EP: 673- LL Cool Interview (uncensored)

I don't believe you want to leave like this whispering I love you when I'll always be here to us.

No problemma to getti move to You can plend on your dilemma. I gotta take it from your man. That's my mission. If its love has really got the hand of the competition. You're the type of girl, the kind of.

Hollywood is he good, greatest of all time. Number One priority self preservation that applies to the majority different situations.

The hands got something that you can't quite handle.

Give it to your man, rough and anywhere that handcuffs. I'm well from the black while we stand up. Candem, candem, condemn candem. But let it breathe for a second. Hold on, let that let that sit there for a second. Crazy hell COOLJ is back on the cruise, cruising, cruising? What's up?

Man, what's up?

Confused with that intro? Yeah, yeah it was with that night. I was right, It's crazy. Was hot, Yeah, that was hot. That was hot. We got to get you that. Different chambers, different chambers, different change, different memories, different moments and time and time errors. Eras for sure, you know what I'm saying. Like the King of Eras, dog you know what I'm saying, young legend, living legend al.

I'm thankful, man, I'm thankful. Yeah, yeah, I like to.

I just wanted to show people that we could keep going, you know what I'm saying, Like hip hop, You know, dreams don't have deadlines. Baby, At the end of the day, it's about pressing play. That's a fact that I'm everything all bets off. Press play. Let me press play on that joy press play high feel right then?

Right?

Yeah, Now, when you describe it like making films making albums right throughout the years, right, you have Steven Spielberg, Martin Scors, these great filmmakers, so many more, right, and then we have the old Cool Jays and so forth right making great albums, it's the same vibe because, yeah, because you want to just do things that I just

I text him. I text him and told him about the song.

And you know, I wanted to, you know cause I'm like dabbling in supreme mathematics from when I was a kid on that on that particular song.

So he came in.

I wanted him to paint a picture you know what I'm saying to kind of take people transport him to that time, because the things that I'm saying on that record, particularly praise them, is very subtle. So if you don't know the supreme mathematics, some of the things I'm saying could go over your head. But if you if you understand it, then it's like it's it's it's like coded.

So it's it's fun, you know in that regard.

So like with him, I just hit him like yo, we never did this and then and it was just was time, you know what I'm saying. And I wanted to rhyme and make songs with the guys that were the most talented, but also people that fit the song that I was working on.

So like with Nas, that beat be just fit me and Nas, and like the one with.

Em it fit me and m and like all of the song like sweety it fit me and Sweetie, you know what I'm saying.

So that was the vibe, you know what I'm saying.

Man on murder Gram, you Eminem did y'all thing I mentioned this off the air, L was not about to let Eminem get away with nothing on that song. Let me tell you some man, Eminem is my man. He's my friend, you know what I'm saying. And I look at him as like, you know, like he's like having a super talented younger brother who who's really dedicated. He's like a scientist when it comes to em seeing and

That he's welcome to call me Todd, no problem.

I've heard him in interviews like, yeah, he's my friend Todd like yeah, no doubt. Right now, that's my friend Marshall, a good friend of mine, my very talented friend, Marshal. You know that's that's a TV show, tod At Marshall. Yeah, it really is like an album title, right man, you know Garcia, you know Jackie that's is actually a super fan. We let him in the building, man, I I submitted. Uh that's.

Why.

Yeah.

Look he's stopped many other artists, but not your here man, welcome back.

To the show.

We are Thank you, Thank you man, thank you for sure. The Force is out platforms. Can you talk to us about the title and the artwork of the project. Yeah, so the Force, you know, it's about that that in the voice society you that like that encourages you to inspire you to go after your dreams. Right, Like we're all on this kind of big adventure, you know what I'm saying, Like everybody's the hero of their own life movie.

You know what I'm saying. And where you go with that is up to you. Me.

You know, I choose to like follow my bliss and follow that voice inside of me, so I make the music, and I make hip hop because I love it, you know what I'm saying, no other reason. It really is about loving it, just the same way I loved it when I first started. I did it because I loved it. So the lover is first. That's so that's what the Force is about. The forces about tapping into what's inside of you and getting that out and really you.

Know, taking that to the next level. If that makes sense, you know what I'm saying.

