The MuzicBook Podcast
A podcast devoted to classic music, movies, and television. The slogan for this podcast is "Keep The Classics Current" and that's the spirit of the podcast. Hosted by Sean Hicks, music lover and historian.
The MuzicBook Podcast
LL Cool J: From Kangol To GOAT
A Kangol, a boombox, and a pen that refused to dull—LL Cool J’s story is a roadmap for how to last in hip-hop without losing yourself. Sean and special guest Shaun Whittaker dive into the early spark from Krush Groove and Radio, the game-changing pivot of Bigger and Deffer, and why I Need Love quietly rewired how rap could talk to the heart. Then we pull the thread through a crucial comeback with Mama Said Knock You Out, examining how swagger, pacing, and production choices kept his sound street and radio at the same time.
The fellas trace the on-screen evolution that made him more than a rapper who acts. From The Hard Way to Deep Blue Sea and In Too Deep, LL built a range: scene-stealing charm, suspense under pressure, and a villain you truly fear. Along the way, we unpack legendary clashes—Kool Moe Dee's old-school mechanics versus LL’s new cadence, and the high-drama chess match with Canibus that still fuels barbershop debates. Through it all, he kept a clean but cutting pen, a skillful balance that made room for pop and R&B without shedding credibility.
Fast-forward to the modern reset: The FORCE, guided by Q-Tip, folds in warm analog drums, jazz textures, and African tones while letting LL push harder into reflection, protest, and purpose. The show breaks down standouts, why the sequencing works, and how the FORCE Tour reminded crowds what real stage command looks like. If you care about hip-hop history, artist durability, and the craft of performance, this conversation gives you a front-row seat to the blueprint LL wrote and rewrote across four decades.
Enjoy the ride, share it with a hip-hop friend, and hit follow so you never miss the next deep dive. If you vibed with this one, leave a quick review—what’s your most slept-on LL track?
On today's episode, I'm gonna talk about my favorite rapper of all time, LL Cool J, aka Lady Love Cool James. I mean, he was my biggest hip hop fluence from the Kango to the one pants leg rolled up. Not to mention my resemblance to LL that got me a lot of attention from the ladies. There's you know, so let's sit back, chill, let's take a stroll back to the golden age of hip-hop to the intro music. Music lovers, welcome back to the music book podcast. I am your host, Sean Hicks, and today we about to hit some hip hop. Um, you know, when I started this podcast, I always want to give shout-outs and flowers to my heroes, and also by doing that, I like to uh pub my city where I'm from. And so if you notice a lot of people that's on my show, you know, is from the city of Inkston where I'm from. A little small town, about five miles radius. But uh, it's a lot of talent come out of there, and um personally I'm that's on the show today. My boy, he's a producer, um MC, he's a barber, influence people, he uh and he educates people. He and he's his uh if you go to his uh TikTok, he's thoughtful, thought provoking, uh posts and stuff like that. Uh I'm no further ado, man. My boy Sean Whitical. What up, man?
SPEAKER_00:What up, what's up, my brother, man? Thanks for the uh invite and the great introduction. Appreciate that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and you also a girl dad, too, man.
SPEAKER_00:You know, yeah, yes, sir. Yeah, my I have three children with my two youngest is girls, yes, sir.
SPEAKER_02:There you go, man. AK Sean Picasso, yes, sir.
SPEAKER_00:That girl there, that's a whole different ball game, man.
SPEAKER_02:Tell me about it, got three. Oh boy, man. And I was a single dad too, you know what I'm saying? You you single dad too, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yeah, man.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, man. Big ups to you. Applaud that, bro. I appreciate that. That's not easy, you know.
SPEAKER_00:No, no, not at all. A lot of a lot of mental gymnastics comes with being a uh uh a girl dad for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Man, you know, a lot of stuff I didn't learn until after they got grown. Yeah, um, they um pre uh impart wisdom to me and told me things I should have done and all that. Yeah, it's all good, man. You know, but I mean it was real, man. And um, yeah, I humbled my own. You know what?
SPEAKER_00:That's it's uh being a girl dad is the true definition of learning on the job, bro. Yeah, yeah. That's how I look at it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's it's no book on that, man. You know, and no textbook on that boy, no sir. So uh man, I want to give a shout out. Uh hey, hey man, why you on here, man? And I looked at your new logo, man. What's up with those pistons, bro?
SPEAKER_00:Oh man, I'm I'm gonna go on the record and I'm gonna say right now that uh Bickerstaff is a great coach, man. Um, especially in that first game, he figured out how the combinations to get back in that game, which I thought they was gonna get blown out. So they fight every game. Love it, man. They they look great, bro.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I want to give a shout out to my listeners in Germany, Romania, and the Netherlands. If you want to follow an American team, follow the Pistons. Detroit Pistons basketball. Uh man, I'm gonna die hard, man. I have some teams, man, but the Pistons is a team that I don't care if they lose, win, or draw, man. I'm gonna always follow them. I mean, they brought they brought us, man, three championships, yes, sir. Five finals, man. I mean, countless of uh Eastern Conference finals, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_02:I I love that team, man. They uh man, I especially that going to work, that going to work team, man. Uh yeah, big time.
SPEAKER_00:I was uh a junior and a senior in high school when they won the back-to-back, so that was great coming to high school to see that. And you're right, that off that 04 team, the defense that they presented, uh unmatchable to this day.
SPEAKER_02:Man, yeah, yeah. All right, man. We're about to talk about my favorite rapper, man. Uh, especially at the time, man. I mean, uh, this guy right here, arguably, was the first hip-hop superstar. Now, you know, people say Curtis Blow. I I won't I wouldn't call Curtis Blow a superstar, but he definitely was a star. But Lel was a superstar and the first hip-hop sex symbol uh for the ladies. You know, that's why his name is Ladies Love. Cool James. Um, he was born January 14th, 1968.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_02:And um, hey man, in the 80s, he he uh he helped bring he helped make being light skinned popular.
