LL Cool J

"Now 23, rock's hot­test producer is the closest pop music has come this de­cade to producing a conceptualist who can compare to Phil Spector in studio wizard­ry, business acumen, and steam-rolling ego"

Originally published:

In the Voice's "1986 Travel Supplement," Richard Hell, LL Cool J, Grace Paley, Taylor Meade, Patricia Field and more told us why they go where they go

“Hiphop is the most modern example, after capoeira and basketball, of African culture’s bent towards aesthetic com­bat — what the graffiti movement itself long ago defined as ‘style wars.’ ”

Originally published:

The 17th (or 18th) Annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll