LL Cool J Archives - Page 2 of 15

LL COOL J & Nas Spit Some Wisdom On “Praise Him”

September 9, 2024 by newhiphopnews

LL COOL J may be a true veteran in the hip-hop world, but he did some firsts on his brand-new record. Over the weekend, the legendary New York MC dropped his first album in about 11 years with The FORCE. There was some considerable hype surrounding this 14th LP leading up to its release thanks to how long it’s been, but also the quality of the singles. “Saturday Night Special”, “Proclivities”, “Passion”, and “Murdergram Deux” all offered up something different and with Q-Tip behind the boards, that only added to the excitement. What is also a cool aspect about The FORCE is the first-time collaborations (the firsts we mentioned earlier).

Rick Ross, Saweetie, and Eminem are just a few to name. But LL COOL J got to work with Nas for this LP, and you can hear them together on “Praise Him”. After hearing it, we are wondering how these two never split duties on a song before. The track kicks off with a speedy and introspective verse in which LL portrays himself as a God of sorts in the game. He expresses that he wants to bring peace and equality to the planet, which feeds into the album’s title (Frequencies Of Real Creative Energy). Then, Nas comes in after a chorus from Q-Tip and tears this abstract beat to shreds. He’s a little less philosophical but he still sort of sticks to the theme by reflecting on his personal experiences throughout his career. Check out the collab with the link below.

“Praise Him” – LL COOL J & Nas

Quotable Lyrics:

Control the cypher, I got the power, bring it on
Watch ya queen get snatched like a pawn
Slicker than a ruler, the savior is born
Tell you the truth, you’re square, your style’s all wrong
You ain’t understanding the universe
Some say they want the victory but don’t wanna rehearse

[Via]

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LL COOL J Returns with First New Album in Over a Decade: ‘THE FORCE’

September 6, 2024 by newhiphopnews

Today, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and two-time Grammy® Award-winning Hip-Hop icon LL COOL J released his first album in over a decade, THE FORCE (Frequencies of Real Creative Energy), via Def Jam Recordings / Virgin Music Group. This 14-track record, entirely produced by A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip, marks a significant moment in both LL’s career and the Hip-Hop landscape. The album combines modern sounds with classic Hip-Hop energy, showcasing LL’s enduring passion and creativity.

LL describes the album as a return to his roots, likening it to “learning how to rap again.” The project reflects his evolution and unwavering dedication, with THE FORCE opening with the powerful track “Spirit of Cyrus,” featuring a smooth hook by Snoop Dogg. The album also includes collaborations with Nas, Eminem, Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes, Saweetie, and more. Notably, “Huey In Da Chair” pays tribute to LL’s aunt, Joan, a pioneering Black Panther.

A highlight of the album is the lead single, “Murdergram Deux,” featuring Eminem. This track exemplifies both artists’ lyrical prowess and raw energy, setting the stage for an intense and memorable listening experience. The music video for “Murdergram Deux,” which is set to be released soon, promises to be a visual spectacle.

“It feels good to finally have this record out in the world,” LL said. “As I’ve said before, this album brings a whole new vibe. I’m returning to my roots…you all better buckle up.”

THE FORCE tackles themes such as racial injustice, isolation during the pandemic, and LL’s legacy in Hip-Hop, blending profound insights with compelling beats. With this release, LL COOL J continues to push boundaries, proving that greatness endures and continues to inspire.

The post LL COOL J Returns with First New Album in Over a Decade: ‘THE FORCE’ first appeared on The Source.

The post LL COOL J Returns with First New Album in Over a Decade: ‘THE FORCE’ appeared first on The Source.

LL Cool J Makes His Triumphant Return With New Album “The FORCE”

September 6, 2024 by newhiphopnews

LL Cool J is here. The legendary rapper has released his first new album in over a decade. Not only that, but LL has aggressively promoted the album by doing interviews and podcast appearances. It feels like the New York spitter has more passion harnessed into The FORCE than he did his previous effort, Exit 13. He certainly has more guest features. The FORCE has a staggering lineup of artists from multiple eras of hip hop. It’s a testament to LL Cool J’s reputation that he could take a decade off, then come back and secure features from the likes of Nas and Eminem. Plus, the album is actually good.

“Saturday Night Special” remains a standout, with its old school production and smooth turns from both Rick Ross and Fat Joe. The collaborations between LL Cool J and his roster of guests consistently make for the best songs on the album. “Proclivities” gets LL back in smooth talking, slow jam mode, and it has a killer Saweetie verse to boot. Busta Rhymes brings out LL’s energetic side on “Huey In the Chair,” while “Praise Him” sees LL Cool J and Nas swap bars over another vintage beat. The solo cuts on The FORCE are solid, “Post Modern” and “Basquiat Energy,” in particular, but they do lack the hunger and the spark that LL gets whenever he’s feeding off others. A definite improvement over Exit 13, and overall, the best LL has sounded in a long time. No “Accidental Racist” train-wrecks here.

LL Cool J Keeps Up With His Peers On New Album

The FORCE tracklist:

Spirit of Cyrus (featuring Snoop Dogg)
The Force
Saturday Night Special (featuring Rick Ross & Fat Joe)
Black Code Suite (featuring Sona Jobarteh)
Passion
Proclivities (featuring Saweetie)
Post Modern
30 Decembers
Runnit Back
Huey In the Chair (featuring Busta Rhymes)
Basquiat Energy
Praise Him (featuring Nas)
Murdergram Deux (featuring Eminem)
The Vow (featuring Don Pablito, J-S.A.N.D. & Mad Squablz)

The post LL Cool J Makes His Triumphant Return With New Album “The FORCE” appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Listen to LL COOL J’s ‘THE FORCE’ Album Special on His SiriusXM Channel, Talks About Recording With Eminem

September 5, 2024 by newhiphopnews

LL COOL J talked about his new album, “THE FORCE,” collaborating with Eminem on the track “Murdergram Deux,” crediting Michael Jackson as a writer on the song “The FORCE,” learning to rap again, and much more during a track-by-track album special on his new SiriusXM channel, LL COOL J’s THE FORCE Channel.

Featuring LL COOL J’s Rock the Bells Radio host Roxanne Shanté and a live audience, “LL COOL J ‘THE FORCE’ Track-By-Track Album Special” premieres on LL COOL J’s THE FORCE Channel on Friday, September 6, at noon ET and will be available to stream on the SiriusXM app (see more details below). During the show, LL went through his process working with Eminem.

“Me and Em actually went to Dr. Dre’s studio and recorded it out in LA,” LL COOL J said. “We Went together in the studio. And the way the process was: I would write my rhyme. Then I would lay it. He would come in, he would hear it, I would leave. He would write his rhyme. He would record. And we went back and forth in the booth without seeing each other record until we did the very last thing together, where I kinda come together with him a little bit.”

Tune in to LL COOL J’s THE FORCE Channel on channel 79 from now through September 19 at 3am ET in cars and through October 3 at 3am ET on the SiriusXM app.

The post Listen to LL COOL J’s ‘THE FORCE’ Album Special on His SiriusXM Channel, Talks About Recording With Eminem first appeared on The Source.

The post Listen to LL COOL J’s ‘THE FORCE’ Album Special on His SiriusXM Channel, Talks About Recording With Eminem appeared first on The Source.

LL Cool J And Eminem’s ‘Murdergram Deux’ Reminds Rap Rookies That The Veterans Can Still Lyrically Kill Beats

August 30, 2024 by newhiphopnews

LL Cool J is still hard as hell. The “Proclivities” rapper might have shelved his joint album with 50 Cent, but LL Cool J’s forthcoming solo album, The Force, will knock out a space for itself on streaming platforms next month.

Today (August 30), LL Cool J shared another taste of his first album in a decade. On his latest single, “Murdergram Deux,” LL Cool J linked up with Eminem to remind rap rookies that the veterans can still lyrically kill beats.

Between their verses, LL Cool J and Eminem pulled out ever sharp-witted trick in the hip-hop book. From swift cadence flips to multi-layered metaphors, “Murdergram Deux,” is a rap masterclass.

