LL Cool J admits he 'had no idea' his invention would become one of the most-used phrases of all time
You may have heard of this catchy phrase, but its inventor LL Cool J was totally unaware of the impact he’d have decades later.
The New York rapper has had a crazy career, from music to film and TV, but what the younger generation might recognize him for the most is his infamous term.
Having began his career over 40 years ago at 16, he’s been around long enough to know that he’s been influential in pop culture. However, little did he know just how much he’d influence slang in the years following.
LL Cool J - real name James Todd Smith - is now fully in the promotional tour for his first album in over 11 years, and he spoke to Metro about his career and his legacy.
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The most memorable thing he’s created has got to have been his track which was released in 2000.
The song features lyrics like: "Like ecstasy, my crew's next to me/ It's my destiny, to make history I'm the emperor, Rap King/ From the streets of Paris, up north to Sing-Sing.
"One question: Do I do my thing thing? (Hell Yeah)/ Then putcha L's in the air, for the Greatest Rapper All Time."
It’s easy to see why it became so popular at that time, but it became even more popular when the youths took his ‘Greatest of all Time’ chorus and title and began to use it outside of the music world.
Now, if you’ve not heard the word ‘The G.O.A.T’, you’re living under a rock.
Since he released his song, the rapper has amassed cult following because of the term, which people use to describe an ultimate icon.
Usually, it has been used to describe athletes, entertainers and other talented people in various industries - think Simone Biles of Team USA, who is considered the G.O.A.T in gymnastics, or Beyoncé for being one of the G.O.A.Ts in the music industry.
But LL who coined the term didn’t expect the popularity.
He said: “There’s no question I came up with that!”
He explained that he got his inspiration for the G.O.A.T. term and acronym from ‘smashing together’ Muhammad Ali’s famous ‘I am the greatest’ quote as well as the nickname given to Earl ‘the Goat’ Manigault.
LL then went on to use the term on his eighth studio album, G.O.A.T. which featured James T. Smith: The Greatest of All Time.
He said: “It’s pretty wild that it turned out how it did. I had no idea it was gonna become a worldwide phrase and statement.”
He shared that he wished he’d trademarked the phrase, but because it’s far too late for that, he now wants to use it as inspiration for his next project.
“To be able to touch the world through my art like that is pretty dope. What it says to me is that I can do more creatively. It says to me, if I’m capable of creating terminology for the entire globe, I can do some big things.”
There’s no question that if he can do something similar to what he did with the G.O.A.T, he can do anything.
His new album, The FORCE, is out now via Def Jam Recordings.
Britt Jones