ET chats with LL COOL J at the listening party for his long-awaited 14th studio album, 'THE FORCE.'
It's been 11 years since LL COOL J released his last album and, after over a decade of teasing, the rapper is finally giving fans what they've been waiting for -- his 14th studio album. The highly-anticipated project is aptly titled The FORCE, and ET's Rachel Smith got to speak with the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee about his inspiration at his album listening experience.
"I'm just excited for [fans] to get to experience what me and Q-Tip have been working on all this time," LL COOL J, 56, tells ET about the upcoming album. "I know it's been a long time since I put out an album that moved the culture and gave people my perspective on where I think the state of the art should be. And so, rather than get out here and talk about what should be, I decided to create some music and show people what I think hip-hop can sound like in 2024, you know what I'm saying?"
The rapper explains that The FORCE, which drops on Sept. 6, stands for "Frequencies of Real Creative Energy." Considering how LL COOL J has previously teased that the album features "a lot of collabs on there," fans can expect a lot of diverse creative energy in the project.
The album covers a variety of topics, from racial division to LL COOL J's feelings of isolation during the COVID pandemic lockdown. Reflecting on his decision to take his time with the album production and its many themes, LL COOL J tells ET that he's learned that "as times change, you got to learn how to just mix it up a little bit."
"It's kind of a matter of just being open to what's going on in the world... It's a lot of fun on [the album], lot of energy, good vibes," he shares. "[There are] all kinds of themes on there so it's not only a dark, heavy thing but there are some things on there that kind of touch the world from different perspectives."
LL COOL J adds that he feels that his job as an artist is to "get out of the way and let the song speak."
"This is where I was led and I feel like people are gonna really enjoy it," he continues. "There's got to be more to the music and more to hip hop than just the surface and so what I did was, I had fun with the surface -- of course -- but then there are moments in the album where it goes a little deeper and we get a little more profound and we have some deeper thoughts and deeper meanings. So it's a combination of your normal, fun, mundane silliness combined with some things that I think are more important but said in an artistic way. I just wanted to make something cool, that's all."
The rapper told ET something similar while looking back on his decades-long career in February 2023.
Then, LL COOL J told ET that when he got older he began to think about his work in a different way and changed his scope. "As you mature and evolve, you start realizing, it was all about me and I [was] thinking about me. Now, I can look this way and say, 'Make it about somebody else,'" he said reflectively. "Now I can help other people. So the guys that I might have been competitive with back in the days, now I'm looking at [them] like, 'How can I help you?'"
That mindset led the rapper to create his own businesses in the music industry, including the company Rock The Bells. Initially a record label to produce music, Rock The Bells is now a global lifestyle brand media company that "focuses on content, commerce and experiences that honor the culture and the core elements of hip-hop." Even with all his other work, the rapper is dedicated to spreading the word of hip-hop and ensuring the genre receives the respect it deserves.
LL COOL J's 14th studio album, The FORCE, will be available Sept 6.
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