50 facts about rapper LL Cool J: has written four books

50 things about rapper and actor LL Cool J.

1. LL Cool J is short for Ladies Love Cool James.

2. LL Cool J is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor.

3. LL Cool J is known for pioneering hip-hop tracks such as "I Can't Live Without My Radio", "I'm Bad", "The Boomin' System", "Rock The Bells", and "Mama Said Knock You Out" as well as romantic ballads such as "Doin' It", "I Need Love", "Around the Way Girl", and "Hey Lover".

4. LL Cool J was born as James Todd Smith on January 14, 1968.

5. LL Cool J has released thirteen studio albums and two greatest hits compilations, including 2008's Exit 13, the last for his record deal with Def Jam Recordings.

6. LL Cool J has also appeared in numerous films, including Halloween H20: 20 Years Later.

7. LL Cool J is also well known as a serious bodybuilder.

8. LL Cool J currently stars in an action role as NCIS Special Agent Sam Hanna on the CBS crime drama television series NCIS: Los Angeles.

9. LL Cool J is the host of Lip Sync Battle on Spike.

10. LL Cool J was born in Bay Shore, New York, to James and Ondrea Smith.

11. In March 1984, when NYU student Rick Rubin and promoter-manager Russell Simmons founded the then-independent Def Jam label, 16 year-old Hollis, Queens native James Todd Smith was creating demo tapes in his grandparents' home.

12. His grandfather, a jazz saxophonist, purchased him $2,000 worth of equipment, including two turntables, an audio mixer and an amplifier. Smith later discussed his childhood background and rapping, stating that "By the time I got that equipment, I was already a rapper. In this neighborhood, the kids grow up in rap. It's like speaking Spanish if you grow up in an all-Spanish house. I got into it when I was about 9, and since then all I wanted was to make a record and hear it on the radio."

13. By using the mixer he had received from his grandfather, Smith produced and mixed his own demos and sent them to various record companies throughout New York City, including Simmons' and Rubin's own Def Jam Recordings.

14. Under his new stage name, LL Cool J Smith was signed by Def Jam, which led to the release of his first official record, the 12-inch single "I Need a Beat."

15. That same year, Smith made his professional debut concert performance at Manhattan Center High School.

16. LL Cool J's debut single sold over 100,000 copies and helped establish both Def Jam as a label and Smith as a rapper.

17. The commercial success of "I Need a Beat", along with the Beastie Boys's single "Rock Hard" (1984), helped lead Def Jam to a distribution deal with Columbia Records the following year.

18. LL Cool J's Radio was released to critical acclaim, both for production innovation and LL's powerful rap. Released November 18, 1985, on Def Jam Recordings in the United States, Radio earned a significant amount of commercial success and sales for a hip hop record at the time.

19. Shortly after its release, the album sold over 500,000 copies in its first five months, eventually selling over 1 million copies by 1988, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

20. By 1989, the album had earned platinum status from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), after earning a gold certification in the United States on April 14, 1986, with sales exceeding one million copies. "I Can't Live Without My Radio" and "Rock the Bells" were singles that helped the album go platinum. It eventually reached 1,500,000 in US sales.

21. With the breakthrough success of his hit single "I Need a Beat" and the Radio LP, LL Cool J became one of the first hip-hop acts to achieve mainstream success along with Kurtis Blow and Run-D.M.C.. Gigs at larger venues were offered to LL as he would join the 1986-'87 Raising Hell tour, opening for Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys.

22. Another milestone of LL's popularity was his appearance on American Bandstand as the first hip hop act on the show.

23. LL Cool J's second album was 1987's Bigger and Deffer, which was produced by DJ Pooh. This stands as his biggest-selling career album, having sold in excess of three million copies in the United States alone. It spent 11 weeks at #1 on Billboard‍ '​s R&B albums chart.

24. In 1990, LL released "Mama Said Knock You Out", his fourth studio album. The Marley Marl produced album received critical acclaim and eventually went double Platinum selling over two million copies according to the RIAA. LL won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1992 for the title track.

