LL COOL J Claims He’s “The Most Important Rapper That Ever Existed”

GOAT conversations are among the most important components of the lifeblood of hip-hop, and they trace back to one of the culture’s most impactful and pioneering careers. LL COOL J recently hopped on Apple Music’s Le Code to argue why he’s the most important rapper in the genre’s history, although his thoughts on the actual GOAT conversation may surprise you.

“I’ma say this humbly, but I really mean this,” he began. “I think one day people are going to wake up and realize that LL COOL J is the most important rapper that ever existed. I truly believe one day people are going to say that. […] They’re gonna say when it comes to Fubu, ‘Yo, this guy introduced the whole idea of putting clothing lines. Even before that, he did Troop.’ When it comes to endorsements, ‘Oh, this is the guy who did Kangol and made the Kangol popular before people even did that.’ When they talk about television, they gon’ say, ‘Oh, this is the guy who did incredible stuff on TV and at the same time was still making incredible records.’ It wasn’t just doing TV and using rap as a launch pad. When it comes to business… I could go on and on and on and on.”

However, LL COOL J made the distinction between the most important rapper of all time, which he identifies himself as, and “the GOAT” or greatest of all time, which he finds to be more subjective. “Because there’s still a kid that the 2Pac album is the most important album to them,” he argued. “There’s still a kid that thinks Snoop made the records that changed their life. There’s still a kid that loves Biggie or loves Nas for their music and they should and have the right to do that. Do I call myself GOAT on the record? Of course, yes. I will say a lot of things on a record. But outside of being on the mic as an MC, there are too many rappers who have done too many important things for me to try to claim that I’m the one.”

Overall, it’s a more nuanced point of view from THE FORCE lyricist than a headline might suggest. While you can make the argument as to who changed hip-hop the most from their inception to the establishment of their legend status, LL COOL J certainly makes a strong case for himself.