LL Cool J came up during rap’s golden era, and therefore drew inspiration from his peers as the genre was being shaped. His MC style channeled both the raw, detailed storytelling of Kurtis Blow and Grandmaster Flash, and the boastful rhymes of Slick Rick and Big Daddy Kane. LL’s sonic template, meanwhile, was built from the bold innovations in funk laid down by the likes of Rick James and Afrika Bambaataa at the turn of the ‘80s.