SPEAKER_00:Shout out to him for that, bro. Yeah, man for that.
SPEAKER_02:Because man, man, being light skinned, dog, it's like you know, he uh got on a lot of uh blind dates, man, and stuff like that. On my side, or even the other side, uh, when somebody's like I hooked you up with somebody in the first question that uh the female would say, is he light skinned? And I that same question I asked, which is terrible, but that's the reality of the 80s, man. It was just like that.
SPEAKER_00:You ain't lying, bro. You ain't lying.
SPEAKER_02:You know, is it red bone or what? Uh like now, like dark skin is in ever since I say Big Daddy and Wesley Snipes. No, man, now it jokes, man. Like they challenge our method because I complexion, man.
SPEAKER_00:Like, what's that? Listen, man, you you look all up and down social media, it ain't nothing but light skinned jokes, bro. So uh shout out to LL for putting us on the oh man.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, this guy, man, LL released 14 studio albums in the span of 39 years, man. Yeah, uh man, let's get into it, man. I mean, me television, he was one of the first hip hop artists to have, I mean, he had multiple TV shows. Uh, you know, uh LL had multiple Queen Latifa and um and uh who else I'm about I'm in Will Smith.
SPEAKER_00:Will Smith, yeah, yeah. So yeah. Uh In the House um was one of my favorites, bruh. Um lady on there, I think her name was Maya. She had had the issues with drugs and alcohol. Yeah, uh she was she was a Facebook friend of mine when she was going through her little situation.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, really?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. So praying for her.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, man. Um, yeah, pray for her, man. So we won't get into some of his shows and his movies, but definitely gonna talk about the music because that's what we do. We we dive and we swim in nostalgia, and um, you know, like the slogan says, we keep the classics current. Let's hit it. LL first appeared, man. First time I I saw LL was in Crush Groove.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, Fox.
SPEAKER_02:That was a scene, that was a scene stiller, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. And you know what? For for me, what was so real about that when I think about it, uh, I had an interaction with Jam Master J, God bless us. So, but uh he was a tough brother, man, tough to really kind of speak to in person. So that whole segment right there, they was like, I forgot exactly, but he was like, We done with our dishes today. I was like, nah, y'all gonna hear me, bro.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, because the Jam Master J reached in his pocket, like, I got something, I got some heat.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh yeah, Crest Groove released October 25th, 1985. And um, bro, I just remember uh watching that movie and seeing it. Like I said, he stole he stole the scene, and so you know he was up in comments, couldn't wait for that album to drop, man. That album dropped a month later, November 18th, 1985. Yeah, radio, yeah, it went platinum, yeah. And um, that was a man, that's a great debut album, man. Uh, I remember going to this house party, I believe it was uh Harriet. And uh this was back in the day when we had uh people and the dudes from Denby, man, or even the garden sometime would just come to a party and just shut it down.
SPEAKER_00:Shut it down, you ain't lying, bro. I used to tell cats that all the time, uh coming up that like if it was a house party in Easter, if if either side showed up, it wasn't gonna last long. Wasn't gonna last long. Shout out to them brothers, though, especially the ones that's you know still around doing their thing, but yeah, you ain't lying.
SPEAKER_02:Dude, this particular party because the whole album, the whole party was the LL radio uh album, was the was the soundtrack of the whole party, man. That's how they played was that album, yeah, back to front. And um, I remember, man, I can't, I think it was guys from Denby, man, came over there and man, it was and punked the father out, man. Just punk the father out. He because he said, you know, cause he got the word, like, don't let these guys in. And uh he said they couldn't come in, man. They punked him out and and ripped his uh his screen door off.
SPEAKER_00:That sounds like them. That sounds like them guys.
SPEAKER_03:That was good for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, okay, man. Let's get this man. He released four singles from this album. Can't live without my radio, released October 6th, 1985. You a rock, that was also in '85. Uh they don't get a date. Uh I I can give you more. And then Rock the Bells was September 22nd, 1985.
SPEAKER_00:I will say this, uh, not to cut you off, my brother. Um uh I Need a Beat was the first track released, I believe. And that released in '84. And I think by the little research I did, I believe that Rick Rubin and um uh what's what's what's uh Ron's brother, Russell Simmons. They basically started Def Jam off of, you know, basically uh Discovering LL. Yeah. If I'm not mistaken.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and I believe also that he's he kept the lights on too you know during their dark times, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and that that album, uh the the radio album, uh in five months, it grossed over 500,000. So that was huge for that time.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and I think I think it reached uh it reached over a million about 88. So it was released to 85, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I was 12 years old.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I was uh I was uh freshman in high school, man.
SPEAKER_02:Uh uh let's see, uh Dairy Vet was the jam was on there.
SPEAKER_01:Classic. Man, Deriv.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, I needed beat remix was on there.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, yeah. That's a lie was my jam too.
SPEAKER_00:Oh yeah, yeah, that's a lie. Yeah, I was just banging that the other day at the gym. Yeah, what was deep though, what used to be so dope is uh the wizard. If anybody from this area used to know that the wizard used to uh uh do all the mixes and stuff, and when LL's parts used to come on in his mixes, man, them them them used to be uh some good long nights uh uh listening to some really good hip hop.
SPEAKER_02:Man, they say promise your girl for Layman Young took of the white castle. Hey man, um what followed that was was on when uh LL was in uh Wildcast. Did you see L uh Wildcat?
