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LL COOL J Talks Rock The Bells Festival, New Album 'The F.O.R.C.E.' + Freestyle & Biggie Stories
Aug 3, 2023
LL Cool J recently appeared on Sway In The Morning to discuss the highly-anticipated Rock The Bells Festival, set to take place on August 5th in Queens, New York. With an incredible lineup that includes Queen Latifah, Ludacris, De La Soul, Slick Rick, Rakim, and many more iconic artists from the golden age of hip hop, LL was understandably excited to share details about the upcoming show. But that wasn't all he talked about! In this blog post, we'll break down LL's interview with Sway, including his comments on the rumors that Biggie dissed him on "Who Shot Ya?" and his upcoming album, 'The Force'.
Timestamps
Longevity In music | 4:00
Rock The Bells Announcement | 5:25
The Force Album | 12:30
Addresses Biggie Rumors | 18:45
Ageism in Hip-Hop | 24:00
Freestyle | 33:00
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0:00
legendary the iconic one himself
0:04
give it up for LL Cool J
0:19
it's wonderful
0:22
yeah what a present man I've been
0:27
celebrating don't give me a reason to
0:28
celebrate LL Cool J [ __ ] the number of
0:32
Celebration come on man don't tease me
0:34
with a good time a little celebration
0:36
come on man let's celebrate let's
0:38
celebrate let's talk about the Rock and
0:39
Roll Hall of Fame inductee come on man
0:43
let's talk about the Grammy Awards come
0:46
on man
0:48
the biggest record label the most
0:50
important record label ever created in
0:52
hip-hop
0:53
the brand was Def Jam there would be no
0:56
Def Jam if it wasn't for him the way we
0:59
know it today come on man give him a
1:01
round of applause
1:04
did we talk about the Kennedy Center
1:07
the Kennedy Center Honor the first
1:09
rapper to ever be get received there
1:11
come on man yo Wow Let's Go
1:15
came here Sirius XM the year 2018 I
1:19
believe it was if I'm not mistaken
1:22
yeah it launched to me the most
1:24
important platform hip-hop has seen and
1:27
I tell you why because we could not
1:29
figure out or at least people didn't
1:31
want to figure out and they'll give
1:33
proper energy
1:34
preparation investment and how we expand
1:38
our lifespan as artists and as a culture
1:41
because the wrong people were making the
1:43
decisions the wrong people pitted the
1:45
young against the old and everything in
1:48
between the wrong people would end up uh
1:50
ahead of budgets uh that didn't know how
1:53
to delegate properly and to properly
1:55
promote and Market artists who came
1:58
around from the first generation to now
2:00
hip-hop should be celebrated until
2:02
people transition the same way country
2:05
music is and rock and roll music is LL
2:08
Cool J created the proof of concept the
2:11
blueprint execution and success on how
2:15
we could prolong our careers our culture
2:17
our lifestyles our community our own
2:21
economies
2:22
come on man we'll Rock The Bells come on
2:24
who's done this
2:26
that's love come on man that's love man
2:30
before before my body got to be a human
2:33
action figure when I was younger
2:37
how many years back you need more people
2:40
brother
2:48
and then I handed the Baton to him
2:53
he was the first hip-hop man of Health
2:56
that we know of that's true okay and how
2:59
we live our better lives and I was just
3:01
saying this about you L you are one of
3:03
the people who I have this theory that
3:05
we've been able to hide behind culture
3:07
and we never we could um we could
3:09
stagnate our Evolution and our growth we
3:11
could remain childish and immature and
3:14
get away with it in hip-hop culture for
3:16
so many for so many years but you
3:18
demonstrated how we can grow with the
3:20
culture be proud of how long we've been
3:22
on this planet and look forward to
3:23
what's uh what's ahead of us so salute
3:26
to you for showing us the way LL Cool J
3:28
is here
3:30
[Applause]
3:38
blow it up you better stop playing
3:40
without me calling lyrics hell when I'm
3:44
alone in my room
3:46
sometimes I stare at the wall baby in
3:48
the back of my mind I hear my conscience
3:50
call telling me I need a girl who's as
3:52
sweet as a dove for the first time in my
3:54
life I see I need love
3:59
There Was You know I mean
4:03
the first Teen Idol to ever come out of
4:06
hip-hop I said it before I say it again
4:08
LL Cool J all right L thank you man for
4:10
showing up thank you thanks for having
4:12
me
4:16
hey man but uh it's good to see you
4:19
thank you YouTube man I love watching
4:21
you I love seeing I love the
4:22
conversation you had with wallow and uh
4:25
yeah Gilly and set my condolences to
4:28
Gilly absolutely Gilly and his family
4:30
and I see him out and about
4:32
which is hard to do you know he lost his
4:34
son and he did the Gilly fast and he's
4:37
been out and about
4:38
um being himself you know and and I can
4:41
