LL Cool J claims that he created a path for rappers to make romantic hip-hop, saying that he created the genre.

The 43-year-old rapper, whose name means ‘Ladies Love Cool James’, burst onto the scene in the 80s with smooth, love-making tracks like 'Doin' It Well' and 'I Need Love,' and there is no question that he was the pioneer for romantic rap. Artists such as Drake have embraced the singing/rapping genre and LL is taking full credit for it. "It's pretty obvious that what Dr Dre and NWA did for gangsta rap music, I did for romantic music and music for the females," he states.

"I basically started a section of a genre and created it and put it out there, and now lots of people are doing it. I think it's great. The more, the better. It's better than downing them and telling [women] they ain't nothing."

LL has put his music on the back-burner in recent years to focus on his budding movie career.

Do you agree that LL paved the way for artists such as Drake?