Tupac Shakur is going to be enshrined in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017. Congrats to him. He should not be going in there before LL Cool J though.
The criteria to enter the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is that an artist obviously have an impact on the musical genre that they worked in. But more specifically, an artist becomes eligible 25 years after they’ve released their first record.
As far as Hip-Hop is concerned, we only have six inductees. Run-DMC, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, NWA and now Tupac.
LL Cool J has been releasing music since 1985. He’s released more music than any of the artists named above. He actually has more memorable hit songs than any of the artists above. Why is he not in there yet? More specifically, why is Tupac going in before him? If Tupac is known for “rapping for the women” as he once said, who was doing it before him? Every other image of ‘Pac is a shirtless one, who was doing that before him?
Earlier this year, Chuck D himself, who was enshrined in 2013 with PE, brought this oversight to light.
He is absolutely right. Really, LL probably should’ve been going in there before both PE and NWA.
Here are some reasons why LL should be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before Tupac.
Photo: AP
photo: Def Jam/Instagram
1.) He IS Def Jam
Def Jam Records is the most storied rap label in Hip-Hop history. The label has been home to iconic Hip-Hop acts like Public Enemy and EPMD, superstar rappers including Jay Z, Kanye West and DMX, 90s era champs Redman and Method Man and new stars like 2 Chainz, Rick Ross and Big Sean. Their 30-plus years of success would not have been possible without LL Cool J. LL emerged as the first big star on the label, setting the bar for what a global rap superstar really was. His debut album Radio contains timeless classics like “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” and “Rock The Bells.” From 1983 to 2008, LL released 12 albums on the label, all but one either going gold or platinum.
2.) He Survived Multiple Eras
When LL came on the scene in the early 80s, many rappers and fans before him as a young punk that didn’t respect his elders. He was pretty much looked at the way people look at Lil Yachty now. He battled the most feared rapper at the time, Kool Moe Dee and won, essentially ushering in the first “new school” era in Hip-Hop. From there he became a star and icon in the 1980s delivering everything from anti-drug PSA disguised as music videos to the first Hip-Hop love ballad. But LL’s most significant wins came when he was expected to lose. LL was perhaps the only rapper from his era to survive through 1990s decade where Gangsta, underground and pop rap took turns dominating. His 1993 album 14 Shots To The Dome attempted to keep up with the Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre’s of the world. It failed but still had a couple joints on there. His 1995 album Mr. Smith came as East Coast Hip-Hop was making a resurgence thanks to Biggie and Nas. It gave us vintage “ladies love” anthems like “Hey Lover” and “Doin’ It” but it also had hard tracks like “I Shot Ya,” especially the remix with Fat Joe, Keith Murray and Foxy Brown. Then he ended the decade dropping Phenomenon, teaming up with Diddy and the Hitmen who were running rap at the time.
LL is a survivor.
3. He Won His [Rap] Battles
Hate to sound morbid, and please don’t read this as disrespect. But, when it comes to battling, LL has obviously fared better than Pac. LL took out his opponents one by one ranging from Kool Moe Dee to Canibus to even g*tdamn Jamie Foxx. What counts most is that he actually won these battles by a landslide and actually survived to see another day. 2Pac’s battles against Biggie, Nas, Jay ZÂ and whoever else wanted to stick their nose in it were more personal than lyrical and wound up setting off a cultural catastrophe that ultimately ended both he and Biggie’s life.
4. He Has More Hits
Yes, Tupac’s legendary work ethic is still producing songs that we’ve never heard 20 years removed from his death. But when it comes to actual hits, not many are seeing LL on this front. LL alone has 10 singles that have gone either Gold or Platinum. In case you forgot, this is the man that gave us “Rock The Bells,” “I’m Bad,” “Going Back To Cali,” “I Need Love” within a two-year span. Do you not dance every time you hear “Jinglin Baby” or “Around The Way Girl?” Does your blood not pump whenever “Mama Said Knock You Out” comes on. To quote Martin Lawrence’s character in Bad Boys, “I’m running out of fingers, I’m all out.”
5. He Is A More Prolific Actor
Much of Tupac’s legacy is credited to the “what if” factor. That’s not his fault. But still, even if we are talking about contributions to film, LL trumps him there too. Hell, technically, we were all introduced to LL as an actor before we even knew him as a rapper. He made his first national appearance by playing himself in Krush Groove before he released his first album. People like to credit Ice Cube and Ice-T as being the rappers who broke down the barrier for rappers to enter Hollywood, but let’s not act like LL hasn’t been doing his thing for just as long. Ice-T appeared in the Breakin’ and Rappin’ movies in the early 80s, but his big break came in New Jack City in 1991. Fun fact, LL Cool J made his movie debut in a comedy called The Hard Way that year too. Actually, both of the movies came out on the same day. Since then, we’ve seen LLÂ do similar work to T portraying everything from a cop to a drug dealer as well as a football player and regular working man. The guy has range. On top of all of that, he’s become one of the more prolific film and music awards show hosts over the years.
That said, it’s about time that LL stop being asked to present legends with awards and be given one himself.
