LL Cool J reveals the white singer who caused “pandemonium” with Black kids
Queens icon LL Cool J is an esteemed actor and musician who has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for his musical excellence. He is a respected individual and had one of the earliest rags-to-riches stories in rap.
Although pioneers such as Grandmaster Flash and DJ Cool Herc never got the flashy clothes, the Grammys and the media exposure, they are still recognised as geniuses. However, LL Cool J in the 1980s changed hip-hop’s commercial viability and showed how much money it could make young Black kids.
Despite his status as a wealthy rap legend, LL Cool J still arose from the hardships of Queens. He was always in touch with the feeling of the hood and had his finger on the pulse.
That said, LL Cool J was completely thrown off by the hood’s reaction to one famous white vocalist on one occasion. In 1987, before the release of Bigger & Defer, the ‘Rock The Bells’ rhymer once sat down with folk-rock legend Paul Simon for an interview with the New York Times. However, before long, they began to become close friends.
During an interview, he once reminisced about hanging out with Paul Simon of Art Garfunkel in his Grandmother’s basement in Queens, playing each other’s unreleased music and reflected, “We were doing some kind of interview, and [Simon] just wanted to come by. I remember we went to a high school or junior high school. And I remember saying, ‘I’m not sure they’re gonna know who Paul is.'”
LL Cool J went to a primarily Black school, and many of the high schools in the area were not diverse. That said, the ‘Hush’ rapper was in for a big shock when he put himself and Simon in front of some of the local kids.
During a conversation with TV icon Jimmy Kimmel, LL Cool J recalled, “These are Black kids! Yo, I was blown away that all these little Black kids knew Paul Simon. It was shocking!” He then asked Kimmel, “You gonna sit there and tell me you think Paul Simon is known in the hood? Would you think that?” Kimmel responded, “No, I would not think that. Art Garfunkel, on the other hand, huge. He’s got ‘funk’ right there in his name.”
After the school photo-op when they appeared on stage together at a 425-seat community performing arts centre for the Black Spectrum Theatre Company, LL Cool J spoke about Simon’s 1986 album, Graceland, stating, ”He has a new album he put together with some brothers from South Africa who are going through some serious changes and are unable to sit down together the way we are tonight. You should check it out!”
That said, like many figures in hip-hop during the 1980s, such as the Beastie Boys and Rick Rubin, Paul Simon was a rock-focused artist who loved hip-hop. In the music video for ‘Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard’, rap music legend Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie made cameos as well as the iconic East Coast producer Large Professor.