The Religion and Political Views of LL Cool J

LL Cool J, whose real name is James Todd Smith, was born and raised on Long Island, New York.

For Cool J, pretty much everything in his life revolves around his faith in God. More specifically, the Christian God. And even more specifically, the African Methodist Episcopal church.[1] He said in one interview, "I don't make moves without consulting God. That's dangerous."[2]

Expanding about how important his faith is to him, he said,

I was raised in church. I read the Bible constantly. I stay in the Word constantly on every level, because I think ultimately we need that strength. . . . You need to be able to rain on all the seeds that are inside of you, and constantly nurture your potential that God placed inside of you by watering it with that Word.[3]

And as you can tell by that quote, the rapper/actor doesn't shy away from an opportunity to speak the Word. He opened the 2012 Grammy Awards with a prayer to the "Heavenly Father" in honor of the late Whitney Houston, who died only one day before.[4] And he'll drop little gems like this one onto his Twitter followers:

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" ~William A. Ward[5]

So there you have it, Hollowverse readers. LL Cool J is one religious dude.

Don't assume he's a Democrat, even though he kinda is.

LL Cool J has supported Republican politicians[6] and Democratic politicians alike.[7] He summed up his political views succinctly when he said,

I don't think anybody should assume that I'm a Democrat. . . . I'm an independent.[8]

That being said, Cool J is a big Obama fan. He was just as excited as any other liberal when Obama was elected in 2008, calling Obama "a candidate I truly believed in." And he continued to defend him against critics in 2012 after he had lost much of his initial support.[9]

And his song "Mr. President," written during the election cycle of 2008 and directed at President George W. Bush, doesn't make it seem like he agrees with any of the Republican talking-points. He criticizes the Bush administration's War on Terrorism, its strict immigration policies, and its policies toward health care:

Mr. President, are you aware?/ Unless you rich you have poor health care/ Makes you scream and wanna pull out your hair/ Discharged from hospitals as soon as you get there[10]

So even though he's an Independent, I think it's safe to say that LL Cool J leans to the left of most issues.