LL Cool J: turns up the heat and talks about love, marriage and why he gave up `the naked look' - Biography

Ebony, Jan, 2003 by Kevin Chappell

So instead of pumping himself up to be something he's not, the married father of four seems to find more enjoyment talking about more mundane things like his commitment to music, his dedication to his acting career, his devotion to his family, to his faith, and to his community. His commitment to music is obvious. His recently released 10th (and perhaps most successful) album not only soared to No. 1, but also made good on a promise he and other rap artists made at last year's hip-hop summit in New York City--to tone down explicit lyrics in favor of cleaner songs. His first in three years, the CD titled 10 has been praised by music critics for its melodic tracks and down-to-earth content.

He says he continues to love making music, and will continue to do it for "another 20 or 30 years as long as people accept what I'm doing and love it and enjoy it." He truly believes that age is only a number. He welcomes the wisdom that comes with getting older, but continues to look at life with the same naivete he did as a teenager. "I'm superserious in terms of my commitment. But in terms of having fun, I laugh and run around like I'm 15 or something," says LL Cool J, who believes he would have been a general in the military or a professional football player if not an entertainer. "Right now, I'm not even remotely interested in trying to be some type of older dude."

In addition to music, he has a lead role in the romantic comedy Deliver Us From Eva, which premieres this month, and is working on two other action films, Mind Hunters and S.W.A.T., both to hit the big semen this summer. He is also building his own stable of musical artists, having already signed a female rapper and a male R&B singer. He even has a children's book, And the Winner Is ..., which uses basketball analogies to build confidence in children.

It was the confidence his family built in him as a child growing up in the Jamaica section of Queens that made him believe he could do anything. He started rapping at age 9, and got his first DJ system from his grandfather when he was 11. By the time he was 16, he had signed a recording contract with upstart record company, Del Jam. "My mother and my grandmother knew how to talk to me," says LL Cool J, who says he witnessed violence and physical abuse throughout his early childhood. "They programmed in me from the beginning to be a winner. My grandfather has told me that I was a genius for as long as I can remember. Believe in myself. Believe that I can make it. Believe that I can do anything I put my mind to. My mother told me those things a lot when I was growing up. That's what I've been focused on my whole life."

And while it was those pep talks that molded his work ethic, it was the love his grandparents showed for each other that molded his beliefs about love and romance. "My grandfather was a hardworking man who came to the U.S. from Barbados," LL Cool J says. "He always told me to take care of my family. He took care great of my grandmother. They put each other on the pedestal. He would fix the car himself so that she would have a little extra money to buy some shoes. He would come in after work, and she would have food piled on the table as far as the eye could see. Taking care of each other. That's what it was all about. There were no issues, no jockeying for position. That's what I grew up watching."