LL Cool J is one of the most important figures in hip-hop history as one of the first rappers to achieve commercial success in the ’80s. If you ask him, he’s the most important one.

During a recent interview on Apple Music’s Le Code with host Mehdi Maïzi, LL made his case, starting (at 49:40 into the video above), “I’m [going to] say this humbly, but I really mean this: I think one day, people are going to wake up and realize that LL Cool J is the most important rapper that ever existed. I truly believe one day, people are going to say that.”

He continued:

“They’re gonna look and they’re say, ‘Wow, when it comes to the jewelry, this is the guy who introduced all the diamonds and the ice and the champagne. They’re gonna say when it comes to the love songs, they’re gonna say, ‘This is the guy that introduced the love songs and all the love sh*t. When it comes to the bad-boy vibe, they’re gonna realize, ‘Oh, this is the guy who introduced all the rebellious bad-boy vibes before it was done.’ When it comes to the GOAT terminology, they’re gonna say, ‘Yo, this is the guy who came up with the GOAT stuff.’”

Indeed, in 2000, LL released the album G.O.A.T., significantly before contemporary widespread use of the term.

LL continued, “They’re going to say, when it comes to Def Jam, ‘Wow, this is the first artist that was on Def Jam.’ They’re going to say […] when it comes to the solo artist, going to say, ‘Wow, this is the first solo artist to take it all the way around the world.’ I mean, I could go on and on and on.”

Indeed, he did go on and on and on, so check out the full interview above.