That’s right! Big Elly is here to remind ya’ll that he’s paved the way for many of your favorite rappers.
We can’t argue with him on this one. Mr. Cool J recently spoke with Complex and reflected on how he was one of the first hardcore rappers to transition into making rap love songs.
“I’m very grateful, very thankful and I’m glad that it created a genre,” he recently told Complex. “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,” he said. “A Jadakiss can do his love song and still be well-respected as a lyricist.”
He went on with,
“I put that love [and] female [based] vibe in there that gives dudes, like, you know, these guys a lane,” he continued. “People compare me to Drake all the time, but we’re very different artists because I have a lot of hard records and 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.”
I mean, to be honest…there would be no “Best I Ever Had” or “Marvins Room” without “Hey Lover” or “I Need Love.”
Here’s a trip down memory lane of some of LL’s dopest rap love songs.