History Music / LLCoolJ

* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' Franchise - Sam Hanna

* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' - Sam Hanna
* ''Series/HawaiiFive0'' - Sam Hanna
* ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'' - Sam Hanna

* NeverBareheaded: Even in the "Mama Said Knock You Out" video, he still had his head covered with a hoodie.

* SignatureHeadgear: Famous for wearing Kangol bucket hats during his heyday. In fact, it's extremely rare to see LL without ''any'' type of head-wear outside of a movie. These days, he typically rotates between baseball caps, beanies, and flat caps.

Smith was born and raised in Queens, New York, the son of Ondrea (née Griffith) and James Smith. At the age of four, he saw his mother and grandfather shot by his own father. After they recovered from their injuries, his mother began to date a young physical therapist she met while in the hospital. The therapist treated Ondrea kindly, but abused Smith physically and verbally for years, which resulted in Smith becoming a bully himself. It was during this period that he started wearing hats all the time (one of his trademarks as a rapper is the fact that people never see him without a hat on--until recently). Fortunately, Ondrea finally discovered what this man was doing to her son and left him.

Under his new {{stage name|s}} LL Cool J, Def Jam released his first record, the 12" single "I Need a Beat", and it sold sold over 100,000 copies. The success of "I Need a Beat" helped lead to a distribution deal with Def Jam and Creator/ColumbiaRecords in 1985. Soon after, he dropped out of Andrew Jackson High School to record his debut album. He is known for romantic ballads such as "I Need Love", "Around the Way Girl" and "Hey Lover" as well as pioneering hardcore hip-hop songs such as "I Can't Live Without My Radio", "I'm Bad", "The Boomin' System", and "Mama Said Knock You Out". He has released ''thirteen'' studio albums (the first twelve of which were exclusively released on Def Jam Records) and two greatest hits compilations. His most recently released album is 2013's ''Authentic'', which is his first album not released on the Def Jam label.

He has also appeared in numerous films, including two with director Creator/RennyHarlin. He was also interviewed in the 1986 HipHop documentary ''Film/BigFunInTheBigTown'' at a time when he was only 17 years old and still lived at his grandmother's place. In 2015, he added hosting to his repertoire with ''Lip Sync Battle''. He now lives in Manhasset, New York with his wife and four children. He currently hosts the classic Hip-Hop station ''Rock the Bells'' (channel 043 on Sirius XM Radio).

James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), better known as LL Cool J (acronym for [[ChickMagnet Ladies Love Cool James]]) is an American rapper and actor. LL Cool J was born and raised in Queens, New York, the son of Ondrea (née Griffith) and James Smith. At the age of four, he saw his mother and grandfather shot by his own father. After they recovered from their injuries, his mother began to date a young physical therapist she met while in the hospital. The therapist treated Ondrea kindly, but for years he abused Todd physically and verbally, which resulted in Todd becoming a bully himself. It was during this period that he started wearing hats all the time (one of L.L. Cool J's trademarks is the fact that people never see him without a hat on--until recently). Fortunately, Ondrea finally discovered what this man was doing to her son and left him. He went to I.S.238 Susan B. Anthony Academy in Queens, New York (Hillside). He started rapping at the age of nine. In his youth, LL Cool J performed in the church choir, participated in the Boy Scouts, and delivered newspapers. At age 16, by using a mixing table purchased by his grandfather at Sears, Smith produced and created demos and sent them to various record companies, including Creator/DefJamRecordings.

Under his new stage name, LL Cool J ('''L'''adies '''L'''ove '''Cool''' '''J'''ames), Def Jam released his first record, the 12" single "I Need a Beat". The single sold over 100,000 copies. The success of "I Need a Beat" helped lead to a distribution deal with Def Jam and Creator/ColumbiaRecords in 1985. Soon after, he dropped out of Andrew Jackson High School to record his debut album. He is known for romantic ballads such as "I Need Love", "Around the Way Girl" and "Hey Lover" as well as pioneering hardcore hip-hop songs such as "I Can't Live Without My Radio", "I'm Bad", "The Boomin' System", and "Mama Said Knock You Out". He has released ''thirteen'' studio albums (the first twelve of which were exclusively released on Def Jam Records) and two greatest hits compilations. His most recently released album is 2013's ''Authentic'', which is his first album not released on the Def Jam label.

