The new sound and LL’s good looks and swagger garnered the respect of the fellas and earned his name (Ladies Love Cool James) with the ladies, making him the new King of Hip-Hop. LL, with his irrepressible confidence and vocal fury, was the perfect complement to Rubin’s sonic landscape. Cool J also became the franchise artist for the up-and-coming fledgling record label called Def Jam.ĭef Jam co-founder, Rick Rubin, teamed with LL on his first album to hone a new sound for Hip-Hop one that stripped away the melody and synths that drove the music by predecessors like Whodini and The Fat Boys, in favor of thumping 808 drums, aggressive DJ cuts and scratches, and little else. James Todd Smith’s authentic B-boy swagger cemented the new direction in which fellow Queen’s peers, Run-DMC, had taken Hip-Hop two years prior, shedding the furs and feathers of acts like Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five for what everyday youth were actually wearing in the streets–Kangols, jeans and, in LL’s case, Pumas. Retrieved March 30, 2021.One month after the Krush Groove cameo, LL’s debut album Radio was released to critical acclaim, described by the Village Voice as “the most engaging and original Rap album of the year,” and selling over a million copies. Recording Industry Association of America.
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