appreciate that about him you've always
4:44
maintained to be yourself throughout
4:47
this duration man what do you accredit
4:49
that to I mean man you got to know what
4:52
you want in life yeah you know what I'm
4:53
saying and you got to have a vision and
4:55
then the moves that you make need the
4:57
fat um fit and match that Vision you
5:00
know what I'm saying and every move you
5:02
make if what you're doing isn't getting
5:03
you one step closer to what you're
5:04
trying to accomplish and why are you
5:06
doing it
5:07
okay we're gonna get a lot of gems right
5:08
here get to bring the Bell ready okay
5:13
um a couple questions I wanted to ask
5:15
you let's talk about rock the bells The
5:17
Rock The Bells festival's taking place
5:19
this Saturday August 5th at Forest Hill
5:21
Stadium yes in New York please yes yes
5:25
Queens you know what I'm saying um
5:27
incredible lineup you know what I'm
5:28
saying uh can't wait to see Run DMC cam
5:31
you know Queen Latifah is going to do
5:34
something real special Red Man Method
5:36
Man De La Soul you know Kane Rakim boot
5:40
camp click like yo-yo salt and peppers I
5:45
mean remember I mean there's so many
5:47
people on there man it's gonna be
5:48
incredible jungle we got a native
5:50
tongues reunion you know what I'm saying
5:52
um it's just going to be real special
5:55
did you curate everything you call you
5:56
pick all that yeah yeah I picked all the
5:58
acts with my team with my team my team
6:00
was involved absolutely they absolutely
6:02
contributed to that but I definitely had
6:04
you know certain people that I had to
6:05
see and just wanted to see and it's just
6:07
one of those shows like I'm gonna be out
6:09
there the route to actually performing
6:11
with me yes you know what I'm saying so
6:13
you know they'll be like my backing band
6:15
thought it'll be on there with me and
6:17
then um you know djz trip as well so
6:20
it's like a show like no other like I'm
6:22
not coming to play
6:24
um and you know we're gonna have a lot
6:25
of fun man that's taking place Saturday
6:27
August 5th at Forest Hill Stadium yeah
6:29
uh we're gonna have Day Spa yeah you
6:31
know like you know we got the day spa
6:33
the PNG Day Spa what is that like it's
6:35
gonna be like yeah you're gonna be able
6:36
to get smoothed out yeah yeah yeah
6:40
we got the market makers like like um
6:43
these these they get like content
6:45
creators are going to be out there you
6:47
know it's going to be to make us more
6:48
it's going to be unbelievable so people
6:50
should definitely just get there and
6:52
just get ready to get just have a bowl
6:54
it's a festival it's a festival now Al
6:56
I'll be seeing these video clips of
6:58
women who go to Jamaica and they'll get
7:00
on the river and they'll get on these
7:01
River rafts and these Jamaican dudes are
7:03
massaging them all over their life you
7:04
seen that [ __ ] is that what we're
7:07
talking about
7:08
look I mean I guess you could ask for
7:11
what you want see what you get
7:14
you know
7:15
yeah yeah yeah
7:18
that's life you know that's life that's
7:21
life you know what I'm saying
7:27
get on in there baby
7:31
make your next move your best move
7:34
player
7:38
I love it I love it hey man you know
7:41
what I think 2 L is what I think we're
7:44
learning about you I always thought you
7:46
were a great businessman I didn't know I
7:48
never saw your business move so early on
7:50
we didn't show our business moves and
7:52
talk about them as as well as we do now
7:55
and I've done a lot of things behind the
7:58
scenes I've put together King Tech and I
7:59
put together concert tours in the 90s
8:01
and helped with all the Summer Jams at
8:03
KMEL and the beat uh back in that it
8:05
ain't easy you got it nah you gotta shop
8:07
around you got to get people to pay for
8:10
this [ __ ] you know what I mean when you
8:12
start doing the rock the bells Festival
8:14
what was your plan of uh approach to get
8:17
you know investors to get and who are
8:19
some of the key people you thought would
8:20
work you know to be honest with you man
8:22
like you know we raise money for rock
8:24
the bells um you know early on okay and
8:27
then it was just about finding the right
8:29
partners that understood the mission
8:31
which is to elevate celebrate hip-hop
8:33
culture Timeless hip-hop culture and uh
8:35
take this culture that had been served
8:37
on in a greasy brown paper bag for too
8:39
long and put it on a silver platter and
8:42
present it to the people properly so
8:43
when you see the ax on my show or when
8:45
you come to my tour when you come to
8:47
things that I do you see everybody at
8:49
the highest level and you see the
8:50
presentation an execution at the highest
8:52
level so that these artists get the love
8:55
and the props that they deserve nothing
8:56
is worse than to see your childhood
8:59
Heroes you know rapping with a banner
9:02