In terms of the artwork, Q Tip actually Drew did the artwork on the cover, you know.

What I'm saying. Like he had showed me a sketch.

He was messing around with sketches and all that, and he sent the sketch to me. I was like, Yo, this is it. I said, this is crazy. We need to use this for the album cover. So I combine that with you know, with the shoot and and you know, the Force cover was born.

So I really, you know, worked on this.

It was very collaborative in terms of you know, the people and the you know, just the approach.

You know. I didn't want to like, I just didn't want to do nothing boring man.

You know, saying like my dudes, like it's nothing worse than you know, your heroes like half stepping, you know, late in the game.

You know it's like, don't do that, bro, Like.

Yeah, yeah, album just to put out. I don't slip on a banana peal, you know, slip on a banana appeal with your album, because that's what you know people be expecting.

Here we go, I'm done, Here we go, Here we go, Little Ellie, I know what he goes.

I know what you're gonna do.

I know you're gonna try to sound like somebody.

That's very true, very true, and you had a lot of fun and you got to work.

Yeah.

Yeah, you gotta listen. Man, if you really love something, you gotta put your heart and soul in tweet. You gotta be passionate about the songs you rapping like the rands do. I'm like, y'all, you know, actually.

I'm written like I love it.

You know what I'm saying, Like, you know, I know what you're saying, Like I started out, You're doing this because I love it. So as long as you maintained that love for it and that passion for it, you're gonna go hard. Man. You know what I'm saying, Like you gotta want it, Like I was telling somebody earlier, like if they shoved your head in a barrel of water, you gotta want it like you would want air.

You know what I'm saying. You gotta be hungry for that.

You know, there's an artist that that that are hip hop. Right, you gave us hip hop, You gave you continue its a lot of ways, in a lot in a lot of ways, no matter what you did too, whether it was on the screen or coming out them speakers. Yeah, yeah, nah, it's look, man, I'm just happy that I've been able to make, you know, a contribution, you know, to the world, and have the impact that I've had. You know, you just never know, man, it just kind of worked out

Serves a purpose. You know what I'm saying.

It like made me feel hold again. So I was like, yo, Yo, Now I'm gonna whoop some I'm gonna whoop some.

Man some cakes. You know I'm gonna tap you know what I mean?

Something, what do you think you're stronger for us?

Love or hate? Love?

Yeah, because the love can stop hate, but hate can't stop love. Say that one more time. I said love is stronger because love can stop hate, but hay can't stop love. Okay, you know what I'm saying. So it's like I give you an example. It's like if you're in a dark room and I like a match, that one little that one little light, that one little source of light illuminates the whole room. Darkness doesn't come from anywhere, It just is what it is. You know what I'm saying.

Now, if you ask me.

Can can can traumatic experiences or can you hate some hating somebody fuel you to go do things? That's a different conversation. Yes, it can, absolutely the motive. But that's but you gotta remember what you're doing, though, is you're you're taking that heat, that hate and you're transforming it into your love for something else.

So you're still flipping the script. Yep. Ultimately, even though the hate of.

You know, this person beat me or this person did this to me, and that may be the thing that moves you to do a certain thing, my big brother, you know, you know, whatever it is, it's still that you're gonna channel that. You're still transmuting that into something else to take your life to the next level. You feel men with podcast? Yeah, real qui we need.

It's called the Force.

You've shown you tip a lot of love since you've been in the interview, the artwork and the production. Do you recall the first time you ever heard a tripe called quest and what did you think of them?

Oh?

Yeah, I mean just hearing you know, I left my wile in El Segundo and then you know, seeing them do a video in my neighborhood. On top of the cleaners, like you know, you know when they did that video on top of the cleaners back in the days, like you know, that was like incredible to me. It was amazing to me. It was like dudes from my hood, like you know, made it. I couldn't have been happier.

DMC, and then you got ll Cool J.

And then you got a tribe called Quest, and then you got you know, in other parts of town, Mob Deep, and then you got Fifties and then you got job Rule, and then you have like all of these various artists all come from around there. You had James Brown who lived around there, Count Basie who lived around there, and you know Louis Armstrong who lived around there. And I mean it's just a very it's a lot. It's a lot of music and a lot of vibes. So see

You know what I'm saying.