“What? A supa-dupa switch / I can’t understand a single word you’re saying / I think you have syrup brain, ’bout to finish you like polyurethane / All that molly probably sure to drain your spinal fluid from your vertebrae / This the Murdergram and I brought my murder game / My sh*t fire, that is why you log on it like Duraflame,” rapped Eminem.

LL Cool J follows that stanza with a fiery take of his own, rapping: “Murdergrams, turn over your ambulance, thirty bullets in advance / Candlelight and crying fans, we go in and buy a land / Slide up behind you, testing my rifle / Give blessings to my disciples, professional I’m a sniper / Like eight miles away, me and Marshall doing murders.”

The two emcees weren’t the only certified rap veteran to craft the record. Behind the scenes Q-Tip served as its co-producer and recording engineer to transport vintage hip-hop instrumental styles to present day.

Listen to “Murdergram Deux” above.

The Force is out 9/6. Find more information here.

LL COOL J & Eminem Have A Rap Battle On “Murdergram Deux”

August 30, 2024 by newhiphopnews

After just over 11 years of waiting, LL COOL J fans will soon be able to enjoy a new album. Next Friday, September 6, the man who continues to defy Father Time will be dropping off The FORCE, his 14th studio LP. The acronym “FORCE” stands for Frequencies of Real Creative Energy, and it’s something that LL COOL J has continued to bring up during its rollout. “When you listen to this album, you’re not just hearing music, you’re experiencing a whole new vibe, a whole new level of artistic passion“, he said in statement. That “passion” is certainly on full display on this new LL COOL J single “Murdergram Deux”.

If that title sound familiar, it’s because there was an unfinished version of the song that got leaked online. It was originally titled just “Murdergram”, but after people spoiled it, LL went back to the drawing board. That is most likely why it’s now called “Murdergram Deux”, with the latter word meaning “two” in French. This track was hyped up big time, thanks Eminem’s inclusion. Both legends can really rap their a** off and their command of flow, as well as their lyrical abilities are front and center here. It feels like they were trying to outdo one another and if so, it’s intense. As with all of the tracks on The FORCE, this was one was handled by Q-Tip, but Em also has credits. Both murder the beat and are also doing the same to the competition with this one. Be sure to stream it with the link below.

“Murdergram Deux” – LL COOL J & Eminem

Quotable Lyrics:

Do you remember first time you heard the legend in leather?
The career ender with the road-killer stuck to his fender
I’m on another bender, drunk off the power that make a coward surrender as I devour contenders
Talkin’ foul of whoever, your head is ’bout to get severed
Then I bounce it with pleasure, I’m pouring out Amaretto
Homies, I won’t forgеt ’em, so tap the bottle and pour it

[Via]

The post LL COOL J & Eminem Have A Rap Battle On “Murdergram Deux” appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

LL COOL J Reacts to Shade for Joe Budden’s “Pump It Up” Plaque: ‘Some People Never Go Gold!’

August 29, 2024 by newhiphopnews

LL COOL J is not aligned with Yung Miami laughing at Joe Budden’s gold plaque for “Pump It Up.” TMZ tracked down Hip-Hop’s OG G.O.A.T. and asked his opinion.

“Some people never go gold!” LL said. “It doesn’t matter, you have artists that don’t go do diamond ’til posthumously. I mean, it’s life. But it’s beautiful for him, [I’m] happy for Joe.”

TMZ asked The Goat LL Cool J about Caresha (Yung Miami) laughing at Joe Budden’s Gold Plaque
“SOME ARTISTS NEVER GO GOLD”#LLCoolJ #JoeBudden #TMZ #HipHop pic.twitter.com/0MjTLBPM28

— Chris (@RealDealChris) August 28, 2024

On a recent episode of his podcast, LL COOL J dropped off Budden’s gold plaque for his hit single “Pump It Up.” Seeing the moment, Yung Miami had some jokes to crack. You can see them below.

Yung Miami laughs at Joe Budden just recently receiving his plaque for “Pump It Up”, 21 years after its release.

This comes after he laughed at ‘Caresha Please’ appearing to be nonexistent

“Another one bites the dust remember??” pic.twitter.com/iZqMxTxuEC

— Glock Topickz (@Glock_Topickz) August 22, 2024

Returning to the pod, Budden had some smoke, dubbing her “the worst female rapper” in the world right now.

