Photo Credit: Gregg DeGuire | Getty Images

LL Cool J has just made history. Announced today (August 3), the annual Kennedy Center Honors ceremony will now finally include a rapper.

 

They have enriched and shaped the cultural life of a America. The 2017 Kennedy Center Honorees are @carmendelavallade, @gloriaestefan, @llcoolj, @thenormanlear, and @lionelrichie! #KCHonors

A post shared by The Kennedy Center (@kennedycenter) on Aug 3, 2017 at 8:01am PDT

Taking to their Instagram page, this year’s honorees will include LL Cool J, alongside some of music’s greats including Lionel Richie, Gloria Estefan, and more.

David M. Rubenstein, the Chairman of Kennedy Center, had nothing but words of praise for LL, stating “Landmark hip-hop artist LL Cool J taught the world how to rhyme as one of the pioneers of the hip-hop phenomenon.”

To be the first rap artist honored by the @kencen is beyond anything I could have imagined. Dreams don’t have deadlines. God is great. pic.twitter.com/NQHUg4YIzo

— LLCOOLJ. (@llcoolj) August 3, 2017

Congrats, LL. Well-deserved!