SPEAKER_00:I'm sure I didn't I did not see uh Wildcats. I know Crush Groove was uh, and I I'ma go back and look at it because we we like you just mentioned earlier, the nostalgia rum, man. I I think he's a great uh artist to go back. Uh by doing my research, I didn't realize how great this bro, he had a great career, man. But no, I didn't see uh I didn't see Wildcast, but that's on my list to check out though.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he I mean he he didn't he wasn't only thing he he was a rapper, he was pretty much himself, and he was rapping on stage and um he had a song called Football on there. It's the sport of kings better than Diamond Rings, yeah, football, yeah. Man, uh I remember uh when that came out, I wanted to see the movie just because I knew LL was gonna be in it, man. Yeah. Uh Wesley Snipes was in there. That's the first time I see Wesley Snipes on the big screen. Man, yeah, you could tell then that he was gonna do big things, yeah. Oh man. So coming next, man. His biggest album, well, my favorite album of LL Bigger and Deafer, released May 29th. Let me guess. 1987. Yes. I went double platinum, almost triple platinum.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that album was was dope. Uh uh tracks like Candy, Bristol Hotel. Um, yeah, yeah, them was some bangers, man.
SPEAKER_02:He only he only released two singles from that album.
SPEAKER_00:And which was which ones? Yeah, I'm bad.
SPEAKER_02:And I need love. And I need love.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah. I need love, bro. Keeping it 100, like, you know, during that time, I just think relationships between, you know, black folks, like they was real special back then. So to hear songs like that, yeah, they they definitely put a lot of brothers in the mood to write letters or to really talk smooth to the ladies. I know I was one that was inspired by it for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, so I was that the first hip hop ballad or slow song, or it was uh one love Houdini. Because I always was trying to figure out which one, because they they they were close when they released when they were released.
SPEAKER_00:They about to, yeah. I I I might that's a good question. I'm gonna have to pull that up and see what came first. Yeah, but um, you're right. Um, it might have been the first one. Okay, and that Houdini, that was one love, right? One love one love, yeah. Oh man, just to have just one love, uh man, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Rest in peace, ecstasy.
SPEAKER_00:Um, yes, sir.
SPEAKER_02:Uh, this album had candy get down, like you said, a bristle tail, my rhyme ain't done, my breaking on down, man. Go cut creator, go.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, oh, that was a track.
SPEAKER_02:The breakthrough. I need love. Ah, let's get ill. Man, the doo-wop, man.
SPEAKER_00:Um, the doo-wop. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh huh. Oh man, and then he was on his storytelling on that boy, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, man. That boy, that his pen was was crazy. One love came first in '86. Okay. Yeah. But that was kind of like, you know, that was kind of like uh I think the uh the young lady was cheating on him in that song. He was cheating on the young lady, so LL's was a little bit more personal, though. You know what I'm saying? Like it was really like I'm in love with, or I want to be down with you, babe. Yeah, so yeah, great track.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that was, man.
SPEAKER_02:But yeah, that um I'm bad with the courageous cat. Uh man, with that courageous cat beat on there, man. It's like that sample was like it. I heard like, I know that beat. Like, oh, that was from the TV show, the cartoon Courageous Cat. Man, I think uh Battle Cat produced that song, man.
SPEAKER_00:Um, yeah, he did a lot of those. Uh yeah, and what was yeah, yeah, he did. I believe so. I believe so.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, see, I was rocking at the park, called 118, little kid still watching the rock the spot. Yeah, didn't know years I'll be standing on top. What? Man, I I'll say this too.
SPEAKER_00:One thing that uh uh that I really love about LL is that uh even during a time when uh the birth of like NWA and that real kind of like gangster rap, he he stayed true to who uh who he was. And really, when you think about it, man, um he really geared a lot of his music towards the ladies, but he still remained relevant during that time of consciousness and the gangster rap. So he kind of created his own lane.
SPEAKER_02:Mm-hmm. I mean, he man, when he came hard, he came hard, yeah, and every time. And think about LL too, because I know a lot of people like you know don't didn't follow his career because he took so many chances, he had the liberty to experiment, he experimented all the time, and so I mean he uh up and down, he had some good albums, he had some bad albums, but the rec labor record label allowed him to uh experiment and do whatever he wanted to do, and it paid off, man. That's why he was able still from uh 85 all the way to 2023 just drop music, yeah, man.
SPEAKER_00:And what's deep is is that that uh that bigger in deafer album, it was on um the billboard charts for that number one, 11 weeks straight. That was for like when you think about the type of music across all genres that was was uh being created back then. To do that, that's an incredible feat within itself.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, best like we said in that time, uh, because run DMC were this were the standard with a hip hop. They they were this you know, LL was a solo superstar, they were a superstar group, yeah. And and you know, just like you know, Jordan or anybody who was on top of the game, keep people from getting on the top with them. Uh Run DMC, like Houdini was a great group, but because uh run DMC was on top, yeah, they always took the back seat. But they it was a great, great group, though, man. Absolutely, and LL was able to shine through all of that, yeah. Because he had all that, you know, he had a personality and all that. Man, we about one thing about one aspect about LL's Koo J uh LL's uh career that he was he got into beefs, rap battles, man. Yeah, and the first one, you know, I ain't gonna say the first one because you know I got some back in the day. Uh, but uh most famous was LL and Kumo D.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, man.
SPEAKER_02:And that was uh legendary and um uh Kumod, he he uh accused LF from stealing his uh his style and his lyrical and so his style. So they went back and forth, they escalated through a series of diss tracks. LL started with Jack, uh with Jack the Ripper, and then uh Kumo D came and how would you how you like me now?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, two classics, two classics. I heard LL um he was surprised about that particular beef because he was a fan of uh the group that uh that he was in. That Kumo D was in. Who was it? Furious three, forget the name of the group that he was in. Uh, but yeah, he was surprised by that.
SPEAKER_02:Was that the treacherous three?
SPEAKER_00:Treacherous three, that's what it was.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, uh, yeah, exactly. And um, uh, you know, Kumo D felt that was disrespectful. I think I can't remember the line that LL said. I think he said making more making more money, you know, pops or something like that.
SPEAKER_00:He said that just I think that was it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, he said that that triggered him when he went out. Didn't he drop let's go? It it's dated now, but at the time when they played let's go on the radio, like dang, he was dropping all those L's, man. L L S or all man.
