50 Cent once picked hip-hop’s GOAT of love songs
Hip-hop has always been an aggressive, brash and loud art form. With raw emotion, high energy and often political messages, rappers are frequently perceived as glorifiers of violence. However, over the years, the genre has had its fair share of lotharios, and 50 Cent once named who he thinks is the greatest of all time.
Although the music industry, in an insidious way, seems to push the most damaging and self-destructive music to the forefront, there are plenty of hip-hop songs that explore more positive topics, one of those being love. Love has always been focused on in music, whether it’s pop, rock or country music; hip-hop too, has its fair share of songs dedicated to love.
Hip-hop’s most prominent lover man over the years has been LL Cool J. With a hefty catalogue of heartfelt songs and many racy music videos, it’s undeniable that the Queens artist managed to woo many women with his smooth talk over the years.
However, he is not rap’s only casanova. Drake has built his brand on his ability to create music that appeals to men and women. Despite it being labelled “simp music” by T-Pain last year, the Toronto native has broken records as a result of his ability to evoke emotion.
Over the years, many different rappers have been asked to name who they believe is the number-one lover man rapper. Brooklyn emcee Fabulous told MTV News, “Number one has to be LL, ‘I Need Love’ — that’s first and foremost. That was one of the first heartfelt rap songs, and he captured it.” It’s hard to argue with the assertion, LL Cool J has pushed himself forward as hip-hop’s ultimate loverboy before Drake had even had his first pimple.
50 Cent also agreed that LL Cool J is the GOAT smooth rapper, “I think his career is what it is based on that. The entire career, ‘Ladies Love Cool James,’ you gotta give him that. How many records he made with [that] phrase in it?”
Juelz Santana spoke about a love song he likes and according to the Dipset rapper, the honour goes to Method Man and Mary J. Blige for their 1995 ‘I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need to Get By’. Speaking about the song, the Harlem native stated, “It captured everything. It captured the love, but it captured the hood.”
You can listen to LL Cool J’s ‘I Need Love’ in the video below.