and a stool and a Roman cope like on a
9:04
stage that's lopsided he's just like
9:05
what am I looking at you know what I'm
9:07
saying so to me it's just like I wanted
9:09
to make sure that these these artists
9:12
any artist I work with or anybody that
9:14
works with rock the bells is always on
9:16
the biggest stage in the world and so
9:18
when you bring in Partners
9:20
um you know they just have to understand
9:21
that Vision yeah you know yes there is
9:24
there is a dollars and cents aspect to
9:26
it and yes we have to adopt the eyes and
9:28
cross the t's when it comes to prop the
9:30
p l statements and things like that at
9:33
the same time they they must understand
9:35
the vision oh you won't work yeah I I
9:37
just only want to work with people that
9:39
really get it and uh you know who are
9:42
any you know long term you know how do
9:45
you talk to the artist because of you
9:47
know we people you know so yeah you know
9:50
and then not have been in the game for a
9:52
minute like do you have conversations
9:54
look there are a lot of artists that
9:56
understand and there's some that don't
9:58
my job is if you don't understand it
10:00
you'll understand it when you benefit
10:01
from the success okay if you if you do
10:04
understand it then we could chop it up
10:05
and figure out how to make it even
10:07
better for you but either way I'm not
10:09
gonna hold it against you if you don't
10:10
quite get it yeah you know what I'm
10:12
saying so I don't get butt hurt when
10:14
people you know make moves and do little
10:16
ego things and do I don't I don't move
10:18
like that like that's not the that's not
10:20
because that has nothing to do with the
10:22
goal that would be about LL personally
10:24
feeling some kind of way about things
10:26
and that's not what it's about so I just
10:28
like what I did initially was I said
10:30
here Run DMC you should have equity in
10:32
the company and and and
10:34
um you know Fab Five Freddy for bringing
10:36
hip-hop from from from Uptown downtown
10:38
you should have equity in the company
10:40
and Shantae and and Big Daddy Kane and
10:43
you know just making sure Grandmaster
10:45
cat like giving these artists a piece of
10:47
the pie so that they they have DJ Kool
10:50
herc who started this thing should have
10:52
a piece of the pie so these these
10:54
artists really do have Equity now
10:56
whether or not they understand how
10:58
valuable it is they may or may not but
11:01
one day you will hear about it and
11:02
they're gonna they're gonna be really
11:03
happy that they are part of rock the
11:05
bells yeah you know what I'm saying so
11:07
you know that was really it man it's
11:09
it's really simple for me I want to
11:12
elevate our culture and I want to see
11:14
these artists get treated
11:16
at the highest level the way they
11:18
deserve to be treated and I don't
11:20
believe that that there's any reason why
11:22
they should be denied that Spotlight and
11:25
that shine absolutely you know what I'm
11:26
saying LL Cool J man what is it like for
11:29
your your kids for for you see I
11:33
remember I started taking my daughter's
11:35
24 went to school with one of your kids
11:37
um and when she she didn't know who I
11:40
was or what I've done until she got
11:42
older until the kids at Campbell Hall
11:43
was like that's your dad
11:45
right right right right right right
11:47
right yeah and so for me it was exciting
11:49
because now I could share in this she
11:51
wanted to go to a Fuji's concert yeah
11:53
yeah you know what I mean yeah are you
11:55
having those dab moments where your kids
11:57
are like wow 100 yeah 100 man my kids
12:00
you know they love what I do they they
12:03
know what I do they respect it they've
12:05
always respected it I raised them to
12:07
respect other artists in the game so
12:10
they listen to all generations of music
12:12
you know what I'm saying and um yeah
12:15
they always give me love they always
12:16
celebrated but you know I'm funny man I
12:18
don't really
12:19
talk about me a lot you know what I'm
12:21
saying in the house like I'm not really
12:23
that guy okay you know what I'm saying
12:24
so I don't come in the house talking
12:25
about my schedule talking about I did
12:27
this talking about I did that it's not
12:29
really that type of party it's more
12:30
about I'm there to facilitate their
12:32
dreams you know I'm saying and make sure
12:34
that you know oh you want to someone
12:36
wants a jury line okay so let me figure
12:38
out how to make that happen and oh
12:40
Samaria wants to have her Jean denim
12:42
line okay so let me figure out how to
12:44
make that happen and my other daughter
12:46
she graduated from the Berkeley School
12:47
of Music and she's working on her
12:49
writing and the music and she's an
12:50
unbelievable writer so it's doing that
12:52
Najee you know my son working at Rock
12:54
The Bells and The Graphic Arts and
