LL Cool J soon led to an increase in multi-racial audiences and listeners, adding to the legacy of the album and hip hop as well. In 2017, LL Cool J became the first rapper to receive Kennedy Center Honors. LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American hip hop recording artist, record producer, actor, author and entrepreneur from Queens, New York. He is known for such hip hop hits as "Going Back to Cali", "I'm Bad", "The Boomin' System", "Rock the Bells" and "Mama Said Knock
Maestro (rapper) with the support of the National Film Board of Canada, aimed at stronger industry recognition of Canadian hip hop pioneers Wes 'Maestro' Williams and Michelle 'Michie Mee' McCullock. Studio albums EPs Compilations Maestro (rapper) Wesley Williams (born March 31, 1968), better known as Maestro or Maestro Fresh-Wes, is a Canadian rapper, record producer, and actor. One of the early Canadian rappers, he has been credited by "Exclaim!" as the "Godfather of Canadian hip hop". Williams was born in Toronto, Ontario. He studied law and political science at Ottawa's Carleton University in the mid-1980s. In 1989 Maestro released his first album,