LL COOL J has proven flashes of brilliance in the previous few years each time he gripped the identical microphone that birthed his legendary profession again in 1985. After sips of nostalgia — delivering a blistering medley on the 2022 IHeart Music Awards and contributing to this yr’s Hip-Hop 50 tribute on the Grammys — Uncle L seems to be to quench his thirst for performing along with his upcoming F.O.R.C.E. Reside enviornment tour this summer season.
Introduced earlier this week, the Queens lyricist will sort out 20-plus arenas alongside his majestic crew of superfriends, together with The Roots, Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, Rakim, Widespread, MC Lyte, Massive Boi, Bone Thugs-N-Concord, Ice T, Juvenile, Doug E. Contemporary, Slick Rick, De La Soul, Goodie Mob, Jadakiss, Rick Ross, Methodology Man and Redman. With this serving as his first enviornment tour in 30 years, LL tells Billboard that he’s already bodily and mentally making ready for the two-month-long trek.
“I gotta get on that treadmill, child, and simply do it,” he says with a chuckle over Zoom. “I gotta give it up for the folks. I gotta keep on that treadmill, watch that eating regimen, be proper, and be the perfect model of myself at this level of my life that I will be. That’s all I can do. I can’t do no extra and don’t wanna do no much less.”
Alongside along with his star-studded tour, LL additionally seems to be to launch his long-awaited album with Q-Tip later this yr, after experiencing quite a few delays. He additionally plans to convey again the second annual Rock The Bells Pageant this August alongside Queen Latifah, De La Soul and extra.
Billboard solely spoke to LL about his forthcoming F.O.R.C.E. Reside tour, placing out his long-awaited album with Q-Tip, and what he hopes to attain on the fiftieth anniversary of hip-hop.
We’ve graduated from a pageant final yr to full-fledged enviornment tour. Why now?
Properly, you recognize, so many individuals through the years have been requesting and asking me, “Yo. Are you get on the highway? Are you gonna do one other document? Are you actually going to get into music full-fledged, give us a run and actually go at it?” I mentioned, you recognize what? With it being the fiftieth yr of hip-hop and the Grammy celebration working with Quest and The Roots, it simply felt just like the pure subsequent step was to take this factor on the highway.
We’ll do about 20 cities, and the lineup will swap from metropolis to metropolis relying on the place we’ll go. That’ll preserve it recent — and I actually needed to provide folks one thing inventive. It’ll be one steady set. Continuous beats and rhymes. Kinda like Grammy-style, versus stopping and going. When you are available in, fasten your seatbelts. We’re off to the races.
The one identify that caught to me was Queen Latifah. She doesn’t come outdoors for simply anyone.
I’m actually honored to have her. I really like working along with her. Curiously sufficient, regardless that we each come from music, we’ve solely labored collectively in movie and the Grammys collectively. So it’ll be dope to have her on the market, spittin’, rhymin’ and simply bringing that power. That is going to be actually a inventive, thrilling journey into hip-hop. Whether or not you have been there since day one otherwise you wanna expertise that genuine feeling of day one golden era-type vibes, then that is the present for you. If you happen to actually wanna get to it and be about it, that is gonna be numerous enjoyable.
What can followers count on from you catalog-wise? As a result of you might have each the pure-bred hip-hop songs, and naturally, the hits.
I believe it’s gonna be simply in regards to the artwork. There’ll be hits, and there’ll be simply rhymes and beats taking place. I’ll be digging within the crates. It gained’t solely be the highest ten songs you’re conversant in. We’ll even be digging within the crates in a particular method, and provides these hip-hop heads what they really need, which is a chance to see me carry out one thing like “Ailing Bomb” or “You’ll Rock.”
We’ll get the hits in there, after all, as a result of folks wish to take pleasure in these. However I’m not simply gonna persist with that. I wanna combine it up and have some enjoyable. And I believe the entire total present will probably be blended up and blended in a very cool method.
Any surprises to your set on the visitor facet of issues?
Individuals ought to know that the names you see there aren’t the one names. There’ll be particular visitors. There’ll be different bulletins coming. There’ll be different folks added. The invoice will get higher and greater and totally different. Simply come. If you happen to a hip-hop fan and you’re keen on the tradition and you actually wanna have fun 50 years of hip-hop, come to that F.O.R.C.E. Reside. Come examine us out. As a result of myself, Quest, [Black] Thought, like all of us, we’re bringing it. It’s gonna be numerous enjoyable. It’s gonna be numerous hip-hop. Lot of beats. Lot of surprises. Musical adjustments. I imply, the aim is to come back on the market and have enjoyable. It’s probably not about me, it’s in regards to the tradition.
The aim of the tour is to raise the tradition and to indicate folks what’s potential — as a result of not many individuals have taken 30 years off from enviornment excursions in hip-hop and say, “You realize what, let’s do one now.” I wanna present folks it’s potential to interrupt inventive grounds as an artist in hip-hop — and you could possibly mature gracefully, have enjoyable and embrace it. You don’t should shrink back out of your inventive aspirations as your profession progresses. You’ll be able to nonetheless take issues to the very best heights.
I used to be with Swizz Beatz the opposite day and he instructed me how he felt the music facet of his profession was incomplete. I say that to ask if one, your challenge with Q-Tip is definitely coming — since you joked about the way it wasn’t final yr. Then, secondly, whether or not it drops or not, do you’re feeling just like the musical facet of your profession is full?
To reply the primary a part of the query, sure, the challenge is coming this yr. It’s positively coming. I’ll be asserting the date quickly. We have now a agency date. The document has been turned in. It’s full and it’s within the can.
By way of incomplete, I believe an artist will at all times be incomplete, since you’re gonna at all times should comply with that inspiration. And for an artist, that inspiration is gonna final a lifetime. So the one factor you are able to do as an artist is do as a lot out of you as you possibly can, and do as many impressed items as you possibly can. Whether or not it’s dwell piece like The F.O.R.C.E. that we’re coming with, or it’s this new document I’m doing with Tip, they’re impressed items. In order an artist, your work isn’t actually executed, you simply create.
So I agree with Swizz. There’s numerous room. Or, it’s the alternative. It’s at all times full. You’ll be able to take a look at it like that. At each stage it’s full, and also you simply add to that completion. You open it up and full it, as a result of every bit of labor provides to the physique. So in a method, it’s at all times full and incomplete. It’s like the final word inventive dichotomy.