12:56
marketing and and and how he thinks
12:58
about things so I just really just want
13:01
to make sure that I facilitate dreams
13:04
you know what I'm saying that's like
13:05
that's how I'm moving the house
13:07
you see why I call him [ __ ] hell I'll
13:11
be the one dude man
13:12
yeah I'm campaigning you I don't care
13:14
about no other if you the goat I
13:16
appreciate it listen listen man no you
13:18
don't care about it well no I care okay
13:20
that's why I came up with the term right
13:21
yeah
13:22
but you know time time you know Time
13:25
Will Reveal you know what I'm saying
13:27
like the credits ain't rolling on the
13:28
movie yet there you go you know so you
13:31
know if you see Luke Skywalker you know
13:33
you know on a vine swinging over a pit
13:36
of snakes that don't mean it ain't over
13:38
here it ain't no it's so so you know
13:40
sometimes it looked like doth is up yeah
13:42
but uh
13:55
you better believe that
14:00
and that's why I name my name
14:01
is
14:06
in the acronym is frequency is a real
14:09
Creative Energy you know what I'm saying
14:11
and the album is crazy Q-tip produced it
14:13
yeah executive produced it and um
14:15
it's crazy in the tour it's called the
14:17
force and you know but my tour like when
14:20
people come to my tour like most of the
14:22
time like they see the roots and they're
14:23
like okay well ll in The Roots what they
14:25
don't understand is the roots are like
14:26
the band we're rocking together yeah
14:29
combined with DJ Z Trip and you know and
14:32
Jeff is going to be out there and and
14:34
it's the show is like non-stop so when
14:37
you come to the tour like we start in
14:38
Baltimore from the from the first beat
14:41
from the first downbeat the show never
14:43
stops yeah there is no set changes it's
14:45
like a giant mixtape so like you think
14:48
about what we did on the Grammys just
14:49
think about that going to another level
14:52
you know what I'm saying so when people
14:53
come to the to the LL tour you know what
14:56
I'm saying we're gonna be busting their
14:58
ass let's get it man you know saying
15:00
like that's the goal like we're not
15:01
playing you know what I'm saying so like
15:03
this is the show you want to see you
15:05
don't want to miss this one the force
15:07
man I love that so we got the references
15:09
we've been playing the singles yeah yeah
15:11
it's actually you know what the song
15:13
that you've been playing which I
15:14
appreciate it's not out I just wanted to
15:16
kind of get a little Vibe going and just
15:18
see what it is and I love the response
15:21
that people what they're saying to you I
15:23
mean you know look we're at this this
15:25
moment right now the only thing
15:26
anybody's ever gonna say to me is oh
15:28
he's still got it oh you didn't look
15:29
because that's where they're at with me
15:30
yeah they're still waiting for the other
15:32
shoe to drop of me for me to come in
15:33
here
15:40
but they don't understand that like
15:42
that's not gonna happen yeah like it's
15:45
just not gonna happen you still got you
15:47
got like L to me
15:54
yeah
15:57
and all that old [ __ ] all that funny
15:59
Style funny [ __ ] for them to be like
16:02
yeah yeah man I knew it I can't wait no
16:05
no
16:06
my chin is tucked okay my chin is tough
16:10
baby my chin is stuck hey L check this
16:13
out when I first came on the radio it
16:14
was in 1990 right it was a queen's dude
16:18
was the first song we ever played was
16:20
large um live at the barbecue yeah with
16:23
knives yeah and then from there this
16:25
show we call the Wake Up Show became
16:27
what it became first indicated
16:29
nationally overseas the whole [ __ ]
16:31
that's from the West Coast too I'm not
16:33
I've never tripped on regions I've been
16:35
Lee planted earth oh I love the regions
16:37
yeah that's why I did my second album
16:38
with bobcat in L.A Posse talk about that
16:41
because I had Lonzo on the show yeah um
16:43
um my homeboy Terry on the show from La
16:45
Parts talk yeah so so my second album
16:48
which is I need love and I'm bad and all
16:50
those songs was produced by all West
16:53
Coast Producers my man DJ Bobcat Muffler
16:55
Dwayne Simon and Daryl Pierce and then
16:58
and then DJ Pooh was also involved with
17:00
the making of the album and we made that
17:02
record that was my second album that was
17:04
in like 87 yeah so like I never was like
17:07
I never had an issue with with the with
17:10
the regions and all of that that's why
17:13
I'm known all all over the world and why
17:16
I can play in all these places and my
17:17
music plays in all these places even
17:19
today even even on a more local on a
17:22
local level like not just on the big
17:24
major stations that because they're like
17:26
kind of programmed but like even locally
17:28
because I love everybody and I always
17:30
have yes you know what I'm saying so to
