LL COOL J Refuses To Put Jay-Z, Kanye West, Nas, DMX & Rihanna On His Def Jam Mt. Rushmore List!***

“ It’s LL, it’s Public Enemy, it’s the Beastie Boys… and it would have to be, it would have to be Slick Rick, because it’s Def Jam. What’s the criteria for it? Because what Public Enemy did in terms of building a label, what LL did in terms of building a label, and what about Rick and Russell?”

LL Cool J has revealed his Mount Rushmore of Def Jam artists, but his list contains a few notable omissions.

The rap legend sat down for a wide-ranging interview on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast on Wednesday (July 31), during which he was asked to share his picks for the iconic Hip Hop label’s top four acts.

LL began by making a case for his own inclusion, reminding Sharpe that he was “the first artist on Def Jam.” (His 1984 song “I Need a Beat” was the label’s first release, while his classic 1985 debut LP Radio was the first album it put out into the martketplace.)

After Sharpe listed other legendary acts who’ve been signed to Def Jam, including JAY-Z, Kanye West, Rihanna, DMX, Ludacris and Nas, LL overlooked them all and instead turned the clock back to the label’s pivotal early period.

“It’s LL, it’s Public Enemy, it’s the Beastie Boys and it would have to be Slick Rick,” he argued.

When quizzed about his exclusion of Hov, he replied: “Yeah, [he was on Def Jam] a thousand years later!”

LL Cool J has been snubbed by JAY-Z himself in the past.

During an interview with Big Boy in 2022, the Queens, New York native reflected on his friendly competition with Hov when they were teenagers and revealed that he has never been invited to Jigga’s annual Roc Nation Brunch.

VIDEO: