Why is LL never mentioned in "Top/DoA" lists?

http://youtu.be/KSurzeGvPrQ

texasdaking88 wrote: »

jono wrote: »

Just overlooked. His peak was before most people's time. ? think all he did was make girl records...sheer ignorance.

That might be part of it but i think its cuz there was no particular time period he dominated.. im not talkin bout sales or even legacy but i mean as far as the top lyricist out..im young so maybe ? back then thought so but i can go back and listen to krs one and rakim and those guys and he aint touching them imo..he can hold his own but he just aint on that top tier level to me

Well, I'm 40 years old. I was in 7th grade when his first LP came out and it was a bonafide classic before The Source was around rating albums. Until that point (late 85/early 86)there weren't many solo rappers with full length LPs and he was definately the best, number one solo rapper, in part because he didn't have much competition. Other rappers were releasing a 12" single and then maybe 6 months later they'd drop another 12" single.

His second LP, Bigger and Deffer, came out in the summer of 87. That was the summer in between 8th and 9th grade for me. There was alot of hype. He had a video for his lead single "I'm Bad" which was uncommon for a rapper at that point in time. BET had a show called Video Soul which played mostly R+B and another show called Video Vibrations that played more rap, although there weren't many rap videos. MTV didn't have a rap show at that point although they did play "Walk This Way". LL's second LP was clearly and unquestionably the hottest thing out in the first part of the summer. He also had a video for the second single "I Need Love" which came out mid-summer 1987.

Later that summer Eric B and Rakim dropped Paid in Full and Boogie Down Productions released Criminal Minded. I clearly remember LL's album coming out first.

Personally, between the 3 albums I thought Criminal Minded was the best but that was my opinion. My older brother thought Rakim was the best MC of the three. I liked KRS One but they were all about even at the time. But the undisputable fact was that LL Cool J was on Def Jam and was getting better marketing and promotion than Eric B and Rakim and BDP. And the girls liked LL Cool J the best.

In late 87/early 88, six months after the album, he released a single with "Going Back to Cali" (on the Less than Zero Soundtrack )on the A-side and "Jack The Ripper" on the flip which was a response to Kool Moe Dee. That was probably the peak of LL's career IMO.

So there was a time when LL Cool J was the "best rapper alive". Between his first and second albums there wasn't anybody on his level. He was on the same level as Run DMC, but they were a group and he was solo. Eventually guys like Rakim, KRS, Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane came in and gave him some competition but eventually their popularity dwindled while LL remained a star well into the late 90s when he had his beef with Canibus. He had his own TV show.

He released a few more albums after that. People my age respect him and consider him to be one of the GOATS. His music is like the soundtrack of a generation. There's certain songs that everybody my age knows the words to that teenagers don't know and vice versa. I'm sure there's songs by Drake or Lil Wayne that everybody in the 13-23 age range knows but people my age don't know.