17:32
me hip-hop culture is about hip-hop
17:34
culture so you know I would just I just
17:37
say that because I know that there's a
17:38
lot of people especially at a time like
17:40
this if you're not from New York they're
17:42
like well you know that was then in New
17:44
York and but I'm from here no you all
17:46
matter all of you did made a
17:49
contribution you all should feel very
17:51
proud of what we built you know what I'm
17:53
saying no matter where you're from
17:54
whether you're from Detroit whether
17:55
you're from Chicago if you're from the
17:57
Bay Area you know what I'm saying
17:58
whether you're from Houston you're from
18:00
Dallas like you should feel proud of the
18:02
hip-hop culture that you've you know
18:04
contributed to this to this world and so
18:07
just know that me as
18:10
one of the guys who is a is a pillar in
18:14
a in in one of the people that's kind of
18:16
a torch Bearer for the culture I respect
18:18
everybody
18:20
globally yeah who have contributed to
18:23
hip-hop culture I love that you know
18:25
what I'm saying yeah LL Cool Jack man uh
18:27
we got people on the lines I know Mike
18:29
and Tracy want to ask a question I'll be
18:32
remixing indeed everybody in the room
18:34
damn it so with this time period hip-hop
18:36
50 we got Grandmaster Flash come up and
18:38
oh man it was a wonderful conversation
18:41
we had with flash so we're starting to
18:44
hear all of these untold stories yeah
18:52
because you're in a lot of them okay all
18:55
right and so we had the prestigious
18:58
um journalist Bon Sue Thompson come up
19:00
here he did a series iconic records and
19:02
he talked about the life and death
19:03
record
19:05
um with biggie right and then in the
19:07
middle of the interview he revealed to
19:09
us something I want to ask you did were
19:11
you aware of this is it truly as you
19:14
understand it that when uh making
19:17
um who shot you biggie took a shot at
19:19
you I'm gonna play this clip back all
19:21
right okay
19:23
said he's like LL wrote I shot you was
19:27
because of that day in the studio
19:28
because of who shot you and I'm like and
19:30
when you think about it it's like it's a
19:32
line that big said old school new school
19:35
you need to learn though
19:38
okay
19:40
is that no I I need him to stick to his
19:43
day job okay and if that is his day job
19:46
he might want to reassess that [ __ ]
19:49
um he was told that so no I got a love
19:51
for him I'm just teasing okay um I'm
19:53
just teasing man don't get mad okay
19:55
um no that's not true I was in the
19:57
studio when Biggie wrote who shot you
19:59
okay yeah literally yeah like I was
20:02
literally in this video when he made the
20:04
song plot
20:06
twists
20:09
I was literally physically in the studio
20:13
with Notorious B.I.G when he wrote I
20:16
shot you one more time I shot people in
20:18
the back I was in the studio sitting
20:21
with biggie when he wrote who shot you I
20:24
said biggie yo why are you supposed to
20:27
what's weed when you when you write your
20:28
joints and this is at this time he was I
20:31
guess still writing before he started
20:32
memory you know he said oh it makes me
20:35
feel like I'm in the track and I just
20:36
thought we just started laughing and
20:38
laughed dog like dog you gotta these
20:41
these these Concepts that people it's a
20:43
lot of talking going on I love them I
20:45
love them I respect it look I'm not
20:47
gonna beat homie up I don't want to be
20:48
like that guy I just say look man that's
20:50
just not true I was in the studio with
20:52
big big was my man you know what I'm
20:55
saying um I did Flavor in your air remix
20:57
we did that together you know what I'm
20:59
saying
21:00
um you know I used to see him at the
21:02
tunnel I'd be like yo big you good you
21:03
chilling you know what I'm saying like
21:07
um he was just a great dude you know
21:09
what I'm saying and I liked him a lot
21:10
and now he wasn't taking a shot at me I
21:12
mean he was he was doing what rappers do
21:14
yeah what MCS do old school new school
21:16
he was saying whoever wanted can get it
21:18
yeah that's regular that comes with the
21:20
territory like you gotta have that kind
21:23
of a mindset at least at that time now
21:25
in a lot of ways it's about selling the
21:27
hustle right like I've heard that said
21:29
and I think that's pretty true that's an
21:31
accurate assessment now it's more about
21:32
selling a hustle back then it was about
21:35
lyrical prowess and your ability and
21:38
your confidence and your ability to get
21:40
an idea across it's a little different
21:42
now it's about selling swag and you know
21:45
you know yeah whatever and that's okay
21:49
yeah that's okay I'm not judging you
21:51
know what I'm saying because I'm with
21:52
that too but I'm just saying nah that's
21:55
not that's not that's not accurate
21:56
that's 100 false it's for the clicks and
