• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
LL Cool J admits he 'had no idea' his invention would become one of the most-used phrases of all time

Home> Music> News

Updated 15:24 31 Oct 2024 GMTPublished 15:37 30 Oct 2024 GMT

LL Cool J admits he 'had no idea' his invention would become one of the most-used phrases of all time

The rapper coined the term back in 2000

Britt Jones

Britt Jones

Featured Image Credit: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images/Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for MTV/Paramount Global

Topics: Rap, Music, US News, Nostalgia

Britt Jones
Britt Jones

Advert

Advert

Advert

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.

Advert

LL Cool J came up with one of the most quoted phrases of the century (Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
LL Cool J came up with one of the most quoted phrases of the century (Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

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."

Advert

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.

LL Cool J has been in the music industry for decades (VEVO)
LL Cool J has been in the music industry for decades (VEVO)

Since he released his song, the rapper has amassed cult following because of the term, which people use to describe an ultimate icon.

Advert

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.

Advert

Team USA gymnast Simone Biles, a perfect example of a G.O.A.T (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Team USA gymnast Simone Biles, a perfect example of a G.O.A.T (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

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.

Advert

“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.

Choose your content:

8 days ago
9 days ago
12 days ago
13 days ago
  • 8 days ago

    Rock star's family devastated with common symptom leading him to ER after being diagnosed with 'aggressive' cancer

    Junkyard's David Roach has revealed that he has been diagnosed with the deadly disease after more than three decades singing for the band

    Music
  • 9 days ago

    Beyoncé fans left terrified as she halts concert after major malfunction leaves her 'dangling' from car mid-air

    The singer called out 'stop' during the incident in Houston, Texas

    Music
  • 12 days ago

    People shocked after learning disturbing detail X-ray can see after nurse analyzes Lorde’s album cover

    People were surprised when the nurse pointed out the hidden detail

    Music
  • 13 days ago

    Lorde leaves fans stunned with NSFW picture of private parts in new vinyl

    The singer's latest album, Virgin, is set to be released on June 27

    Music
  • Amazon's bestselling Ninja Air Fryer now almost half price in flash sale
  • Twitch star who had missing 17-year-old boy appear on his live stream had no idea until he received an important email
  • Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl admits he cheated on his wife and had a secret baby
  • Tragic story of 'World's most arrested man' who had been cuffed more than 1,300 times