LL Cool J says he paved the way for Drake and others [Video]

His stage name stands for Ladies Love Cool James and LL Cool J has remained a popular name for decades since he started his music career in the mid-80s.

Later expanding his career to include TV and film, LL Cool J is noted for countless hits including “Doin It”, “Hey Lover” and his 1987 song “I Need Love” which received backlash but created a sub hip hop genre.

“I wanted to creatively be able to do all kinds of music. When we did ‘I Need Love,’ it was a huge hit. But at the same time, it got a lot of backlash,” LL told Complex in a recent interview. “They didn’t understand, at that time, that hip hop could go there.”

He said he is, however, excited that the song opened doors for other artists like Drake to rap about love.

“I’m very grateful, very thankful and I’m glad that it created a genre,” he said. “I’m glad that now, years later, a Fabolous can go out and do his thing and still be very well-respected as a lyricist. A Jadakiss can do his love song and still be well-respected as a lyricist… I’m glad I was able to help it.”

“People compare me to Drake all the time, but we’re very different artists because I have a lot of hard records. I’m very diverse, but in that aspect of my career, it paved the way for guys like that…who I’m happy for. I like a lot of his music too.”

Check out the rest of LL’s interview below: