LL COOL J has shown his appreciation for Common by surprising him with a generous gift after they performed together on multiple stops of his F.O.R.C.E Tour.
On Monday (August 21), the Chicago MC shared a video on Instagram of him unboxing a package sent to him by the “Headsprung” MC. The brief clip shows him opening a box containing cigars and a gold chain made by jeweler Simone Smith, who is LL’s wife.
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“Shoutout to LL and Simone, thank y’all,” Common says. “I appreciate being on the F.O.R.C.E Tour — it’s a[n] honor. LL, you one of the greatest, man, for real. One of the reasons I do what I do.”
He added in the caption: “Thank you @llcoolj for this gift. But also, thank you for sharing your talents with us. You are one of them 1’s!”
LL COOL J has always made it a point to honor his Hip Hop counterparts. The 55-year-old rap veteran previously made a similar gesture to Eminem a few years back.
During his Behind the Music episode on Paramount+ in 2021, Slim Shady reflected on LL’s iconic gold rope chains in his “I’m Bad” video and explained how a conversation with Rick Rubin led to him getting his hands on his own set.
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“Since I was a little kid, I always wanted a chain,” Em said. “I was recording with Rick Rubin and I was like, ‘Yo, can you ask LL where he got his chains from?’ So he had these made and sent them to me.”
He added: “He was the first rock star of rap. I’m like, ‘Yo, I wanted that.’ That is what made me actually want to rap.”
Prior to his care package from Uncle L, Common shared several videos on Instagram of him performing on the F.O.R.C.E. Tour, including one that captured him spitting a freestyle off the dome in his hometown of Chicago.
“Off the top of the dome! A lost art!” he wrote in the caption.
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Headlined by LL COOL J and The Roots, the F.O.R.C.E. Tour kicked off in Baltimore on August 11 and will continue to zig zag across North America until November 19, where it wraps up in Boston.
Described as “the ultimate Hip Hop mash-up with a legendary non-stop continuous set,” the arena trek has so far featured guest appearances from rap royalty such as Rakim, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, De La Soul, Ice-T and Queen Latifah.