21:59
everybody wants to go viral yeah right
22:00
everyone but he might generally believe
22:02
he might genuinely believe that oh I'm
22:04
not gonna like about this brother right
22:06
here in journalism as a whole we're at
22:09
now particularly within the hip-hop
22:10
journalistic space with podcasters and
22:14
everyone has a microphone with Twitter
22:15
Etc people are looking to enter
22:17
themselves in a conversation to go viral
22:20
to be Sensational uh without having all
22:22
the assessments and looking at the full
22:24
picture of the story yeah yeah there's a
22:26
lot of that going on and then you know
22:27
the pit is simple just a lot of people
22:29
just be bullshitting you know what I'm
22:31
saying
22:40
like it's crazy like I'm literally like
22:43
sitting I can see it in my mind right
22:45
now yeah the only reason biggie rap to
22:47
that to that beat is because Keith
22:49
Murray didn't finish the song when he
22:52
did it as a as a as a skit on Mary's
22:54
album uh-huh so that that I shot you
22:56
that who shot you I'm sorry yeah who
22:58
shot your beat remember was a skit with
23:01
Keith Murray on Mary J blige's album and
23:04
and and and
23:06
people you know people were like yo why
23:08
you ain't make them finish it and the
23:10
guy's like hey no I know so then they
23:11
gave the beat to Biggie and he ended up
23:13
doing who shot you wow all right so that
23:16
wasn't even you know what I mean yeah
23:17
wow there it is we got it right here
23:19
from LL get a man Round of Applause
23:21
twice here thank you for clearing that
23:22
up yes and his jewelry is real
23:26
if I was ever to be a question and
23:30
tasteful too yeah
23:32
hello you know when you had mentioned
23:34
being such a torch Bearer for our
23:37
culture a protector as well as a pillar
23:40
um it just reminded me why you are
23:41
amongst one of my favorite key members
23:43
of hip-hop royalty because you don't
23:45
care solely about your own Throne you
23:48
care about the Thrones of others
23:51
um when we speak about hip-hop becoming
23:53
50 and our Elder Statesman in this game
23:56
I'm thinking to myself were you always
23:59
embracing of getting older because
24:02
there's always been ageism within
24:04
hip-hop in general there's always
24:06
there's been this idea that you know you
24:09
reach your Prime only in your youth you
24:12
know sway said that you can hide with
24:14
fair in our culture and cause your
24:17
growth no I think I think I was like
24:19
everybody else I think you know when I
24:20
was younger you know I I thought it was
24:23
you know all about being young and when
24:24
I got older I changed my mind
24:33
you know
24:35
But to answer your question more
24:37
seriously I've always been very
24:39
comfortable where wherever whatever
24:41
whatever stage I was at my life
24:43
and um I just don't wanna
24:47
I don't see any reason to pretend yeah
24:50
that's why I started rock the bells like
24:52
why do I have to
24:54
pretend like you know look there's I I
24:59
listen to Little Dirk songs some of them
25:01
I like the joint with Cole and I listen
25:03
to you know the baby I'm amazing put
25:05
your hands on there like I listen to
25:06
joints like I listen to all of these
25:08
different joints but my thing is like
25:11
why pretend that I grew up with that or
25:13
like you know like I don't have to
25:15
pretend like let's just embrace it all
25:17
yeah let's embrace it all like like you
25:20
look I Love Rock Box by Run DMC you know
25:23
I think it's great you know and then
25:24
there's songs by the little baby that I
25:26
like and there's you know songs by you
25:29
know different artists that I like so
25:32
I just think we just have to be
25:34
comfortable
25:35
with the idea of of of being artists see
25:39
the one misnomer that I think gets
25:41
miscommunicated is that look hip-hop is
25:44
not a sport no okay thank you so so you
25:48
know it's like playing guitar you know
25:50
or like the whole like like it's not a
25:52
sport so I don't have to like stop doing
25:55
what I do and stop recording at 34. you
25:59
know like I hear artists always all the
26:01
time flirting
26:03
with retirement yeah and
26:06
that's really insecurity because they
26:08
don't know whether or not they're going
26:10
to be able to continue on in their
26:12
careers at least that's how it comes off
26:13
to me I think it's insecurity and at a
26:17
minimum it's a slight lack of gratitude
26:19
it's a little bit ungrateful because
26:21
you're in a position to have a great
26:23
career and you're flirting with
26:24
retirement for absolutely no reason
26:26
other than the fact that you don't know
26:27
what to do next but that's what that's
26:30
what greatness is about greatness is
26:32
about being willing to go into Uncharted
26:33
Territory and you you know the going
26:36
when you go into Uncharted Territory you
26:37