SPEAKER_00:And now I was about to say, man, that might have been the first beef, but no, I think the first beef was who uh uh the real roxanne and shots, real rock sand and UTFO. But that beef right there definitely uh it it it was uh it was it was a big one that uh between two major stars.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and it was a c it was a significant clash between old and new school hip hop styles too, because uh uh Kuman D was a lyricist, but he you could tell he's he was still from the older school and L was he was starting up this new school. Yeah, he even sounded different from um you know Ron DMC. Yeah, yeah, that's what that that line came from the doo-wop and it said making more uh making more money in your pops. Yeah, Jack the Ripper, man. Jack the Ripper.
SPEAKER_00:That song was about five or six minutes long, if I'm not making King. Yeah, L L went went hard on there, and and like you was just saying about how long his music career has uh has been, man. That that dude, brother, his his pen is is very good. Like to me, to be an artist, and I'm an artist myself, but what makes a really, really great artist is a guy that can write, or hey, or lady, uh artist that can write music without a lot of profanity. Yeah. And he did it without a lot of profanity, he did it without talking about dope dealing. And um just just a lot of his subject matter is is deep to where it's not too deep to where you gotta really you know play it over and over and over again to understand it, but it was deep enough to um just be real creative and real interesting, and along with dope beats on top of that.
SPEAKER_01:Oh man, yes, yes, man.
SPEAKER_00:Very good beat selection for that brother throughout his entire career. Yep, Milky Like serial oh man, and then he um he dropped going back to Cali.
SPEAKER_02:That was on a lesson zero soundtrack. That was that was a headbuster too.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, it was. Yeah, man.
SPEAKER_02:I love that. And that video was in black and white, and he had the Kango with the with the turtleneck on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And uh Jack the Ripper was the was the B side of going back to Cali.
SPEAKER_00:Going back to Cali, okay.
SPEAKER_02:And then that brings us to June 9th, 1989, Walking with a Panther. Now, this was a polarizing album. Uh, it was I liked it, but I didn't love it. Yeah, that was his third studio studio studio album, and he released five, five singles from this album. Going back to Cali, which was like I said, was on the movie soundtrack and on this one. I'm that type of guy, big old butt. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_00:That beat right there. That I'm a type, man. That was so smooth, bro. That's still a bold track to this day.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, yeah. I always go to the teen club and gig to that boy. Uh big old butt. Yeah, running down big old butt. Um, one shot at love. Oh man, this nothing about this album. He I think he had like three or four slow songs. I was like, You was doing too much, man. He's doing too much.
SPEAKER_00:I think he said when he got to this album, like just where he was in his career, you know, he had had success and he kind of was feeling himself, you know what I'm saying? So I he probably didn't take it as serious as he did with the first couple uh albums.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Uh so yeah, and Jingling Baby was on here too. Uh it was on two uh two of his albums on this one, then the remix was on on the album we're about to talk about next.
SPEAKER_01:But let's see, uh let's see what else was on here.
SPEAKER_02:But yeah, that's pretty much the one the meat of the album was the songs that those singles that he released.
SPEAKER_00:Jingling Baby was uh another uh you know track that that went over very well.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, Marley Marl, baby. Yeah, man. Yeah. Uh September 4th, 1990. Mama said, knock you out. He said, Don't call it a comeback.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. And I and I I I heard too when when he did that album, that like we were saying the album before with the Panther album, he kind of was feeling himself, people kind of felt like he fell off. And so the the mama said knock you out. That that was with a lot of fire. Like, I'm gonna let y'all know I still got it.
SPEAKER_02:Man, man, he said, uh, he said I was shadow boxing when I heard you on the radio. Ooh, you just don't know. That's all called. He's about makes him start going shadow boxing.
SPEAKER_03:Like, bring it.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man, dude, that energy, man. I love that. That's my favorite line on that on that song.
SPEAKER_00:Uh and that that album that album dropped what in the 90s, right? 1990?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. Uh September 14th, 1990.
SPEAKER_00:That was only a year after uh after he had done Walking with a Panther. So that was some incredible work right there.
SPEAKER_02:And five singles from there to the break of dawn, the booming system, man. Man, that's on there.
SPEAKER_00:That was do you know it? Not to cut you off, but I think that that was also like the the the height of when we was wearing uh uh carrying around in big old radios. So uh yeah, I I can remember walking blasting that track right there for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and uh his flow on there too. He it was like mid-tempo, he wasn't too fast, he wasn't too slow. Almost like uh, you know how Will Smith was imitating Rock Kim on summertime, it had that type of flow to it. Yeah, uh yeah, man, that was my damn. Uh man, the next one, the Round Away Girl, that was a big hit, that was a huge hit for him. And his album.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, you know, one thing too, um, is that by catering to the ladies, uh it it it definitely um I'm not gonna say uh helped his career, but you know, uh the ladies they they buy the music if you if you love it, and that was a great track right there.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man, yeah, it was it's like uh it was hip hop, but it was it was pop and it was RB, you know?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, big time.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, new addition, Bobby Baum button on your sleeve. Uh mama said, knock you out, man. Like we spoke, that that was uh February 26, 1991, and then Six Minutes of Pleasure, May 30th, 1991. And um, did you see the uh speaking of LL movies? This movie came out the hard way, came out March March 8th, 1991. Did you see that?
SPEAKER_00:I did not see that. Another one, the hard way, the hard way, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, go see that today. If you can see today, if you can't find some time today, man, dude. Uh let's see, that movie was so good. He was Billy, he was a policeman. This was, I think this was the first movie we had a he had he had lines in it, he had a character. He wasn't just playing uh, he wasn't just playing a rapper or something like that. You know, he was he was a cop, man.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, let me write that down. The hard way, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Dude, you got Michael J. Fox was in it.