“The thing about laughter, I think that she will soon realize is, it’s also a luxury,” Budden said. “So while I’m happy Caresha is able to laugh because she’s had a stressful year, I am a little surprised that she has found enough time to laugh at anything.

“I want to keep this professional and on the music. If Complex were to do a list of where all the female rappers rat, Caresha, you would be last on the list. You would be drop dead last on that list. Every female out there is wiping you down right now.

“Caresha, may you not only be dropped from your label right now, but you are not allowed to put music out. There is nothing happening.”

You can hear his calm read below.

The post LL COOL J Reacts to Shade for Joe Budden’s “Pump It Up” Plaque: ‘Some People Never Go Gold!’ first appeared on The Source.

The post LL COOL J Reacts to Shade for Joe Budden’s “Pump It Up” Plaque: ‘Some People Never Go Gold!’ appeared first on The Source.

[WATCH] LL Cool J Talks Hip Hop Culture And Breaking At The Paris Olympics

August 15, 2024 by newhiphopnews

LL Cool J recently chatted with SiriusXM host D-Stroy on SiriusXM’s “CTRL, ALT, D-Stroy” on Shade 45. During the interview, LL Cool J talks about hip hop culture at the Paris Olympics and hopes they bring back breaking for the 2028 games.

See the clip from “CTRL, ALT, D-Stroy” HERE

When asked about this year’s Olympics in Paris and its inclusion of breaking(breakdancing) as an Olympic sport, Ladies Love responded, “The boombox. I saw judges with Kangols which I felt, I did feel like I was part of it. Whenever I see the boombox radio obviously. Yeah that kind of and my first album radio right? Boombox. So it personifies that. So it’s like when I see that I always think about you know my music and my contribution to hip hop, so it was amazing man.“

He added,” Like look I’m so happy about hip hop culture. I hope that they reconsider bringing back breaking for the 2028 games. I do know that the breakers will be even better in the 2028 games. There were a lot of great ones out there, don’t get me wrong, but I think that it will only get better and stronger. You just have to give it some time and I feel good about it man. I love this culture. I love hip hop, man. I love it.”

Even though L was excited over the breaking/Hip Hop inclusion in this year’s Olympics, fans and critics alike were perplexed after the performance of a b-girl from Brazil named “Raygun”, whose “dance” moves were ridiculed and made into some of the funniest memes to date.

The Olympic Committee decided to eliminate breakdancing from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The post [WATCH] LL Cool J Talks Hip Hop Culture And Breaking At The Paris Olympics first appeared on The Source.

The post [WATCH] LL Cool J Talks Hip Hop Culture And Breaking At The Paris Olympics appeared first on The Source.

LL COOL J & Saweetie Unite For Seductive Single “Proclivities”

August 10, 2024 by newhiphopnews

LL COOL J is looking to go 3/3 on the singles front for his upcoming album as he drops “Proclivities” with Saweetie. Prior to this, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee put out “Passion” and “Saturday Night Special” with Rick Ross and Fat Joe. The New York legend had taken a lot of time to get The FORCE right and lately, he’s been feeling that is a project worth hyping up. “We’re talking 14 tracks of straight fire, all crafted by myself and the one and only Q-Tip. When you listen to this album, you’re not just hearing music, you’re experiencing a whole new vibe, a whole new level of artistic passion”. So far, we have certainly been hearing the detailed approach from LL and Q. The previous tracks have been in our rotation consistently thanks to standout rapping and instrumentals that recapture the early days of hip-hop.

When fans heard that LL COOL J would be working with Saweetie on a song, they weren’t sure how it would sound. However, we are happy to report that the California femcee is able to put forth a pretty killer performance. She flexes her singing chops on the chorus which are highly sexual and steamy. She then effortlessly transitions right into her raunchy verse, keeping the sensual tension high. LL’s verses carry a majority of the runtime, and both of their performances are backed by another winning instrumental from Q-Tip. Its smoky, grand, and it’s just got an alluring quality to it. Fans can expect to have LL’s new album, The FORCE, on September 6. Stream “Proclivities” and check out its accompanying music video below.

“Proclivities”- LL COOL J & Saweetie

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