*LL Cool J is proving that older rappers are very much relevant in current-day hip-hop. RhymeJunkie cites the 56-year-old rhyme legend’s recent sit-down with Billboard, where he chatted about his latest album “The FORCE” and detailed plans to keep mature rappers doing their thing musically.
“When I told people, ‘Yo, I wanna do a culturally relevant album in the middle of all these younger artists,’ people looked at me like I had nine heads,” Cool J said. “They looked at me like I was a hydra – a hydra! – looking at me crazy like that, not because they had any ill will, but just ‘How can you do that?'”
Citing his inspiration, late English runner Roger Bannister, the first person to run the 4-minute mile, the “Luv U Better” MC believes it is very possible to make a permanent shift, no matter the age, despite doubts.
“Nobody thought it could be broken until Roger Bannister did it, and then a lot of people started breaking it,” he explained. ” Now you’ll see, when ‘The FORCE’ has success, you’ll see people believing that they can make it happen, and it’s gonna extend the life of hip-hop in general.”
“But if somebody doesn’t do it, if I don’t do Rock the Bells and festivals and show that guys without records in the marketplace still can be relevant, and if I don’t tell you that a guy who’s been out for a long time can make a new record and be relevant – if nobody does it, it never happens,” added Cool J.
The mic icon comes on the heels of other rap veterans putting out solid, well-received material, RhymeJunkie noted. Among those with a healthy buzz are Pete Rock and Common‘s The Auditorium Vol. 1, as well as Eminem‘s The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) LP.
Plus, the biggest rap song of 2024 so far could be from Kendrick Lamar, who made battle rap the soundtrack of the summer with “Not Like Us,” his chartopping diss against Drake.
Released Sept. 6, “The FORCE” features Cool J in hunger mode, dropping lyrics in solo and collaboration mode with high-powered guests in the form of Eminem (“Murdergram Deux”), Snoop Dogg (“Spirit of Cyrus”), Fat Joe and Rick Ross (“Saturday Night Special”), Sona Jobarteh (“Saturday Night Special”), Saweetie (“Proclivities”), Busta Rhymes (“Huey in the Chair”) and Nas ( “Praise Him”), among others.
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