LL Cool J: ‘Hip-hop isn’t underdog music any more’ | LL Cool J

Do you think hip-hop still has the cultural impact it once did when you first arrived on the scene during the Def Jam era? Can it still be considered the “Black CNN”, in the words of Chuck D? Bauhaus66
Hip-hop isn’t underdog music any more. On some levels, people even view it as elitist music now. Whether it’s still the Black CNN depends on the artist. It’s become more of a pop genre and doesn’t have the punk rock, Sex Pistols, Beastie Boys, Run-DMC, LL early 80s energy, but I think it’s more important than ever for artists to write about more than just the trappings of success. As you evolve, you expect someone to meet you where you’re at and if that’s still at the car dealership there’s going to be a disconnect.

Why do so many rappers adapt so well to acting? alexito
Part of being a rap artist is leaning in to a certain aspect of your character. You’re not portraying a role as such – they’re two individual crafts – but there is commonality in the area of speaking in front of people, making a persona bigger and bringing a story to life. Acting is more of a sweet science. Hip-hop is like mixed martial arts: the technical aspects are more fluid.

Thomas Jane said that while making the movie Deep Blue Sea, the first time an animatronic shark swam towards him, he felt a primal fear and had to get out of the water. Did you have a similar reaction? 99intheshade
I had an even worse experience because one of them almost drowned me. At that time the animatronic sharks weren’t AI; they were controlled by a guy with a joystick. He pushed the button, the shark grabbed my leg, then they called lunch and the shark just parked me underwater. After I managed to pull my leg out and get out of there, there was one dude left on set sitting there with a cigarette and he went: “I guess you made it out, huh?” Making that film was dangerous, with a lot of water flying around, but it was a great experience. I had a fun time working with Sam [L Jackson]. Watching him get eaten was my favourite part.

The hip-hop documentary Big Fun in the Big Town has such a cool cameo from your grandmother. How much of an inspiration and support was she to you in your life and upbringing? keloquence
My grandmother was an amazing woman. She was the oracle in the neighbourhood and that documentary really captures her. She was truly inspiring, such a good woman, and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her, because there was plenty of opportunity to do more wrong than right. She kept me on the straight and narrow, but was more than just a disciplinarian. She was a fox, a very clever woman, and she helped me navigate my life all the way to the Hall of Fame. I miss her sorely.

Who is your favourite MC, and who would you most like to do a collab with? BadAlbert
If we’re gonna get down to it, probably Big Daddy Kane. Those first couple of albums were just so crazy and hot in the way he delivered them. The wit, the humour, the banter, the flow, the voice. Songs such as Set It Off or Raw were just flawless to me. In terms of collaboration, I thoroughly enjoyed working with Eminem on Murdergram Deux on the new record. I’ve worked with Nas, Snoop. I don’t have a wishlist but I’m open to working with people.

Was it difficult acting with a parrot in Deep Blue Sea? Calamarain
Yes, they had to replace the parrot! The first one was in love with my earring and in every take kept trying to chew my earlobe. He was digging his claws in and my ear was bleeding. So it was a little tough, yeah.

What was it like to work with James Woods on The Hard Way? louleather
I felt like I was working with Einstein or something, feeling like a little kid saying to myself: “This dude knows everything.” He seemed like the smartest dude I had ever met at that time. He’d talk about the camera angle of a banana, which I found funny. Whether it would still be like that if we had a conversation today I don’t know, but he was really impressive and fun to work with.

How were your experiences during the filming of Any Given Sunday? And does the infamous Al Pacino (as Tony D’Amato) “inch by inch” speech inspire you? Bauhaus66
The speech he gives to the dressing room? I remember thinking: “This guy doesn’t know his lines,” but it turned out he was so good he was coming up with lines as he was saying them, so it really felt as if he was making that speech up as he went along. It was great working with Al Pacino. He took me to eat, we hung out, went to the house he was renting where we were filming in Miami. We watched Riddick Bowe v Evander Holyfield or one of those fights. It was just dope to hang out with him.

What were your experiences like on the set of Halloween H20? Are you a fan of horror? aglassofsherryniles
It was fun. Jamie Lee Curtis was amazing and brought us a barbecue. I like horror but watching too much messes with my spirit. I’ll be laying there in bed, scaring myself, man.

It’s been more than 10 years since your last studio album, Authentic. What prompted you to make a new record, and how did you find the experience after such a long break? VerulamiumParkRanger
I was doing the TV show [crime drama NCIS: Los Angeles], which lasted for 14 or 15 years, and I was really enjoying it. I dabbled with one record, Authentic [2013], but I wasn’t close enough creatively to put my all into it. I didn’t want to try again until I had the energy, but that meant I had time to think about where I wanted to be creatively as an artist. I realised that like when James Cameron or Steven Spielberg do a new film, it’s cutting edge, so a new LL album needed to be impactful.

Intuitively I went with Q-Tip [as producer] and it felt like sonically we were able to go back to the future. I didn’t want to imitate. I wanted to move the needle, so we listened to loads of stuff and there’s African music on there, synth-pop. I wanted to explore the connection between the inner city in America and the home of Africa. I didn’t make this record for my friends on the block. It’s for the world.

What’s the most surprising record you love that would have people scratching their heads? ArthurSternom
Oh man, there’s so many. Wham!’s Careless Whisper is one of my favourites, also Everything She Wants. I like 99 Luftballons by Nena. Probably the biggest surprise might be Abba, Dancing Queen. I went to the Mamma Mia! musical in London and loved it.

Which beefs were confected for record sales and which ones did you really mean? Any you regret (bar Canibus, which you’ve already admitted was your fault)? FlyerBoy
I said it was my fault, not that I regretted it. I don’t regret any of them. They were all fun and it’s like playing for the World Cup – rivalry, but we’re just playin’. Boxers like Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury do this stuff all the time. It’s all good energy. I performed with Canibus at the Barclays Center [in Brooklyn] and brought him out.

Your song The Bristol Hotel and Run-DMC’s Dumb Girl both seemed to say that women were destroying the community. How do you view songs like these from where you are now? LoveTheGuardian
I’m not sure they said women were destroying the community! I mean, Bristol Hotel was on the same album as I Need Love. It was a song about a plus-size lady of leisure and I was a major fan. Art is art and I don’t think you can apply the same morals and standards. You can’t go back and say: “Oh, because the sculpture of [Michelangelo’s] David doesn’t have clothes on, I regret it. I should have made it with trousers.” I wrote the song I was inspired to write and you can interpret it a million ways, which is what art is. A sex worker might find it the most empowering song ever. I respect the question, but I stand by what I write from the heart, and I’m not sure we should change things 30 years down the line. If people are interested in where I’m at in my worldview now artistically, they should listen to the new record.

Looking back, was it a bad decision to play I Need Love live at Hammersmith Odeon, London 1987? themarkmcdonald
I Need Love is one of the most important songs I’ve done. It helped usher in a whole new sub-genre of hip-hop with songs that are more skewed to females and the love aspect. I got arrested in Columbus, Georgia for humping a couch to it on stage so I think I can handle booing and coins getting tossed in London. I don’t regret playing it and I’d do it all over again. I mean, I wish I could go back and not get booed or coined. I much prefer it when everyone’s yelling: “We love you!”