared in the movie Edison Force. And in 2006 he released the album Todd Smith which has already gone Gold. The first single is "control myself" featuring Jennifer Lopez. He also starred in the movie Last Holiday with Queen Latifah. Thus far LL has sold 20 million albums and has appeared in numerous major Hollywood films, making him one of the Top 10 hip hop icons.
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