LL Cool J ruffled more than a few feathers when he revealed his Def Jam Mount Rushmore a couple of weeks ago. Moreover, the big reasons as to why relate to his exclusion of Jay-Z and DMX from that list, which many fans disagreed with. For the record, the New York rap legend picked himself, Public Enemy, Slick Rick, and the Beastie Boys as the four artists that define the record label in his view. After some backlash to this decision, he recently elaborated on his thought process on The Joe Budden Podcast and revealed why he gave the edge to those artists despite his love of Hov and X.
“We’re facing stuff that kept the lights on at certain periods of time,” LL Cool J’s comments began. “I know DMX is supremely talented, used to kill the stage, sold a ton of records. I know Jay did a ton of stuff up there. So many others, I can name a zillion artists up there who did unbelievable s**t. I’m very clear about that. But I also know that, when I walked into Rick Rubin’s dormitory, it was a f***ing idea, bro. Like, you’re trying to talk to me about guys that are popular. I watched this s**t when it was a f***ing idea on a Post-It. You know what I mean? It’s two different conversations. The world is talking about who was the most popular. That’s all they care about. Who was the most popular, who was the richest, who sold the most records, who was exciting?
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LL Cool J On The Joe Budden Podcast
“I get that, and I respect it. I love it,” LL Cool J continued. “But that’s not what built the company. That’s what expanded the company at a different point. Look at our Mount Rushmore! Of the f***ing country. They talk about Mount Rushmore, but then they want me to put Bush on there. Who’s on there? The bones of the country, not who came later. And so people ask this question and then when you answer the question accurately, they want to say, ‘Oh, no, no. Well, Obama was considerably more impressive than this one.’ And of course I love Obama, you know what I’m saying? But the country, the Def Jam, the label was built by a key group of people. Like, this is the Mount Rushmore. You didn’t ask me who were the most commercially successful artists on the label. ‘Cause that’s an obvious answer.”
“Well, I respect the popularity,” LL Cool J responded to Joe Budden’s comparison to Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s battle. “Listen, no one can respect popularity more than me, bro. I had ten platinum albums in a row, I’m in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I got Grammys, 11 nominations. Like, I understand popularity in and out. I got TV shows in 200 countries in the world. It’s a 5 billion dollar franchise! It’s not that. The question was, ‘What is the Mount Rushmore of Def Jam?’ That is about the architects and the boons of the label. By the way, I actually respect these artists that came after on Def Jam. I’m not that guy. Listen, I introduced DMX to the world. You think I don’t love DMX? I put him on my song to introduce him to the f***ing world. I put the guy on!”
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