I was, you know, very sophisticated. You know me, I've always been like a little bit of a savage man, like a lot of savage baby, a lot of savageness going on. Yeah. They was very sophisticated, a little bit a little bit more well read, so to speak. You know what I mean. Yeah, yeah, savage man, no shirt man, you know what I mean.

Let's get to it.

Let's get to it.

You know a lot of artists come in here and they're very like flashy with Julie. I want to point out because I haven't been able to keep my eyes off it.

Your friend.

Yeah, oh yeah, so so you were fifty alt lt A cool t. This is now you know what little kids, little kids give I did like some in stores right sign in vinyl and like there'll be like ten year olds and eight year olds that may come with their parents and stuff, and they made these for me. And the reason why I put it on is because it just shows you how your music can keep, you know,

They don't even know about the love songs that people know.

They don't know the other old the harder songs like el Bomb, they don't know Rock.

The Bells, they don't know none of that.

Like murder Graham is the first time they ever heard of ll cooj So, but then you got people who love you better was the first time they heard me and you got people doing it was. But then you got people back in the days going back to Cali and all these other Mama said nak So it's like it's like to me, you know, for them little kids to take the time and to do that, you know,

Like that's that's trippy to me.

You know, that's kind of like that's you know, it's trippy, like you know, but but it's also.

Like it's it's how it should be. Na man.

You know, my son he's seven, he's a fan of the Beastie Boys because one of their songs was in Trolls.

You see so here you go.

He loves brass monkey see, there you go, there you go, there you go.

That's my point.

That's it.

That's my point.

So you know, for me, man like with this album, it's like it's just an opportunity to get new fans and to give the day one fans something that they haven't had in a long time, and to have fun doing it, you know what I'm saying.

Yes, So that being said, performing at the VMAs for like forty years of him, like, how does that even like because you said, you know, you touched so many different audiences, how do you even pick what am I gonna do?

You know, when when ll Coolja is performing, you're gonna get ll Coolja. So you're gonna get, you know, stuff that if you're depending on your age and when you when you got into LL or whether even then if even if you never did, and this is your first time, you're gonna hear a cross section of things. You're gonna hear things from the early days, and you're gonna hear

It does get weird, but you know what I'm saying, get awkward. I love that, Sam Hannah. It does get awkward.

But you know what, I just I just make the music and just pick what makes sense to me, and I go by my gut because the one thing that's important with all of this is taste and instincts, you know what I'm saying. So you know, it's just like anything else.

You know what I'm saying.

It's like, it's just like boxing, right, it's science, of course, but then this instinct and you know it's that combination, right, sir, Yes, sir, Spirit of Syrus with Snoop. How did that come together?

So Spirit of Cyrus.

I got a call from a high level person in law enforcement and they was telling me, yo, you need to stay in the house.

I'm like, why do I need to stay in the house.

They was like, well, there's a man hunt out for this guy named Christopher Donna, and you look exactly like him. And then I went on the internet and I'm looking at this guy and it's like, I see his face and he looks just like me coming out my note. He's bald, he looks just like me, and nay. On top of that, On top of that, people are like making jokes and memes, so they're putting us together on the joint. So I'm like, yo, yo, you guys are

So I caught Snoop up. He came down to the studio.

What's up?

I said, Yo, let's do it. He came down, We did it, and there it is.

You smoke with Snooper. No, no, I ain't trying to Smoke't gonna have me in an emergency room.

Mess around with Snooper. You know what I'm saying, mess srout with Snoopy. Snoop. Man, I ain't.

Built for that, baby, No, I ain't ready for that.

Yeah, I ain't ready for that. I ain't ready for that. Man.

Now for the Spirit of Cyrus. It did come off like a script.

Nah.

It felt like oh yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. Visually yeah, because I just because I can see it in my mind. I can see it in my mind. This is my manifesto, the reason why I did it. The presser called me evil, label me a menace. Don't let the lives deceive you. They pushed me to my limit. Racisms of disease. It's

I'm not trying to be.

