LL Cool J is known by many for coining the term “G.O.A.T.,” although one late night talk show host this week questioned the acronym’s origin story.
On Wednesday (July 23), the Queens legend sat down with Seth Meyers, who asked about LL “claiming” he coined the term.
“Claim? Claim? Claim? Interesting way to phrase that — claim,” LL responded, evidently perturbed by the host’s phrasing.
“I’ll tell you where I got it. I got Greatest of All Time from Muhammad Ali, and I got G.O.A.T. from Earl Manigault who was a street basketball player in New York. I took the two together and I made the acronym G.O.A.T. — Greatest of All Time, and then it just kind of spread throughout the world,” Uncle L explained.
He added that “the first time it appeared in the world” was when he released his eighth studio album, G.O.A.T. featuring James T. Smith: The Greatest of All Time. The 2000 album boasts appearances from DMX, Method Man, Redman, Ja Rule, Snoop Dogg, Prodigy and more.
This isn’t the first time LL has broken down the term. Speaking to Metro UK last year, he asserted that “there’s no question” he came up with the G.O.A.T. acronym.
“It’s pretty wild that it turned out how it did,” he said, reflecting on how the term became a cultural phenomenon. “I had no idea it was gonna become a worldwide phrase and statement.”
He also said that while he wished he had trademarked the phrase, he’s happy that he was able to “touch the world” through his art. “What it says to me is that I can do more creatively,” he said. “It says to me, if I’m capable of creating terminology for the entire globe, I can do some big things.”
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