don't know what's going to happen what
26:38
was your last Uncharted what do you
26:40
consider your last Uncharted Territory I
26:42
think me working on this new music okay
26:44
I mean you know I haven't done an album
26:46
in a deck over a decade and haven't had
26:49
an album that was impactful in maybe two
26:51
decades so it's like okay
26:54
do you want to do that yeah that's
26:56
Uncharted Territory for me starting Rock
26:58
the bells at a time when everybody is
27:00
only interested in standing next to the
27:03
youngest hottest rapper so that they can
27:04
be seen with them so that they can be
27:06
relevant I said you know what the art is
27:08
relevant yeah I don't need to see a
27:11
current picture of Miles Davis he's
27:12
great
27:13
like I don't need to see a current
27:15
picture of of Charlie Parker current
27:17
picture of Bob Dylan you know like so I
27:21
know rock him is great I don't need him
27:23
to stand next to whoever for rock him to
27:26
be respected I know he's amazing yeah
27:28
period like I know you know I know Kane
27:30
is a dynamic unbelievable performer I
27:33
don't need him to stand next to whoever
27:34
the hottest artist is of the day to make
27:37
me love Kane yeah so I had to eliminate
27:40
the ego and eliminate all of that but
27:43
that was Uncharted Territory yeah
27:44
because a lot of people like last year
27:46
when we did the festival we're like yo
27:48
why are you doing that
27:49
why why you know why don't you you know
27:51
why you ain't go get you know all of the
27:54
Young Artists and the young acts and
27:55
pretend to like it you know because
27:58
that's what a lot of people are doing
27:59
yeah I'm not saying I don't like it I'm
28:01
saying but there are a lot of people who
28:02
are really pretending to like things
28:03
that they don't because they just want
28:05
to fit in and that's not real
28:08
and it's an uncomfortable space to be in
28:10
as a human being because you being
28:12
inauthentic yeah I want to live real I
28:14
want to live true I wanna if I want to
28:15
listen to a little Dirk song I want to
28:17
listen to it if I want to listen to
28:18
afrobeats I want to listen to it and if
28:20
I want to listen to you know
28:22
Rakim or EPMD I want to listen to it I
28:26
want to listen to run like I don't want
28:27
to be in that space of Faking it yeah
28:29
yeah you know what I mean so that's a
28:31
man LL Cool J man I told y'all gems yeah
28:34
give that man some water Kalani even put
28:36
you know he might be parked I'm
28:38
definitely going okay yeah that's water
28:40
you just got a fresh uh filtered mineral
28:42
water okay
28:47
today in the news jump in real quick
28:50
because you brought up Z-Trip and he's a
28:51
well-respected DJ if you know his
28:53
history and his lineage and like how
28:54
long he's been rocking with you you've
28:55
got to respect Z-Trip and I bring him up
28:57
because when you look at the art of
28:59
Performing you come from a specific era
29:01
where the DJ and the rapper were in sync
29:03
they rehearsed together you know what
29:04
I'm saying the DJ was an actual DJ not
29:06
just somebody who was triggering songs
29:07
so do you think that that is is
29:09
beneficial to a lot of performers who
29:11
have that Unison and that collaboration
29:14
with your DJ of course it is and listen
29:16
listen like any other craft you know if
29:19
you're a youngster and or or you're new
29:22
learn the history like just learn it it
29:25
doesn't mean that you have to go out and
29:27
be like LL Cool J and talk about it
29:29
every chance you get and start a company
29:31
like rock the Bells but maybe you will
29:33
but learn the craft because that will
29:35
make you better as an artist
29:37
if I was going to get into rock and roll
29:39
I would learn everything about the
29:40
history of rock and roll Blues I would
29:42
go in the funk I would go into all of
29:44
the source material that led to that
29:46
genre being created so that it would
29:48
make me a better artist you study the
29:50
greats you study the master so that you
29:52
can become better you know what I mean
29:53
because you're not going to be able to
29:55
press play and just jump up and down in
29:57
one spot your entire career
29:59
yeah that's right yeah you're not yeah
30:02
you're gonna have to figure something
30:03
out so at a certain point you got to be
30:06
prepared for that so be in sync with the
30:08
DJ that's why me having a DJ but then
30:10
having the roots out there with me but
30:12
Quest understands Quest love understands
30:14
the culture so when you come see me
30:16
perform it's not just it's it's it's
30:19
like
30:21
this is how it's done from my from my
30:24
perspective now there are other people
30:25
who will do it from their perspective
30:27
and they'll all be great in different
30:29
ways so Run DMC will give you something
30:31
from their perspective but you need to
30:33
