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
Common (rapper) Common (rapper) Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn (born March 13, 1972), better known by his stage name Common (formerly Common Sense), is an American rapper and actor. Common debuted in 1992 with the album "Can I Borrow a Dollar?" and maintained an underground following into the late 1990s, after which he gained mainstream success through his work with the Soulquarians. Common's first major-label album "Like Water for Chocolate" (2000) received commercial success. In 2003, he won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for the Erykah Badu single "Love of My Life". His 2005 album "Be" was also a