LL Cool J Awarded at the 34th and the 39th Annual GRAMMY Awards
Article
LL Cool J was awarded "Best Rap Solo Performance" in 1997 for "Hey Lover" from the album Mr. Smith, and he was awarded in 1992 for "Best Rap Solo Performance" for "Mama Said Knock You Out." In his lyrics, LL Cool J promotes rappers who push black identity, who recruit for black extremist groups, who issue forth theories of racial Armageddon, who call for revolution, or who call on black gangbangers to murder whites.
On his 1987 album, he says that he is "mad" and he is "black" (".357--Break It on Down") and that he "snob[s] the rich and shake[s] hand with the poor ("Go Cut Creator Go"). On the 1989 album, he says that he will rap for listeners until the years 1999 and 2000, setting up the dates as deadlines, but not mentioning Armageddon. ("Droppin Em" and "Clap Your Hands.") He uses Nation of Islam terms when he calls himself "Asiatic" ("1-900 LL Cool J") and the "Asiatic miracle man" ("Jingling Baby"). (Blacks referring to themselves as Asiatics goes as far back as 1913 at least when it was done by members of Noble Drew Ali's Moorish Science Temple.) He tells everyone that he builds up a rap "empire like a Africa king." ("It Gets No Rougher.") He asks listeners to contribute money to help "the starving boys and girls [who] ain't eating" and in order to "stop the killing." Listeners should "just trust through us," his rap group, because the music is "God talk." There are "just so many of us" listeners or "party people," as LL Cool J addresses them, that "we're just too strong [and] can't nothing stop the movement." Conditions are dire for his listeners, according to him, because LL Cool J says that "party people" must change their ways, "keep fighting," and "struggle" or else they will "never see brighter days" or "stay alive." ("Change Your Ways.") In the liner notes he expresses a hope that his work will help break "stereotypes placed on young black men in America" and that one day "cops [will stop] harassing them simply because they are driving a nice car." He proudly states that he is "young, black, and legal."
On his 1990 album, he says that the end of the world is near as outlined in the Bible. "The babies," we are told, are "harmless and innocent until they're taught to be violent and militant; this mentality has got to be erased by faith." LL Cool J says that "it ain't about being black or white" and that "the devil got hit hard" by his music. The track ends with the following: "a word to the wise: 'uprise'; because we definitely got to unify, and we need unity in times like these; we got to stick together because we as a people, all people, got to make it to the promised land." ("The Power of God.") He doubts the genuineness of rappers who claim to "preach about blackness" and who "all of a sudden" claim to be "so proud of black." ("Murdergram.") He says "what's up" to Afrika Bambaataa, Zulu Nation, and the rap group EPMD. In 1991, LL Cool J joined other rappers on a project called H.E.A.L., and they put out an album called Civilization vs. Technology.
On his 1993 album, called 14 Shots to the Dome, he promotes Ice Cube, Public Enemy, Heavy D, Big Daddy Kane, A Tribe Called Quest, Flavor Unit, Ice-T, Brand Nubian, Boogie Down Productions, Salt-N-Pepa, Kid Capri, NWA, Naughty by Nature, Run DMC, and Grandmaster Flash. (Track 5.) He dedicates a track to all of the "underage brothers with the rebel mentality." He shouts affiliation to blacks who are in prison: "peace to all my brothers on Rikers Island." Women love the bad boys, he says, and "some brothers got weapons." The "feds" cannot stop him. He uses Nation of Islam terminology when he describes his rap style as "Asiatic automatic." ("A Little Somethin.") He says that cops harass and illegally search him. ("Funkadelic Relic.") He dedicates track 10 to the "gangstas," and he goes on to describe a sexual rendezvous between a woman and a "gangsta." ("Back Seat.") He makes the following points: blacks should not hurt blacks; drugs and crime are endemic in black communities; young blacks are not educated but have "NFL dreams"; politicians deny that segregation still exists; homelessness is prevalent; "treachery and evil" are commonplace in black communities; there are "many poisonous chemicals in food"; young blacks have guns; and there is a lot of paranoia among blacks. Blacks, he says, must "rise up before it's too late." ("Diggy Down.") On the final track, LL Cool J gives a detailed description of Armageddon, and he talks about "getting ready for battle." Near the end of the battle he says the following: "a fight at the cross and our God is with it." ("Crossroads.") He lifts some of the ultimate responsibility off of the backs of black men. He says that "CNN [is] playing tricks on [his] mind." He uses the word "they" on the track to refer to whites. "They" want black men to do menial labor, we hear. "They" will not give black men jobs. When a "token black" is needed to fill a job, whites "hire black women." Black men have their pride hurt when they cannot get jobs and when they are "seeing black women and white men go to work." As a consequence, LL Cool J says that he identifies first with the "Red-Black-and-Green," a flag symbolizing Negroes in the Americas and their African roots, and secondly with the "Red-White-and-Blue." "They ain't destroying this black man," he says. He says the following: "who brings drugs into the USA, and then makes sure that they come around this way . . . until our whole race drops; and teaching my woman that she should call up the cops." ("All We Got Left Is the Beat.")