see run when they was with Jam Master
30:35
Jay you need to see so that you can
30:38
learn you know how to do this [ __ ] right
30:40
like I look at Bob Marley I'm looking at
30:42
Prince you know I'm looking at you know
30:45
you can't just be like you know it
30:47
there's more to your career than
30:51
you know money in in
30:56
you know just like the surface though
30:58
the surface levels up there's more to
31:00
your career than that in terms of if you
31:02
want to have a long-term career you know
31:04
you can make a lot of money there's
31:05
nothing wrong with that I'm all about it
31:06
I've always liked to get money and I
31:08
still do and I'm going to continue to
31:09
get back to G's for 20 minutes just to
31:11
pay I earn a little more now
31:17
but yeah yeah yeah but I'm just saying
31:19
like you you see what I'm saying like so
31:21
I'm with like like I love the energy I
31:24
love the mindset I love that but you got
31:26
to remember your attitude determines
31:28
your altitude right so just just embrace
31:31
all of this [ __ ] like go see everybody
31:33
y'all definitely need to come to that
31:35
rock the best see it Swiss beats and
31:38
Friends yo Swiss gonna have people out
31:39
there it's gonna be crazy yeah like like
31:41
the way this is gonna look you know what
31:43
I mean and then turn around and go to
31:45
the to the Drake joint and go to the you
31:48
know go to all of them if you can you
31:50
know whatever your pockets permit you
31:51
know what I'm saying go to the shows and
31:53
see your artists so that you can be
31:55
great too when LL Cool J Rock the
31:58
bells.com forward slash festival for
32:01
info and tickets go to
32:04
www.rockthebelles.com forward slash
32:07
Festival that's this Saturday Forest
32:09
Hill stadium in Queens New York you know
32:12
I don't know what the what the response
32:15
might be from UL when I'm gonna ask you
32:16
this question
32:18
but I know man I feel like our
32:21
friendship is strong enough and solid
32:23
enough you're crumbling up the questions
32:27
God damn dude I didn't make it
32:30
I didn't answer
32:46
that's a that's all right that's all
32:48
right what's up man it would do me a big
32:51
honor I may I don't know if it could
32:53
happen now but man I never had you bust
32:55
a verse on my show bro
32:58
okay yo you want me to do that
33:09
about what beach you got over there
33:13
[Music]
33:18
slow it down a little bit
33:22
[Music]
33:24
there was smoke when the mother's water
33:25
broke the dark saw the horns oh my God
33:28
it's a goat the nurse cut the call got
33:30
shot with a million votes homos dropped
33:31
him on the floor but the baby started to
33:33
float umbilical cord turned into a gold
33:36
rope Mike appeared in his hand his body
33:38
started to jolt Angels injected him with
33:40
lyrical dope same drugs that gave him
33:42
away a Edgar Allan Poe The Whole World's
33:45
raving for the baby the Bell Tolls a
33:47
crab gathered around throwing punches
33:48
and elbows then his mama arose and
33:50
recited a poem taught to Hip Hop God
33:53
[ __ ] rock and roll put his baby in the
33:55
whip there was a solar eclipse then the
33:57
Spirit came wrote his name down and
33:58
hieroglyphs break beats played he had a
34:01
speaker for a [ __ ] she screamed Jack the
34:03
rip and ignited his gifts to the parents
34:05
he's a legend to the children of myth
34:07
here's some first-hand experience of Mr
34:09
Smith Alias Mr killing every rapper in
34:12
his radius cyphers the stadiums bosses
34:14
vibranium molecular structure the
34:16
nucleus of his Cranium Platinum uranium
34:19
lyrical titanium in other words whoever
34:21
is concerned if you [ __ ] around with
34:23
fire you gonna get that ass turn the ass
34:26
true story I'm walking crematorium
34:28
helping rappers earn obituaries from
34:30
historians banging on them yellow taping
34:32
white sheets laying on them carb hand
34:34
tombstones praying for them moving the
34:36
chess pieces like telekinesis as a
34:38
toddler he walked with two Panthers on
34:40
leashes learned early on where the mark
34:42
of the pieces by the time he hit
34:44
cubidities looking increases slick it in
34:47
Odysseus on an odyssey into like it's
34:48
part of me so part of me if it's harder
34:50
to follow me what does that mean he's a
34:52
mythological melanated progeny of
34:54
royalty spraying you with soliloquies
34:56
kill Heron with the camouflage gear on
34:59
ignorance is a virus my ink is the
35:00
interferon the last poet revolutionary
35:03
with guns loaded back to Revel evade the
35:05
culture that's my only motive
35:16
oh my god
35:21
[Music]
35:25
wow
35:32
thank you sir the force look for the
35:36
tour LL Cool J on tour this Saturday we
35:39
partying Rock The Bells Festival let's
35:42
get it hell I need tickets
35:45
thank you very much I appreciate you LL
35:47
Cool J
35:49
foreign
35:53
[Music]
#Arts & Entertainment