The LL Cool J Effect

[Stephan Bobb]

The LL Cool J Effect

By Stephan Big Steph Bobb

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Growing up in Connecticut it was very difficult to listen to NYC radio stations in the 1980's.the two most popular radio stations were WRKS 98.7 Kiss FM and cross-town rival WBLS 107.5 FM. They had the best Hip Hop radio shows in the United States. WBLS had supa rockin Mr. Magic and Marley Marl. WRKS had DJ Red Alert and Chuck Chillout. Anytime you wanted to hear where the best of everything Hip Hop all you had to do was to set your radio preset to these stations. I lived in Connecticut and my dad would frequently visit family in New York City. He would record the radio shows for me, and I would listen to those tapes like it was final exam in college. Those radio shows were like a miniature rap concert of all my favorite Hip Hop artist and the coolest Dj's in the tri-state.

WBLS and WRKS had a bitter rivalry. Mr. Magic and his DJ Marley Marl represented Queens Bridge, New York City and DJ Red Alert and DJ Chuck Chill out represented The Bronx, New York. WBLS had developed an All-Star Super Group of Queens rappers while Red Alert aligned himself with Bronx rapper KRS One. It was great radio because the two crews would trade jabs at each other on wax. Mr. Magic had great word play and would send these subliminal wise cracking insults at WRKS. Red Alert would play an exclusive radio promo with a new exclusive diss track. LL Cool J was from Queens and was becoming a Hip Hop heavy weight. He was developing his own rivalry with rapper Kool Moe Dee. Although LL Cool J was from Queens, he still would get major radio play on WRKS which was centered on everything Bronx and not WBLS's Juice Crew. I call this the LL Cool J effect. 

LL Cool J was the first artist signed to Def Jam records. His demo tape was discovered by

Adam "AD Rock" Horovitz of the Beastie Boys. 

LL Cool J's I need a beat was a staple on airwaves of NYC. The remix with Dj legend Jazzy Jay was always in the mix. LL Cool J seemed to be the Switzerland of Hip-Hop. He was being played on 2 of the hottest stations in the United States for Urban music and avoided a borough war simultaneously. He was able to keep his unique Def Jam drum machine having sample-based rhythm and be uniquely himself.

WBLS was heavy Queens, New York and their music production was heavy disco and soul samples. WRKS was heavy Bronx< New York with music that featured James Brown and Ultimate Beats Breaks.  I used to love when DJ Chuck Chillout and Red Alert would cut up the Nautilus by Bob James or the Theme to SWAT. LL Cool J would later incorporate these samples into his record I'm Bad and Boomin System. He was a genius of combining to the 2 styles of Hip Hop and making it cool to play his music on both stations in a middle of a territorial war. The LL Cool J effect would continue but expand even bigger into the 90's. He even went further and in listed the services of DJ Marley Marl of WBLS to help produce the iconic Mamma Said Knock You Out Lp which won him a grammy award. Moving forward in time and LL Cool J is a musical icon receiving tons of accolades from his extensive catalog and WRKS is no longer in existence. DJ Red Alert and Dj Marley Marl both spins now on WBLS giving listeners a few special hours of great music. This is all due to LL Cool J effect.