Divisive or volatile or provocative. I'm just gonna let the inspiration take me where it takes me. You know what I'm saying, like a hot date be you know what I'm saying, You can let you know what I mean, take me. It takes me right to this back seat. When you're talking about the VA performance as well, the V yeah VM, my performance was crazy man. The death Jamn yeah yeah, shout out to death jam and it was fun, you know what I'm saying, Just getting up there and again prime example.

So you got all these kids.

You know, they twenty nineteen eighteen, and you know, and they rocket to the music, you know, but some of them they know proclivities were for word doing it. They're like, okay, but they know proclivities were for word. It's like it's a very yo.

It's dope. It's dope. Though it was fun, no question, no question. Ain't that right? M J deaf Jam bred in the building.

He speaking of death Jam. Those tours back in the day were legendary. I mean pup again, I mean the Beastie Boys and so on and so forth, and I mean you got a good story, a good nugget you could share backstage.

On man I so many man I used to I had a tour where I used to come out of the radio and Flavor Flavor.

I get up in the radio. He's in there waiting, you know.

Yeah, boy, you know, I'm like, I got a.

Middle of my intro. I'm like, I'm in my set on my problem, Like, Yo, Flave, what are you doing?

B He's like, yo, al Man, I said, just come out with me, and he comes out the radio. Women it's just like yo yo. So many different things we went through so many yo bro like yo, and then there's some things that probably would you better shed off air.

Yeah, inspiration, that's all it is.

You know.

I was thinking about it, like, what is a line that you've written that makes you laugh that you're like, I can't believe I said that.

Oh no, no, I believe I said everything. I believe I said all of it. I in fact, it's the whole point is when it makes me laugh, I want to use it like like it's somebod that stuff is like it is the ridiculousness of it that makes it. I don't know, It's just so many songs I've written, you know what I'm saying. Uh, I mean so many songs about women are always great, you know what I mean.

That's funny.

I mean even header Sprung fool, you know, sexy and you know you're just you're laying it.

I like the wild Out. I like the wild Out, Like Headsprung was silly. Headsprung was silly, but I wrote Headsprung.

It's like it's kind of like, you know how Robert de Niro would do analyze this right, like sometimes he would do the you know he would do you know, Godfather too or heat, but then he'll do analy well, Headsprung was the equivalent of a actor doing a comedy, okay, right, so so so when you think about, like the opening lines of it, when I say they call me big Ellie a bit silly, big money big really like it's

If I'm feeling that we're in the right zone, in the right zone.

Yeah, you mentioned heads frong because the New York Liberty use your song.

Yeah, big Ellie, Yeah yeah, yeah Ellie it's crazy. That's nuts, that's nuts, right, Yeah, it's cool. Not it's cool, it's great. Who knew? Boy is crazy? Thank you man? Man? Yeah yeah, it's just come on man, thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Bosco energy, it's like a visit on my neck and snowing on my wrists. You want to teach them how to hustle. Take a pick of me and show him this. Yeah, that doing is crazy the bos energy. I shot a video for that. I actually got a visual for that,

There's a dance.

Yeah, And talk were coming from and I ain't Chris Brown bro like, so if I could do it, you know what I mean, if I could do it, I'm not Todd Brown bro.

You know.

It ain't t Brown over, so I could do it. That's right, Yo, that's right. We're in good space, you know what I'm saying. Good Darston Fat Joe Saturday Night Special. Yes, it's not about a gun. Well that I mean you. That was obviously one of the plays on the words, but it's really about because your decisions are like a gun, right.

It kind of goes back to like remember.

The godfeather too, he said, I think it was a golf He was godfather too, he said.

He said, I don't know anything about you know, politics?

He said, well, you understand guns, he said, yeah, he said, well, he said, money is a gun, and politics is known when to pull a trigger. Right. So it's like, but the song itself is about integrity. Always keep your word, always paying back. The one thing you learn moving around any street, any hood in the world in general, don't try to be a tough guy, have manners, respect people's mothers, girls, sisters. No one is shut up, you know what I'm saying.

You know, I'm saying, if I tell you I'm.

Bringing four sodas over the mar I'm bringing four sodas over the mar period.

So and that goes for every area of life. Whether you're in the street.

I just we just put in a street metaphor, but that if you're going to do hair, if you're going to med school, if you're going to be a lawyer, if you're a mechanic, if the mechanic says to you, your car is gonna be ready Thursday, Joe, you said Thursday, I'm in next third.

