LL COOL J took to the stage at this year’s iHeartRadio Music Awards to pay tribute to the culture that made him famous with a set of blazing hot bars.
On Tuesday (March 28), Mr. Smith addressed the crowd at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles dressed in a black shirt, skullcap, and jeans while rocking a pair of dark black shades and dripping in some gold jewelry.
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“I just want to keep it real simple, alright?” he told the crowd. “I want you to imagine what I’m saying.”
Once the audience fell silent, LL chronicled his journey in the game: “A crowd gathered ’round, throwing punches and elbows/ Then his mama arose, and recited a poem/ That’s a Hip Hop God, not rock’n’roll/ She put the baby in the whip — that’s a car/ There was a solar eclipse/ Then a spirit came down, wrote his name in hieroglyphs.”
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LL COOL J capped off the bars with a nod and a wink to both Black Panther and one of his earlier nicknames.
“Break beats played, he had a speaker for a crib/ She screamed ‘Jack the Rip!’ and ignited his gifts,” he continued. “To the parents, he’s a legend, to the children a myth/ Here’s ya firsthand experience with Mr. Smith/ Alias Mr. ‘Killing-Every-Rapper-In-His-Radius’/ Ciphers like a stadium, bars is vibranium.”
Check out Uncle L’s performance below:
— LLCOOLJ (@llcoolj) April 1, 2023
After the crowd burst into thunderous applause following his iHeart Radio performance, LL informed them that “a new record is coming!”
This proclamation confirmed a tweet written by the “Mama Said Knock You Out” rapper back in January, where he teased that he was “competing with himself on this album.” The album, the name of which hasn’t yet been confirmed, is LL COOL J’s first since 2013’s Authentic.
But back in February, the NCIS: Los Angeles star trolled his fans when he teased that he’d be “canceling” his upcoming album.
In a series of now-deleted tweets, he revealed that he’s still “trying to figure this album out” and followed that up with a post that read, “just not feeling like this album is worthy of being released [facepalm emoji] I tried.”
He also added: “not dropping it.”
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However, LL COOL J returned hours later to clarify that the project is still moving forward and tagged Q-Tip, who’s serving as executive producer. Mr. Smith also trolled fans with a boisterous reason behind the delay with the album.
“Okay so everyone’s been asking me about the new record and my decision and I was considering not putting the album out because IT’S TOO FUCKING GOOD,” LL said in the clip. “Q-Tip you a genius baby this my favorite album I ever made. I can’t wait for y’all to hear this. Tracklist coming soon.”