On his 1995 album, he promotes many black rappers and rap groups including Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Paris, Chuck D, Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, Mobb Deep, Lost Boyz, Snoop Doggy Dog, Dr Dre, NWA, Eazy-E, Nas Escobar, Wu-Tang Clan, Keith Murray, Redman, Down South the Bratt, Craig Mack, Notorious B.I.G., Queen Latifah, Heavy D, and Naughty by Nature. About their music he says the following: "it's just a love affair that never ended; I recommend it. . . . this one goes out to all the hip-hop do-or-die'ers; a song that's dedicated to all the music I admire." When praising Chuck D and Public Enemy, LL Cool J plainly says that it's good for rap music to terrorize whites, and the following shows how: "I can reminisce the black fist; Uzi terminators, '[Welcome to the] Terrordome' techniques that would terrorize the lighter shader; it's all about the game we play everyday." He follows up with a warning of doom: "let's celebrate our music here before it's too late." Violently racist black rappers fret over seeing hip-hop culture being taken over by blacks or non-blacks who do not put out the "truth," and LL Cool J conforms with the following: "take it to another level. . . . it's our music. . . . we own this music." ("Hip Hop.") On all of his albums he follows the standard hip-hop formula when he uses all kinds of violent imagery to threaten rival rappers, and in one threat he says that he will burn rivals "like a cracker do a cross." ("No Airplay.") In the pamphlets inserted into the CD's, LL Cool J thanks some guys for being "soldiers from the heart," and also he thanks Keith Murray, Prodigy of Mobb Deep, Nas, Raekwon, AZ, Method Man, Redman, Ghostface Killah, Dr Dre, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, and Boyz II Men.
On his 1997 album, he makes a positive reference to Wu-Tang Clan ("Hot Hot Hot"), and Wu-Tang Clan rapper, Method Man, another GRAMMY winner, who connects to much vicious racism in rap music, joins in on a track, along with Redman and Canibus ("4-3-2-1"). In the CD pamphlets, he thanks artists who helped him make the album, and some of them are Sean "Puffy" Combs (who was an executive producer for it), Lost Boyz, Busta Rhymes, Canibus, Redman, Method Man, and Jermaine Dupri. He gives "SPECIAL THANKS" to MTV's Rock the Vote, NAACP, MTV, President Clinton, "all urban radio stations across the country," Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Zulu Nation, Afrika Bambaataa, Kool Herc, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Sugarhill Gang, Dr Dre, and "all the underground leaders and mixtape masters." He sends out "Rest in Peace" to Notorious BIG, Tupac Shakur, and Dr Betty Shabazz.
References
Bigger and Deffer, LL Cool J, 1987, Def Jam Recordings.
Walking Like a Panther, LL Cool J, 1989, Def Jam Recordings, PolyGram Group.
Mama Said Knock You Out, LL Cool J, 1990, Columbia Records, CBS Records.
14 Shots to the Dome, LL Cool J, 1993, Def Jam Recordings, Columbia, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony.
Mr Smith, LL Cool J, 1995, Def Jam Records, PolyGram Goup, Philips' Electronics. In 1998, PolyGram merged with Universal Music Group, the parent being The Seagram Company.
Phenomenon, LL Cool J, 1997, Def Jam Recordings, PolyGram Group, Philips' Electronics.
Posted at http://home.att.net/~phosphor on June 30, 1999.
The above article is not a complete summary of LL Cool J's connections to violently racist music, and readers may want to research and expose more of it.
Go back to list of artists awarded GRAMMY's.
Go to homepage.