LL Cool J named Mens Fitness magazines MF Icon

The 43-year-old US rapper, who shows off his knock-out body on the cover of the US magazine, reveals that he keeps his six-pack in shape by working out, even when he doesn't feel like it.

LL, real name James Todd Smith, says: 'Sometimes you roll out of bed and don't feel like going to the gym – doesn't matter. You gotta master your emotions, master yourself.”

He adds: 'What's the saying? 'A man who can conquer himself is greater than the one who can conquer a city'.

'If it's the right thing, and you know you're supposed to do it – do it even if you don't feel like doing it.'

The married father-of-four has gone by the moniker LL Cool J (Ladies Love Cool James) since he became a rapper in the 1980s. But he faced “a big backlash” in the 1990s when he started acting.

Now a star on the American TV series NCIS: Los Angeles, he says: 'There was a time 10 years ago, when there was a big backlash against rappers turning into actors.

'My response to that was to study really hard, go to acting school, focus my energy into acting.

'And now I'm doing what I'm doing.'