He has also appeared in numerous films, including two with director Creator/RennyHarlin. He is also interviewed in the 1986 HipHop documentary ''Film/BigFunInTheBigTown'' at a time when he was only 17 years old and still lived at his grandmother's place. In 2015 he adds hosting to his repertoire, in ''Lip Sync Battle.'' He now lives in Manhasset, New York, with his wife and four children. He currently hosts the classic Hip-Hop station ''Rock the Bells'' (channel 043 on Sirius XM Radio).

He has also appeared in numerous films, including two with director Creator/RennyHarlin. He is also interviewed in the 1986 HipHop documentary ''Film/BigFunInTheBigTown'' at a time when he was only 17 years old and still lived at his grandmother's place. In 2015 he adds hosting to his repertoire, in ''Lip Sync Battle.'' He now lives in Manhasset, New York, with his wife and four children. He currently hosts the classic Hip-Hop station ''Rock the Bells''(channel 043) on Sirius XM Radio).

* UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHipHop

* ''Film/{{SWAT}}'' - Deacon Kay

* ''[[Film/TheDeal2008 The Deal]]'' - Bobby Mason as Benjamin Disraeli

* Radio (1985)
* Bigger and Deffer (1987)
* Walking with a Panther (1989)
* Mama Said Knock You Out (1990)
* 14 Shots to the Dome (1993)
* Mr. Smith (1995)
* Phenomenon (1997)
* G.O.A.T. (2000)
* 10 (2002)
* The DEFinition (2004)
* Todd Smith (2006)
* Exit 13 (2008)
* Authentic (2013)

He has also appeared in numerous films, including two with director Creator/RennyHarlin. He is also interviewed in the 1986 HipHop documentary ''Film/BigFunInTheBigTown'' at a time when he was only 17 years old and still lived at his grandmother's place. In 2015 he adds hosting to his repertoire, in ''Lip Sync Battle.''

And in TV:

He now lives in Manhasset, New York, with his wife and four children. He currently hosts the classic Hip-Hop station ''Rock the Bells''(channel 043) on Sirius XM Radio).

-->-- '''The famous opening line of "Mama Said Knock You Out"'''

* ProfessionalWrestling: From "[=Fuhgidabowdit=]":
-->"Cuz I was down before the hype like Wrestling/DustyRhodes and Wrestling/BobBacklund\\

* NiceHat: Famous for wearing Kangol bucket hats during his heyday. In fact, it's extremely rare to see LL without ''any'' type of head-wear outside of a movie. These days, he typically rotates between baseball caps, beanies, and flat caps.

* ''Series/InTheHouse - Marion Hill

!!! "Ladies Love Cool Tropes":

%%** Later, Canibus.
* BattleRapping: Several with Kool Moe Dee, such as "Jack the Ripper" and "To Da Break of Dawn", and other self-contaned ones like "Rock the Bells", "No Airplay", and "I'm Bad". He later got into it with Canibus with "The Ripper Strikes Back", and "Rasta Imposter", the latter of which was also aimed at [[TheFugees Wyclef Jean]], Canibus' producer at the time.

%%* IconicOutfit: The Kangol hat.

* OlderThanTheyLook: He's almost fifty years old, and still looks virtually the same as he did in the 90's.

James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968 in Long Island, New York), better known as LL Cool J (acronym for [[ChickMagnet Ladies Love Cool James]]) is an American rapper and actor. LL Cool J was born and raised in Queens, New York, the son of Ondrea (née Griffith) and James Smith. At the age of four, he saw his mother and grandfather shot by his own father. After they recovered from their injuries, his mother began to date a young physical therapist she met while in the hospital. The therapist treated Ondrea kindly, but for years he abused Todd physically and verbally, which resulted in Todd becoming a bully himself. It was during this period that he started wearing hats all the time (one of L.L. Cool J's trademarks is the fact that people never see him without a hat on--until recently). Fortunately, Ondrea finally discovered what this man was doing to her son and left him. He went to I.S.238 Susan B. Anthony Academy in Queens, New York (Hillside). He started rapping at the age of nine. In his youth, LL Cool J performed in the church choir, participated in the Boy Scouts, and delivered newspapers. At age 16, by using a mixing table purchased by his grandfather at Sears, Smith produced and created demos and sent them to various record companies, including Creator/DefJamRecordings.