SPEAKER_00:James Woods. Man, hold on, real quick, man. Shout out to Michael J. Foxx, man. He was one of my favorite actors coming up, man. I I used to love uh family ties, but yeah, Michael J. Fox.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, James Woods, man. His his character was funny. Stephen Lang, he's been in a few movies, man. Uh Luis Guzman is in this movie, man. Uh Deroy Lindo. Oh, uh young Christina Richie was here. Penny Marshall was in this movie.
SPEAKER_00:Uh-oh.
SPEAKER_02:Man, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:The hard way.
SPEAKER_02:Man, most deaf was in this movie. He had a little small part.
SPEAKER_00:Most Death.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Uh that was a good movie, man.
SPEAKER_00:Uh a quick note on Most Deaf. Uh I I was thinking today, like, uh, you know, LL would be up there fire. He definitely top five, far as greatest rappers slash uh um actors. Uh most to me, I think most deaf is probably the uh the one artist that has the most depth as an actor. That I I mean that I've seen.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But you can't really when you look at LL's resume for as the music and the acting, yeah. He he might be number one.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:He might be number one. I think Pac would have gave him a run for his money had he, you know, stayed around a long time ago. But yeah, as far as the work and the body of work, L is right there.
SPEAKER_02:What about cube?
SPEAKER_00:You you know, cube is cube in every movie. Yeah, you are and that ain't no knock. I love cube, uh, but he he top five, he top five. So whoever your favorite, yeah. He wanted my he one of my favorites. I mean, because when you throw in with him, I mean, he's in another category by itself because he's rapper, slash, actor, slash, movie producer.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, yeah, yeah. One more person we have uh iced tea. Oh man, he's still on.
SPEAKER_00:TV man, yeah, yeah. Uh I was laughing recently. Michael Mike Ebbs was cracking, like man, they always give ice tea them one-liners. Yeah, uh, you know, I forgot what it was. What was uh what's the cop show he's in?
SPEAKER_02:Um no, uh yeah, Law and Order, man.
SPEAKER_00:Law and Order. He's like he was like, T Ice T always got the one-liners, but yeah, man, you got shout out to Ice T too. That's that's one guy right there. I first noticed Iced T in uh the classic um breaking.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yeah, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Reckless. Reckless, yes, sir. Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_02:That was my track back then, and then he dropped uh I remember with Headbusts was six in the morning.
SPEAKER_00:That was only set my dome.
SPEAKER_02:Man, yeah, man. Great storytelling. All right, man. The next album, 14 shots to the dome. Now that's another experimental uh album. Dude, it it well, he he regressed because he sold, he was he was in platinum status, and then he went back to gold with this album.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. I I think too, that was just another uh kind of like I gotta keep proving myself type of album. Yeah, you know, and like uh because he was out a lot of the music was geared towards the ladies, so I think that was kind of almost like a I shot you type of moment.
SPEAKER_02:Man, but uh pink cookies in a plastic bag getting crushed by buildings is whack. I was like, what is he talking about? Yeah, he would later explain, like he's like, man, only I could tell you I was high all the time.
SPEAKER_00:I forgot about that track. Yeah, pink cookies, yeah. And I think that was that was the the the artist in him trying to be creative in something without being so explicit, maybe, yeah. So because I I did hear him say that you know he's done albums where he's like really been in his bag, but then he said he's also done albums where it might be weird to everybody, but he was just trying to be a little bit more creative and a little bit more expressive, yeah. So, but that's one of those tracks for sure. Yeah, uh, did you see out of sync? You're gonna laugh at me.
SPEAKER_02:No, I did not draw that came out that came out June 2nd, 1995.
SPEAKER_00:95. Now, you know what, man, in 95, 95 was a very interesting year because that's the uh we were in the middle of uh the OJ trial. Uh was it the was it the mid, yeah, because I think it started in '94. Uh Tupac was in the little situation he was in with uh going to prison. Yeah. The music he was making. Uh, and it was just a lot going on. A lot of people don't, I mean, if you go back and do your research, that was also during the time where um a lot of those churches were being bombed in uh in the south.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And if I'm not mistaken, uh that October '95, that was also the year of the Million Man March. So it was a lot going on in '95. It's my excuse of why I didn't see that movie.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I get that. I just it was just, I think it was the first uh his first movie, he was the lead, if I'm not mistaken. He was the lead guy. And um Debbie Allen uh produced, I think, but produced and directed that movie.
SPEAKER_00:And uh correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't she? She was uh in the TV show in the house too, wasn't she?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, okay. Okay. So she in the movie. Oh yeah, because uh in this movie too, man, Victoria Dillard was in it, Tim Reed and Howard Hessman, who was on W KRP in Cincinnati.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, that was my show back then.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, your fat Kodo was in it. Yeah, first time you see Aries Spears, man, was in this movie. He was he was the comic relief, he was LL's boy. And I was like, I remember seeing him like this dude is hilarious, man. And then you just see him for a while, and then he pops up and he just he looks totally different because he was really thin then. Yeah, yeah. Uh Gene Anthony, Gene Anthony Ray, who was who was cool with uh Debbie Allen from Fame, from the TV show fame. So he was in there, he was a bad guy, which was was what tripped me out. Um okay, yeah, but out of sync, man.
SPEAKER_00:I'm gonna put that on my list too. So I got Hard Way, the Hard Way, Out of Sync, Wildcats, and Wildcats, yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Uh the next man, this is when he came, man. This was another one of my favorite LL uh albums. It's uh Mr. Smith released November 21st, 1995. When he went came back and went double platinum. This album was hot.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. And uh he great uh great album right there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he released three singles, uh Hey Lover with Boys the Men.
SPEAKER_00:Hey Lover and Quick Side Note. I think he won a Grammy for that for Hey Lover. Yeah, that might have been his first Grammy, I believe.
SPEAKER_02:Hmm. Yeah, checked it out. But yeah, that I wouldn't that wouldn't surprise me at all. And then um doing it, man, that song was all cold.
