Najee Laurent Todd Eugene Smith is the eldest child of hip-hop pioneer LL Cool J and jewellery entrepreneur Simone I. Smith. While his father built a career spanning rap, film and television, Najee pursued photography and fashion, including professional work with the hip-hop culture company Rock The Bells. His connection to the brand is more than a celebrity-family association: he publicly announced a move into fashion brand design after working in a creative capacity.
Born in September 1989, he has attracted far less professional publicity than his father. Understanding Najee means looking beyond the family photographs to the work he has actually identified as his own.
Quick Bio
| Personal Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Najee Laurent Todd Eugene Smith |
| Date of Birth | 18 September 1989 |
| Age | 37 years (as of 2026) |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Photographer, Fashion Designer, Creative Professional |
| Father | LL Cool J (James Todd Smith) |
| Mother | Simone I. Smith |
| Siblings | Italia Smith, Samaria Smith, Nina Simone Smith |
| Education | LIU Post, Long Island University |
| Known For | Being LL Cool J’s eldest child and his creative work |
| Professional Association | Rock The Bells |
| Marital Status | Not publicly verified |
| Net Worth | Not publicly verified |
| Public Profile | Fashion, photography and hip-hop culture |
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A Famous Surname, but a Different Public Identity
LL Cool J, born James Todd Smith, was already an established recording artist when Najee arrived. Albums such as Radio and Bigger and Deffer helped make him one of the defining figures of early commercially successful hip-hop. He later starred in NCIS: Los Angeles.
That history explains interest in his eldest child. Najee has not established a comparable music or acting career. His documented work centres on imagery and apparel, fields connected to music culture without requiring a place on stage.
His design announcements offer a clearer picture of his career than his surname.
Rock The Bells: From Cultural Connection to Design Work
A Role Najee Identified Himself
One of the clearest pieces of evidence about his professional life comes from a LinkedIn announcement made approximately four years ago. Najee said he had moved from a creative position to become a fashion brand designer at Rock The Bells. It was a specific career development, not an unsupported claim about executive authority.
People also documented his involvement with the clothing operation and promotion of collections. Whether the position continues in October 2026 is unconfirmed.
Why This Company Matters
Founded by LL Cool J, Rock The Bells operates across hip-hop storytelling, merchandise, events and broadcasting. Its name draws on his 1985 track, while its wider purpose is to celebrate the artists and cultural history that helped build the genre. Rock The Bells Radio launched on SiriusXM in 2018, giving the project a platform beyond clothing.
Trainers, caps and streetwear have long belonged to hip-hop’s visual language. Apparel connects audiences with the genre’s history in a tangible way.
Najee’s design work therefore sits at an interesting intersection: a business founded by his father, but a discipline with its own practical demands. Developing and presenting apparel demands skills distinct from performing music.
The company’s broader cultural programme gives those design choices a particular setting. Merchandise tied to established artists must speak to their original audience without functioning solely as nostalgia. That challenge helps explain why visual storytelling matters to the business, even though the precise creative decisions entrusted to Najee have not been disclosed.
Photography and the Skills Behind His Work
Photography is another recurring feature of Najee’s professional identity. His LinkedIn description presents him as a photographer, and earlier coverage has connected him with photographic projects and image-making. That establishes professional direction, though not a complete catalogue of commissions.
Fashion also depends on photography: lighting, campaign settings and styling influence how customers understand a garment. Working across both fields involves shaping a product’s wider visual identity.
Unlike a performer whose credits can be traced through albums and tours, a photographer’s contribution is sometimes harder to attribute. Published campaign imagery may involve several collaborators, from stylists to art directors. That makes named professional statements especially important when separating Najee’s verified activities from general claims about the projects around him.
Rock The Bells markets cultural heritage alongside apparel. However, the available record does not identify every collection Najee personally designed, so individual releases cannot automatically be credited to him.
What His Education Record Establishes
Najee’s professional profile names LIU Post, part of Long Island University in New York, and gives an attendance period of 2008 to 2014. This establishes his university connection before his more visible fashion work.
Online claims about his degree cannot be conclusively verified from the accessible record. Attendance should not be confused with an independently confirmed qualification.
