It’s very rare you’ll ever catch LL COOL J not smiling — and there’s a good reason for that. The legendary New York rapper, who began his career 40 years ago at the tender age of 16, lives a blessed life courtesy of his pioneering contributions to hip hop as the culture’s first solo superstar.
Not only has he carved out one hell of a career in music, film and TV, for which he’s earned numerous platinum and multi-platinum-selling records, a tonne of awards and accolades, and a string of impressive acting credits, he’s also a business mogul, philanthropist, and a loving husband and proud father of four.
And he’s now got something else to smile about… his first new album in over 11 years.
Deciding it was time to dust off the mic after what has been his longest break between albums — his last full-length release was 2013’s Authentic — LL (real name James Todd Smith) tells Metro.co.uk the reason for his return is because he still feels he has a lot to offer today’s music fan and doesn’t ever want to be branded a ‘part-time artist.’
‘You can’t be an artist in your spare time,’ he says, speaking over Zoom from New York, before going on to explain that he never actually stopped making music. “Musically, the pilot light was always on. I’d always be going in the studio and touching things here and there.’
It wasn’t until CBS action crime drama series NCIS: Los Angeles — in which LL COOL J stars as Special Agent Sam Hanna — started to wind down ahead of its May 2023 season 14 finale, that he was able to get back in the studio and focus on recording.
‘I just got into a place where the TV show was coming to an end and I was becoming more and more serious about wanting to do new music. Then at a certain point, I realised that there was a new challenge there, and that was: can an artist that’s been out for many, many years make a record that has some serious impact in a new era? That became a fun idea for me.’
This resulted in the creation of new album The FORCE (an acronym for Frequencies of Real Creative Energy). Produced entirely by Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, the 14-track project arrives via Def Jam Recordings, the legendary hip hop label where the 56-year-old started his career back in 1984.
Leaving the label after the release of his 12th studio album, 2008’s Exit 13, citing creative differences with the execs who ran Def Jam at the time, LL says his decision to re-sign all these years later is down to a different energy he feels is now present at the label — which today is home to the likes of Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Big Sean, Coco Jones, Jhené Aiko and many others.
‘I wanted [the album] to be great, and so I called up [CEO of Universal Music Group] Lucian [Grainge]. I was like, “Yo man, I want to do a record.” And he was like, “Well, come on. Let’s figure it out.” So we did a deal with Def Jam.
‘The energy around the label felt different to me. I felt like time and care would be taken to make sure that the record was treated properly. And I think I was right. Just the fact that we’re on the phone [doing this interview]. Something as simple as this, these are things that need to happen. It just felt right to me.’
Featured guests on the album include Snoop Dogg, Nas, Busta Rhymes and Fat Joe. But one collaboration that sticks out — and one that LL COOL J fans have been waiting years for — comes on the track Murdergram Deux, where the Mama Said Knock You out hitmaker trades bars with Eminem.
‘Me and Em were in the studio together,’ LL says of the track, the vocals for which were recorded at Dr. Dre’s studio in California. ‘I would write my rhyme, then I’d leave the studio. Then he would write his rhyme, I would record my vocal, then he would write and record his and leave. We went back and forth and then sat in the studio together and did that last piece together.’
In rap, it’s not uncommon for collaborating MCs to rewrite their bars after hearing what their counterpart has laid down. Kanye West famously rewrote his verse on Drake’s 2009 blockbuster anthem Forever after hearing Eminem’s verse, admitting: ‘I went back and rewrote my s**t for two days. I cancelled appointments to rewrite [that]. I f****n ’care!”
Given Eminem’s reputation as one of hip hop’s best lyricists, did LL have to rewrite any of his bars on the rapid-fire cut?
‘Nah, I didn’t have to rewrite nothing,’ he says, composing himself after laughing hysterically for almost 30 seconds straight, making it very clear just how comical the suggestion he would ever rewrite his lyrics is.
‘Artists that are not really used to rapping with great rappers, they get into a lot of hang ups about rhyming with guys that can rhyme,’ he explains. ‘But if you notice, I have Nas on the album. I have Em on the album. I’m getting the best guys. So for me, that’s just par for the course. I’m rhyming with a guy who can really rap good. Okay, great. That was the whole point of when I got into hip hop. The whole point was when you put a group together, find the guys that can rap the best.’
When it comes to rap G.O.A.T.s, there’s no question that Eminem and LL COOL J are cemented names on the list. As far as the ‘Greatest of All Time’ acronym itself, which is regularly used to describe transcendent athletes, entertainers and other talented entities, you might be surprised to learn that it was actually LL who coined the term. ‘There’s no question I came up with that!’
Explaining that the inspiration for the G.O.A.T. term and acronym came from ‘smashing together’ Muhammad Ali’s famous ‘I am the greatest’ quote and the nickname given to street basketball legend Earl ‘the Goat’ Manigault, LL used the moniker for the title of his eighth studio album, G.O.A.T. featuring James T. Smith: The Greatest of All Time — which coincidentally or not is his only album to top the US Billboard 200 album chart.
‘It’s pretty wild that it turned out how it did,’ he says, reflecting on how the inescapable term became a cultural phenomenon and is now a permanent fixture in the global vocabulary. ‘I had no idea it was gonna become a worldwide phrase and statement.’
While he wishes he had trademarked the phrase, instead of dwelling on a missed opportunity, LL wants to be more positive and optimistic about his creation, using it as inspiration for his potential future endeavours.
‘To be able to touch the world through my art like that is pretty dope. What it says to me is that I can do more creatively. It says to me, if I’m capable of creating terminology for the entire globe, I can do some big things.’
When it comes to his acting resumé, the list of film and TV projects LL COOL J has been involved in is solid. With over 35 acting credits to his name, his most memorable roles are probably those in the aforementioned NCIS: Los Angeles, and then movies such as Any Given Sunday, S.W.A.T., Charlie’s Angels, In Too Deep, Mindhunters and Deep Blue Sea.
The latter, now a cult classic among shark and horror fans, celebrated its 25th anniversary last month. Remembering the impact it had on his career — and how it broke the problematic movie trope that Black characters always die first in horror films, or just never make it to the end — LL takes a moment to give the Renny Harlin-directed film its flowers.
‘I loved doing Deep Blue Sea. I have a lot of important movies that were cool for my life, and that was definitely one of them. Even the fact that I survived in the movie, I think that’s hysterical — first Black dude to survive.’
Despite his love for film and TV, though, LL admits that making music is where his real passion is. ‘I just love the music,’ he explains. ‘I don’t limit myself. I do enjoy doing these films and television shows, but I just love music more.’
Having flirted with retirement a few times throughout his career, does this candid and seemingly unconditional love for music mean there will be more to come after The FORCE — or will this be his final album?
‘I definitely would like to record more,’ he says with a smirk, before adding one caveat. ‘As long as I’m inspired, I will always want to record and release more music.’
LL COOL J’s The FORCE is out now via Def Jam Recordings.
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