SPEAKER_00:To this day, that track is still that like no matter where that comes on, no matter what time it comes on, it could be 12, 12 in the afternoon, four in the morning, that bang, no matter where you at.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, man, uh lounging.
SPEAKER_00:Lounging, yep, another great track.
SPEAKER_02:I like the remix, you know. He had the remix with Total because uh the album version was a little different, and that was released June 25th, 1996. 96, man, the 90s was was great for hip hop and RB, man. And LL was able to uh squeeze in there and do his thing. Uh once one track on there, man, uh hip-hop.
SPEAKER_01:I love that song so much, man. Yeah, yeah, good track.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man, I was listening to that the other day. Y'all need to go listen to that hip-hop of the Mr. Smith album. Man, uh yep.
SPEAKER_00:90s. Um, quick side note. I I just think the 90s when it comes to music, movies, and sports, probably, and I'm not saying it because I graduated in the 90s and I was a teenager and became an adult in the 90s, but one of the greatest decades ever, man, when it comes to uh music, especially for hip-hop for sure.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh Phenomenon, man. Released October 14th, 1997. Went back, got platinum status. Uh I had this album. I bumped it, but it's only like three cuts I really bumped off of here.
SPEAKER_00:I was gonna say that's when I felt like uh not just LL, I felt like uh because that album was released when?
SPEAKER_02:97.
SPEAKER_00:97, yeah. Towards the end uh, well, you figure that's a year after Pop passed. And Biggie died in March of '97, six months after Pop. Uh I felt like a lot of the albums they were watered down. Um they were watered down then. So yeah, he there uh it was probably only a couple tracks on that album that I was feeling as well.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, phenomena and um the song What he did for Tamir. I I still listen to that today. Uh Don't be late, don't come too soon. He'd be like, never that, never that. Hey man, think about LL man, and I've done this too. Uh his he we talked about his lyrics, man. He he really know how to you know talk to the ladies and and and and and put them in the mood. And so I would a lot of times because of that, I would put some of his his songs on my love tapes, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02:And I definitely will rock them out, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Man, he was great at at that and probably the last cat to really smooth talk to ladies without being disrespectful, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, being all nasty and vulgar. He wasn't vulgar at all, you know. He had a way of saying it, like, dang, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, like I said, creative, a very creative artist without being explicit, you know, and in a lot of vulgar language, man. Very, very that's that's a um that's an unmatched talent, man. That's that's hard to do.
SPEAKER_02:Off this album, go ahead.
SPEAKER_00:No, I said that's one of the things that make made made and makes him so special as an artist.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah. And off this album, another famous beef, hit uh his uh beef with cannabis.
SPEAKER_00:Man.
SPEAKER_02:Off this 4321.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. Now the story I heard was um it was a lot. And you know what? When I when I think back on that that beef, it it kind of it now that unlike the Kumo D beef shoot, uh Cannabis ended up leaving hip-hop over uh over that particular beef. Uh I I heard that uh L had approached him. I don't know if he had mentioned, I think it was it, uh started with the tattoo on his arm, the mic tattoo or something like that. Yep. And I guess cannabis had wanted to uh either get the it was something pertaining to the tattoo.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he wanted one.
SPEAKER_00:He tight man's like, bruh, like what do you mean? Like, almost like, nah, like don't copy my in in so many words, don't copy my style, do your own thing.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:And so I I heard that cannabis had wrote something, but he was asked to rewrite what he had wrote on that song. But LL kept the uh kept his verse, which went at Cannabis a little bit, uh, and which prompted cannabis to do the uh second round knockout, which was a very good track.
SPEAKER_02:Man, he could rap it right.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. Salute to that young fella, that fella, young fella doing that time, yeah, which was a dope track.
SPEAKER_02:So and then LL respond with the Ripper Strikes Back, and then Cannabis came back with Rip the Jacker, and then the LL came back with Back Where I Belong. Oh man, uh here come another LL movie. Man, did you see this one? I saw that. I follow LL. So uh Halloween H2O. Did you see that?
SPEAKER_00:Uh I did see uh I didn't see the whole thing, but I did see parts of it. Yeah, I did. So that one I did see a little bit of, I can say that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, um, yeah, he was uh that was the first time you seen a black guy live all the way through the horror movie.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. Well one was famous for being gone fast, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And I was like, yeah, because I you know, one thing about going to see this movie is I mean, it's Michael Myers, like he's gonna kill pretty much everybody. But he didn't hear LL, you know, LL play Ronald Ronnie Jones. Yep, he's a security guard, right? Right, yeah. Um damn man, uh 99 was a good year for LL Far's movies. He then he was in um the deep blue sea, he was preacher. That was released July 28th, 1999. Oh man, that was one of my good one of my favorite movies at the time.
SPEAKER_00:I believe that's his highest gross, grossing movie that he was in. I think I could be wrong. Okay, but uh yeah, that was a very good movie. Uh Samuel Jackson was in that movie. Very easy for a short for a short period of time. Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, bruh. I was surprised at how he got taken out in that movie.
SPEAKER_02:Spoiler alert. You know what I'm saying? Like, man, Samuel Jackson L L you like the movie just came on. How y'all gonna do it like that?
SPEAKER_00:That was that was that was a shocker watching that. So sorry about it for y'all, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man, that was yeah, great movie though.
SPEAKER_00:If you haven't seen it, that that's part of the the the new thing we're gonna come from. This is the nostalgia run. You gotta go back. That's make that a part of your nostalgia run. Very good flick, right there. Absolutely, man.
SPEAKER_02:Man, 1999, uh August 25th, 99. Uh, and too deep, man.
SPEAKER_01:That was another deep, yeah. Wayne Keith God get in.
SPEAKER_00:Man, that movie was so so good, bruh. Uh, a lot of great actors in that movie. Omar Epps and uh his name is is slipping, the brother that just ran for uh Gail Harper, yeah, um, another great artist, uh great guy right there, uh actor. Um LL did his thing in that movie, bro. He was very intimidating.
