LL Cool J: turns up the heat and talks about love, marriage and why he gave up `the naked look' - Biography

USING one of those tiny forks, LL Cool J digs deep into the king crab leg on his plate, completely unaware of the cocktail sauce running down the side of his mouth. By the time the red dip reaches his chin, he's digging deep once again. But this time, it's into his public persona, attempting to explain why he deserves more respect than the proverbial "hunk of meat" that he is enjoying, but less respect than the noble title his dinner once enjoyed during its shortened life as a sea creature.

Throughout his dinner in the back room of an Atlanta seafood restaurant, rap music's first true sex symbol and most mainstream role model makes it a point to stress that he's more than just a pretty boy. But he also maintains that he is less than the eternal romantic and perfect gentleman millions of women fell in love with some 15 years ago when he released rap's first love ballad, "I Need Love," and continue to fall in love with today--fed by his buffed looks, youthful energy and romantic songs like his recent No. I hit, "Luv U Better."

"There are a lot of pretty guys out there. Prettier than me. Cuter than me. Taller than Stronger than me," he says. "I don't know what women see in me. Maybe that's what it is--the fact that I don't know. I'm not the kind of guy who stays in the mirror. I'm not the guy who puts on his jeans and looks back at himself in the mirror. It's not about all of that. It's just about keeping it real. People need to know that LL Cool J is a round human being."

But try as he may--even to the point where he recently decided that he will no longer take off his shirt for photos because he doesn't want to be "known as the guy who always has his shirt off"--there's no denying that, as his name boasts, the Ladies Love Cool J.

Even at 34.

More than any other hip-hop artist, James Todd Smith (his real name) has stayed in the rap game for nearly two decades by playing it smooth, personally and through his songs. Observers say he is a genius at marrying rap and romance, and bringing that union down to a street level, creating a world where a "'round-the-way girl" is treated with respect, and a man can be totally uninhibited in expressing his love for her. While the three-time Grammy winner, who has sold more than 20 million records, has rhymed about other topics, nothing has made an impact--or made him the legend that he has become--more than the songs in which he sweet-talks his lady fans.

During his recent visit to Atlanta, the physical infatuation that women--young and old, Black and White, mamas and daughters--have for him was on full display as sightings of the 5-foot-11 Queens, N.Y., native prompted women to fall all over themselves in an effort to get his attention. "LL, I love you," one lady screamed out from a passing car. "LL, you're so fine," another yelled. "Can I have a hug?" another lady said as she stopped her car in the middle of the street. "Look at those big, juicy lips. Lord, help me."

A similar scene played out recently at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where female students, usually known for their unshakeable sophistication and composure, hid in bushes and poached in trees, waiting for their chance to pounce on the entertainer. Security guards had to step in and restore order to a chaotic scene the likes of which he says he hasn't seen since the early days of his career. "People have been so supportive. If I had the answer to my success, I would bottle it and sell it. I would be running around to record labels saying, `I got some longevity here. Who wants a hit?'" he says. "I'm just thankful. It's amazing. It's a blessing. It appears that, in terms of intensity, there is rejuvenation in my career. I'm very appreciative that people enjoy what I'm doing, that they like what I'm doing. All I can do is just give them the best that I can give them."

For the man who seems to have it all, that, perhaps, is his greatest fear. Being the best that he can be--and that still not being enough. Being the best that he can be--and still falling short of his fans' high expectations.

"It's tough. My thing is, one day if I make a decision to go to a strip club, I don't want to come out, and break somebody's heart," he says. "If I make a decision to go to the bar around the corner and have a drink with somebody who I ain't supposed to be with, I don't want to come out and break somebody's heart. Now I might not ever make the decision to do any of those things, but if I do, then I did it. And that's it. I know that I'm not a pastor. But I just don't want people to set unrealistic expectations. This is real life. I have flaws in my personality."

In fact, LL Cool J says he doesn't know any more about romance than anyone else. "All I know is you got to give love in order to receive it. That I'm certain of," he says "As a man, there have been times in my life where I was uncomfortable dealing with love. But I don't feel like that anymore. Really, it was never an issue to me. I just never had a real problem in that area. I'm not afraid to express how I feel. It's a blessing to be able to articulate what you're feeling to a woman. Because when you do it, she responds."