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LL Cool J

(b. 1968) Before he became one of Rap’s first major stars and the force behind seven platinum records, James Todd Smith was a 16-year-old making demo tapes in his grandparents’ home in St. Albans, Queens, New York City, and sending them to everyone he knew. One of the recipients was producer Rick Rubin, then a student at New York University and co-founder, with promoter Russell Simmons, of the fledgling Def Jam label. The result was 1984’s “I Need A Beat,” Def Jam’s first 12-inch single and the debut of the teenaged Smith, who christened himself LL Cool J (short for...