The Smith Family’s Approach to Work
The idea that children should pursue their own ambitions has been a recurring theme in LL Cool J’s comments about fatherhood. During Oprah’s Master Class in 2017, he spoke about wanting his children to understand responsibility rather than assume celebrity status entitled them to an easy life. He specifically mentioned the importance of his son working and being treated as an individual.
His comments provide context, rather than proof of Najee’s private motivations.
A Mother With Her Own Entrepreneurial Career
Simone I. Smith is more than the wife of a famous performer. She established a jewellery business and has collaborated with Mary J. Blige on the Sister Love collection. Her business offers another example of creativity translated into products.
Najee was born before his parents married in 1995. Their relationship began in the late 1980s, and they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in 2025. Najee rarely discusses his personal life in major interviews.
Three Sisters, Three Career Directions
Najee’s younger sisters are Italia Anita Marie Smith, Samaria Leah Smith and Nina Simone Smith. Italia has worked in real estate; Samaria studied fashion and developed her own denim label; and Nina pursued songwriting and singing, graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2023.
Unlike Nina, who pursued music, Najee has worked in fashion and visual production.
How Much of Najee’s Life Is Public?
Photographs from family appearances have placed Najee beside his parents at entertainment and fashion events over the years. Image agencies have documented him at his father’s album celebrations and at family occasions. These appearances do not establish a full-time celebrity career.
Social media has added another layer. Pictures of him standing beside LL Cool J have circulated with captions calling him his father’s “bodyguard”. The description is an online joke or claim, not verified evidence of paid security employment. A photograph cannot establish a job title.
Similarly, there is no sound basis for treating online guesses about his marriage, children or day-to-day address as established facts. He has shared fewer personal details in recognised interviews than his parents.
His documented family relationships and fashion appointment contrast with unverified aspects of his private life. Online visibility is no substitute for firsthand disclosure, and his work can be evaluated without speculation.
His Position in 2026 and the Question of Wealth
As of October 2026, the strongest substantiated career details remain his photography background and previously announced fashion role at Rock The Bells. An older professional listing cannot establish that he currently holds the same job.
Nor is there a reliable public assessment of his personal net worth. His father’s wealth does not establish Najee’s personal assets. Claims assigning him a precise fortune, ownership stake or annual salary lack the documentation needed for responsible publication.
His documented link to design, photography and Rock The Bells is more meaningful than unsupported financial figures.
Conclusion
Najee Laurent Todd Eugene Smith is best understood through his documented creative work rather than simply through his parentage. As LL Cool J and Simone I. Smith’s eldest child, he belongs to a widely recognised entertainment family; as a photographer and former publicly announced Rock The Bells fashion brand designer, he has a separate professional identity. His current appointment and finances remain unconfirmed, but his work in hip-hop fashion gives his story a professional dimension.
FAQs
Who Is Najee Laurent Todd Eugene Smith?
He is the eldest child and only son of rapper and actor LL Cool J, whose real name is James Todd Smith, and jewellery entrepreneur Simone I. Smith. He has worked in photography and fashion, including a documented creative and design connection with the Rock The Bells brand founded by his father.
How Old Is LL Cool J’s Son Najee?
Najee was born on 18 September 1989, a date published in biographical coverage of LL Cool J’s family. He turned 37 in September 2026. His birth year is also supported by People, which discussed his mother’s public tribute to his 26th birthday in 2015.
Does Najee Smith Work for Rock The Bells?
He has publicly identified himself as a fashion brand designer for Rock The Bells after earlier creative work with the company. People also documented his involvement with its clothing collections. However, the available records do not independently confirm whether he still holds that particular title in October 2026.
Is Najee Smith LL Cool J’s Bodyguard?
Social media captions have used that description for photographs showing the father and son together. There is no reliable confirmation that Najee has been professionally employed as LL Cool J’s bodyguard. Photography and fashion design are better-supported descriptions of his creative work.
Is Najee Laurent Todd Eugene Smith Married, and What Is His Net Worth?
His current marital status has not been reliably verified through authoritative public sources. Likewise, there is no trustworthy published calculation of his personal net worth. Figures derived from his father’s wealth or from unsupported celebrity estimates should not be presented as his own earnings or assets.
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