SPEAKER_02:He was I could stand him, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, he was a trip in that movie. There was a scene, I forget where uh exactly, but uh somebody had got hit with a car. Was it it? Was the girl with the she was dope fiend in the movie? I think he kept slamming his arm and like the car door. Yeah, that was very that was something different, bro.
SPEAKER_02:That in the in the in the pool stick, man.
SPEAKER_00:Come on, oh yeah, yeah, that was crazy, crazy, yeah. Yeah, that that almost Omar Epps at that point in the movie was like, man, what did I really get myself into? He was 5-0, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It was a lot of um cameos, and Nas was in it, Maya was in it, uh Sticky Fingers, sticky fingers, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Jermaine Dupree. I forgot Nas.
SPEAKER_00:Nas was in that joint, yeah. He was uh he was a drug dealer, yeah, yeah. Jermaine Dupree, you're right, he was in that joint. Pam Greer. Yeah, yeah, quick, quick, quick side note. Um, and not to go back, but in Deep Blue Sea, LL's uh he had a record coming. I think it was called he had foreign rock the bells. They did the um the soundtrack for the deep blue sea uh movie, bro. Another song, dude.
SPEAKER_02:Um, Deepest Blue is my song. Deepest blue is my head is like a shop, man.
SPEAKER_01:Yo, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And he had another song called Say What? Those songs. I'll wore those out. I'm glad you brought that up because um, yeah, I don't want to leave that out. Um that brings us to December 22nd, 1999, man. Any given Sunday. He was Julian J. Man, Washington.
SPEAKER_00:Another great movie. Uh, you and you look at the the the transformation, uh you look at from Deep Blue Sea, because he was a chef, I believe, in Deep Blue Sea. Yeah, and you you you got um uh the uh In Too Deep where he was a gangster and that bad boy did like you said, I mean, any actor that can really get you to hate him in the movie has done his job. Absolutely. Yep, and any given Sunday, another great, great, great movie. Uh, and which uh and it's not even allegedly it actually happened, uh the squabble between him and Jamie Foxx in that movie.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, he knocked him out, man. Knocked him out, knocked Jamie Foxx out, man.
SPEAKER_00:To his credit, uh Jamie Foxx threw the first punch.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he threw the and didn't he say it's like ain't gonna be shamed be ashamed of it getting knocked out by LL. Hey man, hey, that's humility right there.
SPEAKER_00:Like, yeah, yeah, no doubt about it. No doubt about it, yeah, yeah. Um one thing we know for sure throughout his career, that brother and to this day, he is in shape for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, people don't people don't try that light skinned brother, I could tell you.
SPEAKER_00:He don't even get them light-skinned jokes when he's on the city.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man, mm-mm.
SPEAKER_00:Love that, love that salute LL.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Um hey man, um September 12th, 2000, he released the goat. Man, come on, man. The goat.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Man, that man, that that term has been used ever since.
SPEAKER_00:Since he started it, real time. Yeah, he started it, and I can see why he would would would feel that way when you think about uh the great success with the with the music, um uh you know, won a Grammy, and you look at the movies, um yeah. So yeah, up until that point, he was that guy. Definitely that guy.
SPEAKER_02:I wish uh I wish he had a forethought to uh coin that phrase because he would be man, could you imagine how paid he became?
SPEAKER_00:Oh lord, yeah, definitely. Because I mean, he's worth 120 million now. Uh so yeah, with with with with that on there, Lord knows where he would be at right now.
SPEAKER_02:Oh man, they man, people had to give him so many royalties for using that, yeah, and the goat. Just I mean, he just LeBron Michael and whatever Michael Grent, just like all these goats, man. Um Cynthia Cooper and Diana Tarasi.
SPEAKER_00:I see, yeah, yeah, definitely. Maya Moore.
SPEAKER_02:Maya Moore, yeah, man, and then Asia Wilson, now man.
SPEAKER_00:I mean Asia Wilson, true, the lefty, too. The light-skinned lefty.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, man. I am sorry about this, this man, but man, dude, I was rooting for them because uh I'm I was a big fan of the team, and then um Chelsea Plum went to the uh to the Sparks. I'm like, I don't know if they're gonna be able to make it back. Yeah, I don't know if they're gonna make it back. Yeah, man, but sure enough, they did, man, and they won that boy, too. I I thought Minnesota was gonna go all the way, man.
SPEAKER_00:Uh I did, I did two. So how many how many of this, how many championships is that bird? Is that three or or four? Nah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh talking about uh Las Vegas? Yeah, three, three out of four, man.
SPEAKER_00:Three out of four, okay. Yeah, that's big.
SPEAKER_01:That is big.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. That throw you in there with Cynthia Cooper, Cheryl Swoops, and uh uh uh Tarazi.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, all right, man. Um that brings us to oh yeah, and the goat went gold. Then that brings us to uh 10.
SPEAKER_00:10, yeah. Yeah, 10 uh different albums. Yeah, you know, it was it was it was still but it was still consistent, and it was it was RB heavy too.
SPEAKER_02:Uh Love You Better, All I Have and Paradise and Amazing. Um Yeah, I just I just followed I had the album, but I didn't bounce it. Love You Better was cool because I mean it was a Pharrell and it was a Neptune's produced joint, so yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um yeah, yeah, but believe it or not though, um he had a couple singles that peaked at uh number two on the US uh Billboard 200, Love You Better and uh and Paradise with my old girl Amory. Amory, yeah, Amory, yeah, yeah. And then uh the also uh the track with uh Jennifer Lopez, All I Have another dope track, but yeah, that that also was an album that had a lot of fillers uh as well. Yep, big time, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Uh it brings this is this probably was the last album that I just I bounced was uh this next album, the definition.
