In tomorrow night’s airing of LL Cool J‘s E! True Hollywood Story, the Queens emcee, fashion icon and Hip Hop sex symbol spoke on a number of issues, with support from former boss, Russell Simmons, his wife and family, as well as arguable student and friend Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Included in the episode, airing at 10 pm est tomorrow, LL Cool J spoke candidly about seeing his first Hip Hop show, a Sugar Hill Gang concert, believed to be in the early ’80s, shortly after the group’s 1979 hit “Rapper’s Delight.” The concert, in the New York City area, was disrupted by gunfire. LL recounts, “It was like nirvana. Yes. You know, the shots are ringing out, my favorite music is playing. It was like the ultimate rush. I like locked in, crazy, you know what I mean. I locked in.”
Within five years afterwards, LL Cool J‘s own brand of Rap music would be among the first records released by then-fledging Def Jam Records. Label co-founder and longtime LL Cool J manager Russell Summons recalls his star soloist’s entrance song to his lengthy career. “‘I Need a Beat” was the shit. It just was hardcore, and its execution was something, a whole other level, because the collaboration between [LL Cool J] and Rick [Rubin] was explosive – so much so that I abandoned all my ideas and started a record company.”
Diddy, whose artistry furthered LL Cool J‘s lineage of female-friendly Hip Hop with sex appeal and crossover marketability, said of his inspiration, “He’s the definition of longevity. He just got better and better and better with time. Nowadays we have Lil Wayne, but he had to learn it from somebody. Jay-Z had to learn it from somebody. I had to learn it from somebody.”
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The subject also uses tomorrow’s special to comment on his ill-received and low-selling Exit 13 album, claimed to be his last on Def Jam, and perhaps final overall. “The record just really honestly, you know, didn’t have that support that I wish it would have had. [I] can’t blame anyone. It was my last record, and I guess for whatever reason, whether it was quality or business, you know, the company just decided that they were going to write it off and not really give it that shot,” said LL Cool J.
The LL Cool JE! True Hollywood Story airs tomorrow at 10pm on the E! network. Check local listings.