Don't play, man, don't play.

You said Thursday. Yeah, you're funny guy. It's every mechanic, man, you feel me. So that's the thinking behind Saturday Night Special. That's the whole idea of keeping your word and not you don't got to be perfect, but that moral integrity. You know, what I'm saying is doing what you say you're gonna do. Yes, sir, your force is out on all streaming platforms. A question, cool j Man. Yeah, the

Yeah. You gotta exercise, man, you gotta you gotta look.

Are you telling me that or all of us?

All of us?

I'm telling all of us that I do.

Ye. Yeah, that has you got? Now you're good. My son the other.

Day said dak can I my desert back?

I was like, fuck, yeah, that's a problem. That's a problem.

Bro.

Now you gotta look when your elbow bend. If your elbow ben and you're getting tired, that's an issue.

That's an issue.

You know what I'm saying, Like you know, you know you got twenty two year olds walking up says like young, you're supposed to what's doing out of breath? Man, it's supposed to be yo yo crazy. So, like being in shape is a big part of this because it's good for your mind too.

You know what I'm saying, what's your what's your day to day?

Like, what's your So it depends, but I work on endurance and stamming up primarily. Primarily everything I do is to be able to go to distance. You know what I'm saying. It's it's less about trying to be muscle man and seeing how heavy I can lift. I'm not trying to be hercules. I'm just I just want to have good stamina and be strong, you know what I'm saying. So I do a lot of things like into training and a lot of you know, cardio and a lot of stuff that keeps my heart rate elevated. And then

Yeah, yes, sir.

Do you remember the first time you performed? Where was it? What happened publicly?

You mean professionally or as an amateur?

As an amateur? Oh man, the first time I performed, well, it started off in the room, so that don't count. But outside it was the basement of a church, and a girl came up to me and said, boy, you can't wrap and goes back to your thing about the you know, the hate and the living. Yeah, go get it, you gotta if you strong enough to transform. And so she said that to me, and that kind of was good inspiration, you know what I'm saying. Professionally, professionally, Manhattan Center High School.

Now it was a high school.

They pushed the lunch room table well, actually no, the first time was at my high school, you know, like ninth grade. I went to the shop class. I performed in the shop class. That gave me an opportunity to do that. My man bim me set it up.

I did that. I never came back to school. That was over with. I had five thousand dollars in my dresser draw. I was happy at over. Grandma was kicking me. I ain't trying to hear that.

Man, I got hey, yeah, I got five thousand. Say that like, I ain't.

Going back to school. But then, but.

Yo yo, it takes something, yo yo yo yo five thousand and your draw felt like that was like.

Yo, bro, I felt like Caesar, like Caesar. I felt like Caesar, Hell Caesar. So then nobody nothing nothing.

So then professionally, outside of that, when I got Book four show it was Manhattan Center High School, they push the lunch room tables together. And I remember like after we finished performing, you know, a couple of the kids was like, yo, sign this for mean I was signed or grass. I looked at my man cut created I'm like yo. I was like.

He was like, I was like, yo, I like this. He was like I like this. He was like yeah, I like this too, you know, saying that.

We was just signing and actually a little side note, my first show ever, did my man's car broke down? The axle broke on his car. Yeah, So we had to walk like twenty blocks to the show. He was like, Yo, but they're gonna they're gonna strip my car.

I'm like, man, fuck that car. Man, let him strip it. You know what I'm saying, let him strip that joint. We gotta go.

So we left the car in the middle of the street, walk like, just walk like twenty blocks and get to the show. I wasn't missing that show no matter what, you know what I'm saying, because you gotta want it. So we went to the show and do what we had to do, and you know, rest is history and car Yeah, I don't even know. I was so excited. I didn't even get back to that. I wasn't even I wasn't even thinking about that shit. Yo, he had to go deal with that. Push my part before me.

I'm good.

I'm Gucci. I'm Gucci man. We were doing this the forest Man, The Forest Man. Listen to a vibe to it is crazy man. Yeah. The music once again from Oh Cool Jay. Thank you, appreciate you, thank you. Cruising Baby, Let's get it man. Cruise show really, no question, all day,