25. LL Cool J starred in In the House, an NBC sitcom.

26. LL Cool J's single "Hey Lover" featured Boyz II Men sampling Michael Jackson's "The Lady in My Life," which eventually became one of the first hip-hop music videos to air on VH1. The song also earned him a Grammy Award.

27. LL Cool J's 11th album, Todd Smith, was released on April 11, 2006. It includes collaborations with 112, Ginuwine, Juelz Santana, Teairra Mari and Freeway. The first single was the Jermaine Dupri-produced "Control Myself" featuring Jennifer Lopez. They shot the video for "Control Myself" on January 2, 2006 at Sony Studios, New York.

28. Def Jam Recordings is the only label he has ever been signed to.

29. LL Cool J toured with Janet Jackson on her Rock Witchu tour, only playing in Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, and Kansas City.

30. In September 2009, LL Cool J released a song about the NCIS TV series. It is a single and is available on iTunes. The new track is based on his experiences playing special agent Sam Hanna. "This song is the musical interpretation of what I felt after meeting with NCIS agents, experienced Marines and Navy SEALs," LL Cool J said. "It represents the collective energy in the room. I was so inspired I wrote the song on set.

31. In March 2011 at South by Southwest, LL Cool J was revealed to be Z-Trip's special guest at the Red Bull Thre3Style showcase. This marked the beginning of a creative collaboration between the rap and DJ superstars.

32. In January 2012, the pair released the track "Super Baller" as a free download to celebrate the New York Giants Super Bowl victory. The two have been touring together since 2011, with future dates planned through 2012 and beyond.

33. LL Cool J hosted the 55th Grammy Awards on February 10, 2013.

34. LL Cool J also hosted the 57th Grammys on February 9, 2015.

35. On October 16, 2013, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced LL Cool J as a nominee for inclusion in 2014.

36. LL Cool J appeared as a rapper in the movie Krush Groove performing "I Can't Live Without My Radio."

37. LL Cool J's first acting part was a small role in a high school football movie called Wildcats.

38. LL Cool J continued to pursue acting, landing the role of Captain Patrick Zevo in the 1992 film Toys in which he shared the silver screen with Robin Williams.

39. In 1995, he landed his own television sitcom, In the House. He starred as an ex-Oakland Raiders running back who finds himself in financial difficulties and is forced to rent part of his home out to a single mother and her two children.

40. LL Cool J In 1999's Deep Blue Sea, he played the wise-cracking cook on a top-secret sea base besieged by genetically enhanced sharks. He received rave reviews for his role as Dwayne Gittens, an underworld boss, nicknamed "God" in In Too Deep.

41. LL Cool J also appeared as Queen Latifah's love interest in the 2006 movie Last Holiday.

42. LL Cool J worked behind the scenes with the mid-1980s hip-hop sportswear line TROOP.

43. LL Cool J launched a clothing line (called "Todd Smith"). The brand produces popular urban apparel. Designs include influences from LL's lyrics and tattoos, as well as from other icons in the hip-hop community.

44. LL Cool J has written four books, including 1998's I Make My Own Rules, an autobiography cowritten with Karen Hunter.

45. His second book was the children-oriented book called And The Winner Is... published in 2002.

46. In 2006, LL Cool J and his personal trainer, Dave "Scooter" Honig, wrote a fitness book titled The Platinum Workout. His fourth book, LL Cool J (Hip-Hop Stars) was cowritten in 2007 with hip-hop historian Dustin Shekell and Public Enemy's Chuck D.

47. LL Cool J started his own businesses in the music industry such as the music label in 1993 called P.O.G. (Power Of God) and formed the company Rock The Bells to produce music.

48. LL Cool J founded and launched Boomdizzle.com, a record label / social networking site launched in September 2008. The website accepts music uploads from aspiring artists, primarily from the hip-hop genre, and the site's users rate songs through contests, voting, and other community events.

49. He also appeared in an introduction to Wrestlemania 31.

50. In 2002, LL Cool J supported Republican Governor of New York George Pataki's bid for a third term. In 2003, LL Cool J appeared before a senate committee hearing on P2P file-sharing, voicing his support alongside the RIAA, expressing that he just wished "music could be downloaded legitimately."