Editing LL Cool J (section)

==Influence and honors==
''Radio''{{'}}s release coincided with the growing [[new school hip hop|new school]] scene and [[subculture]], which also marked the beginning of [[Golden age of hip hop|hip-hop's "golden age"]] and the replacement of [[old school hip hop]].<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/345049/LL-Cool-J |title=Encyclopedia – Britannica Online Encyclopedia ... Def Jam, LL, & new school hip hop |publisher=2008 Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=June 24, 2008}}</ref> This period of hip hop was marked by the end of the [[Hip hop music#Influence of disco|disco rap]] stylings of old school, which had flourished prior to the mid-1980s, and the rise of a new style featuring "[[Ghettoblaster|ghetto blasters]]". ''Radio'' served as one of the earliest records, along with Run-D.M.C.'s [[Run-D.M.C. (album)|debut album]], to combine the vocal approach of hip hop and rapping with the musical arrangements and riffing sound of [[rock music]], pioneering the [[rap rock]] hybrid sound.<ref name="yahoo">[http://ca.music.yahoo.com/read/review/12039423 Yahoo! Music: Radio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717003047/http://ca.music.yahoo.com/read/review/12039423 |date=July 17, 2011 }}. Yahoo! Inc. Retrieved on November 16, 2008.</ref>

The emerging new-school scene was initially characterized by [[drum machine]]-led minimalism, often tinged with elements of rock, as well as boasts about rapping delivered in an aggressive, self-assertive style. In image as in song, the artists projected a tough, cool, street b-boy attitude. These elements contrasted sharply with the 1970s [[P-Funk]] and [[disco]]-influenced outfits, live bands, synthesizers and party rhymes of acts prevalent in 1984, rendering them old school.<ref>Toop (2000), p. 126.</ref> In contrast to the lengthy, [[Jam (music)|jam]]-like form predominant throughout early hip hop ("[[King Tim III]]", "[[Rapper's Delight]]", "[[The Breaks (song)|The Breaks]]"), new-school artists tended to compose shorter songs that would be more accessible and had potential for [[radio play]], and conceived more cohesive LPs than their old-school counterparts; the style typified by LL Cool J's ''Radio''.<ref>Shapiro (2005), p. 228.</ref> A leading example of the new school sound is the song "I Can't Live Without My Radio", a loud, defiant declaration of public loyalty to his boom box, which ''[[The New York Times]]'' described as "quintessential rap in its directness, immediacy and assertion of self".<ref name=holden/> It was featured in the film ''[[Krush Groove]]'' (1985), which was based on the rise of Def Jam and new school acts such as Run-D.M.C. and the [[Fat Boys]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.casenet.com/people/llcoolj.htm|title=CaseNet.com – LL Cool J|publisher=CaseNet|access-date=June 24, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071121204648/http://www.casenet.com/people/llcoolj.htm |archive-date = November 21, 2007}}</ref>

The energy and [[Hardcore hip hop|hardcore]] [[Flow (music)|delivery]] and musical style of rapping featured on ''Radio'', as well as other new-school recordings by artists such as Run-D.M.C., [[Schoolly D]], [[T La Rock]] and [[Steady B]], proved to be influential to hip-hop acts of the "golden age" such as [[Boogie Down Productions]] and [[Public Enemy (band)|Public Enemy]].<ref name="Coleman354">Coleman (2007), p. 354.</ref> The decline of the old-school form of hip hop also led to the closing of [[Sugar Hill Records (rap)|Sugar Hill Records]], one of the labels that helped contribute to early hip hop and that, coincidentally, rejected LL's demo tape.<ref name=RapReviews>{{cite web |url=http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/BTTL_radio.html |title=LL Cool J :: Radio ** RapReviews "Back to the Lab" series ** by Steve "Flash" Juon |website=RapReviews.com |access-date=June 19, 2008}}</ref> As the album served as an example of an expansion of hip-hop music's artistic possibilities, its commercial success and distinct sound soon led to an increase in multi-racial audiences and listeners, adding to the legacy of the album and hip hop as well.<ref name=yahoo/><ref>[http://heavy.com/entertainment/2015/02/ll-cool-j-wife-simone-smith-grammy-awards-host/ EntertainmentSimone Smith, LL Cool J's Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419142827/http://heavy.com/entertainment/2015/02/ll-cool-j-wife-simone-smith-grammy-awards-host/ |date=April 19, 2016 }}, heavy.com April 22, 2015</ref>

In 2017, LL Cool J became the first rapper to receive [[Kennedy Center Honors]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news | url=https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/08/03/541365592/ll-cool-j-to-become-kennedy-centers-first-hip-hop-honoree | title=LL Cool J to Become Kennedy Center's First Hip-Hop Honoree| newspaper=NPR| date=August 3, 2017| last1=Carmichael| first1=Rodney}}</ref>

In 2021, he was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] with an award for Musical Excellence.<ref name="R&RHOF"/>