This year, when LL Cool J dropped off his 14th studio album, The Force, he was on a mission to not only return to his Hip Hop roots but inject real lyricism back into the music landscape. The project marked his first release in over a decade. His last LP was 2013's Authentic.
The New York-bred emcee is a part of the wave of trailblazers who helped the genre gain global recognition in the late 1980s. As the first artist signed to the iconic Def Jam Records, he is easily regarded as a Hip Hop GOAT. In 2021, his legacy as an influential arrest landed him in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
In a new interview with the British Channel 4 News, the rap veteran mulled over how he has seen the genre transition throughout the years, reflecting on whether it has moved from a “voice of the powerless” to a “voice of power.”
“My record, The FORCE, is counterculture,” the two-time Grammy Award winner began. “[It’s] me speaking truth to power in the sense that I’m talking about real experiences, real life… but there is a side of Hip Hop that has become so dominant that people are kind of, like I said, leaning on the elite thing.”
Further elaborating on the notion rappers lacing tracks with lyrics of high status, he said, “The reason the elite thing is so appealing is because we live in a world now filled with social media. So, people like attention, so the elitism plays well in 30-second clips.”
But the air of elitism is not only the displays of wealth but also “a display of wealth that feels like somebody’s looking down their nose at you,” LL said. The multi-hyphenate entertainer clarified, “We all want to get money, don’t get me wrong, ‘cause I’m from the west, man. I wanna get paper… I’m ‘bout the bag,” he said. For example, LL explained, “I’m just saying, when I listen to Bob Marley’s music, I don’t hear how much money he had. I wanna listen to the song, bro. We all know Michael Jackson had money. He wasn’t singing about it every song.”
With The FORCE, LL noted that he “had a real purpose and a real mission… to create something that was fun and relatable to real people… It shouldn’t always feel like we got an ascot and a long cigarette holder.” The 13-track project was released in September and features appearances from a number of collaborators like Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Saweetie and the list goes on.
Check out LL’s full interview below.