Deflecting what some urban critics decried as soft, romantic rap, LL returned in 1990 he released “Mama Said Knock You Out”. The album had a much rougher edged which appealed to the new face of hip-hop… It was considered another success. Sadly, his follow-up album in 1993 failed with both critics and audiences. He took two years off and began an acting career.
It was during this time that he appeared in the films “The Hard Way” and “Toys”. He also starred on the NBC sitcom “In the house”. He returned to music in 1995 with Mr. Smith. The record featured tracks with Boys II Men and even covered the Michael Jackson song, “The Lady in My Life”. The music video would be one of the first hip-hop videos ever featured on VH1 and would earn LL a Grammy award. He has since released six other successful records.
