What’s the greatest honor that can be bestowed upon an artist in the world of pop music? For me, one answer comes to mind: becoming a legend. The reason behind this is that the title of legend remains a sincere measure of talent as it’s only to be given to the select few artists who have truly made great achievements and is not simply an overused publicity term. So what does it take to become legendary?

A number of things come to mind: wins in major categories at awards ceremonies, breaking chart records, putting out masterpieces that critics fawn over… Naturally, there’s never going to be any one condition to meet that everyone can agree on or side with. There is, however, one clear criterion that the vast majority of music fans are convinced by: entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In other words, it’s on par with receiving an official stamp that reads “legend.”

Founded in 1983, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has selected the most famous, influential artists in the pop music industry and kept a record of their achievements every year since its inception. Most artists are extremely honored to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Its original goal was to celebrate the birth and development of rock and roll and commemorate the achievements of those who furthered the genre’s cause, but it later expanded to include such genres as pop, jazz, R&B/soul and hip hop. Despite this, it took a long time for them to open the door to hip hop artists: It wasn’t until 2007—well over 20 years into the Hall of Fame’s life—that the first hip hop inductee would be seen. They started with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, later adding Run-DMC (in 2009), Beastie Boys (2012), Public Enemy (2013), N.W.A (2016), 2Pac (2017) and the Notorious B.I.G. (2020) as well.

And then, on October 30, 2021, another hip hop artist was inducted at the 36th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony held at the Rock Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio: LL Cool J (in full, Ladies Love Cool James), the most popular pop rap star in the days before Drake.

“LL’s body of work contains some of the most diverse hip hop has ever seen. He became rap’s first pop superstar while staying true to his roots representing Queens, New York,” Dr. Dre said in tribute to the artist at the ceremony, calling him “the rare artist beloved by you, your mama and all of your kids all at once!”

Not only did Dre accurately sum up why LL deserved to be inducted—he also gave justice to the hip hop artist’s musical philosophy. LL has released 13 albums to date and put out his first in 1985 when he was only 17. A string of four of his albums—Radio, Bigger and Deffer, Walking with a Panther and Mama Said Knock You Out—as well as Mr. Smith, which he put out during the golden age of hip hop in the 1990s, are still widely talked about to this day.

That’s especially true of Mama. The story leading up to its release is interesting as well. After releasing his third album, Walking, in 1989, he fell into a serious slump due to the rapid changes in the hip hop scene and some criticism he’d received from other rappers. Gangsta rappers began to appear in the late 1980s and overtook the hip hop industry in the ’90s, and they were aggressive toward rappers who weren’t “hardcore” and didn’t live up to their standards. LL, with all his universally well-received pop rap songs, was one of their targets. He was close with his grandmother and talked with her one day about his troubles, tired of what his life had become. Nobody believed in him more than his grandmother and she never doubted him for a second. When he told her how difficult it would be to make it between the rise of gangsta rap and all the ways they dissed him, she responded, “Oh baby, just knock them out!”

And that’s how Mama and its title track were born. LL took his grandmother’s advice and used the album to direct aggressive raps at those rappers who criticized him and it ultimately became a turning point for his career. And now, more than 30 years later, he’s consistently maintained his popularity.

Most pop rappers’ careers throughout hip hop history were very short-lived until the 2010s. On top of that, only a very few of them have successfully nurtured both a pop and hardcore rapper image at the same time. That’s exactly why LL is, in Dre’s words, a “rare” artist. In addition to Dre, LL was also congratulated on stage at the Hall of Fame ceremony by Eminem and Jennifer Lopez. Eminem performed “Rock the Bells,” one of LL’s most famous songs, with the artist, while Lopez and LL performed their 2002 collaborative track “All I Have” together. It was a performance worthy of LL himself. Here’s to LL Cool J—a new entrant to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a true legend.

TRIVIA

In “Mama Said Knock You Out,” one of the songs mentioned above, LL Cool J disses Kool Moe Dee. A pioneer of hip hop, Kool Moe Dee was the one to start the feud with LL, in his song “How Ya Like Me Now.” He said it was because LL ripped off his rap style and had no respect for the pioneers of the genre. After that, LL launched a counterattack, and a fierce battle raged back and forth between them; “Knock You Out” was the second song LL put out to counter Kool Moe Dee’s disses. Their feud didn’t come to an end until 1993.