SPEAKER_00:Definition, yeah. Now I I'm I'm I have to be honest, I kind of have fell off a little bit before 10. So um, but I hear definition did get a lot of praise though. So that's on my um that's on my my gym list to listen to while I'm working out. Yeah, he had uh I mean Hairsprung, bro.
SPEAKER_02:I mean he worked with Tinderland, man. You just ooh, man, dude. My daughter the other day, uh my daughter Whitney hit me up, she texted me, and um, I think she texted me a link to Hairsprung. She said, I remember you used to play this all the time, man. It would be like when I stayed in West Willow that had that suburban with them tins in it, man. Oh and I I don't care what time I used to leave the bar, man. I'd be it'd be three o'clock in the morning. I'm blasting Headsprung coming up in the driveway.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, man, yeah, uh uh great track. Now, you know what was was deep is is uh there was an uh artist, God rested so uh Blade Icewood from Detroit. He had a song called uh We Gon Ball. If you listen to that song and you listen in the Head Sprung, very, very, very similar. I don't know if there was rumors that that a beat was stolen or an idea was stolen. I'm not sure allegedly, but that that's worth doing some research. But you have Headsprung and We Gon Ball by Blade. It's very, very similar similar in sounds.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, okay. Yeah, hey, I gotta check that out, man. I wasn't aware of that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, rest peace to Blade.
SPEAKER_02:When did he pass, you know?
SPEAKER_00:Is it was it oh four?
SPEAKER_02:Oh wow okay, so that was back then and uh when the album came out. Uh next album, uh this one he started, he was just hit and go. But then, you know, the the dynamic uh like uh yeah, we had all these streaming services and all that, that changed the game on a lot of this.
SPEAKER_00:Man, listen, that hurt the game. Well, yeah, I I'll say it hurt and it helped. It hurt the game because it it basically created the era of burning CDs and selling a bunch of music uh where rappers and artists weren't able to, you know, collect their royalties or the the their money. Uh but it also uh created a plat it also created a uh a platform to like free advertisement almost. Uh so yeah, quick side note blade passed uh April 19th, 2005.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but yeah, you're right. That that that era, uh a lot of artists uh lost a lot of or or didn't get a lot of money uh because of of the the piracy, the pirating.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and then um also I just uh people you know it's like I said, streaming, so people weren't buying the physical copy. I still was buying physical copies at this time because I was DJing and I was at the time I was still DJing with CDs.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, yeah. I mean, I it's funny you say that, bro. Uh um I had a I always had a hard time like crossing over once we made a change. Like I had a hard time crossing over from the cassettes to the CDs, and and then from the CDs to you know actually downloading and and uh and and streaming. I recently did a project back in like 2023 where I um organized all my cassette tapes and all my DVDs to yeah hey, hold on, let me get this this dog he chiming in with us.
SPEAKER_02:That's all he man, you're gonna make editing hard, man. Yeah, that's rock him, rock him a lot.
SPEAKER_00:You said we forgot about him, yeah. We ain't mentioned him yet.
SPEAKER_02:All right, uh let's see. Just get back on track. We're almost done here, my brother. Uh uh September 9th, 2008, he came out with um exit 13. And I definitely this one I just stopped listening to LA altogether.
SPEAKER_00:You you know what? Uh um to to uh was was was a trip because I think it well after the definition it was Ty Smith. I don't really remember that album, but yeah, exit 13, you could tell uh he was he was disgruntled because I think it was a lot going on. I think uh Jay-Z had just been appointed to Def Jam. Um and like he said, you know, it wasn't no beef, but it was just about business. And I uh I don't think that Def Jam did a good job of maybe promoting him.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And and you know, Jay kind of had a stronghold on the game back then. So uh I always was a little conflicted with that. I I think if you're still putting out music and you are over uh or you you hold a significant a significant spot like Jay did, um there there could tend to be a little biasedness uh in who you promote and who you don't promote. And I I know that's how L uh kind of felt. And so he he probably uh was a little disgruntled when he did that album, hence, you know, probably why it wasn't one of uh one of his best.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you're right. Uh yeah, forget I overlooked the uh the Ty Smith album, um April 11, 2006. Yeah, and the only one, only single that I I rock with was Control Myself.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. Another album was full of fillers. But again, you you you figure it's two years between Ty Smith and Exit 13. And pretty much when you look at his whole category catalog up until uh his his last two, uh there was pretty much two years in between. But you could you could tell that there was there was uh some a little bit of everything happening in between uh those two albums. Um yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Because even this next one, man, I just I wasn't authentic.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:April 30th, 2013. Um that really didn't mess with it too much.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I know for me, 2013 was one of the toughest years of uh of my life. I lost my grandmother. Uh I got divorced in 2013, and I lost my grandmother in 2013. So that was uh I don't I barely remember anything that yeah, I just remember going to court all of the time and just uh dealing with the loss of my grandmother.
SPEAKER_02:So yeah, yeah, just like um I had a conversation online, man. This guy, you know, uh we were talking about the uh the pandemic and the bubble, bubble championship, and it was and that was my reasoning. Like sometimes I forget that the Lakers won because it was so much that went on, man. And and like I had coworkers and family members and friends that passed away, and then yeah, uh George Floyd stuff. It was just so much, just like it was so hot, and yeah, and it was so much uncertainty, and and just man, I mean, man, people was dying, man. The millions, man. It was crazy. So I I tend to forget that, and I mentioned it's like, oh, you got to make excuses, like, but no, but seriously, man, like I I knew people passed away, so I wasn't even though I watched some of that basketball's um playoffs and all that, I said it didn't stick with me because other stuff seemed to be more important to me at the time.
SPEAKER_00:It's funny that you say that, uh, because you're right. Uh, I could just remember waking up every day, and it's like 1,500 to 2,000 people were passing. That's a lot of people dying every single day. Uh very that was a very dark time. And um, I know like you know, most of your sports casters don't give the bubble a lot of credit, but I'm gonna give those brothers all the credit in the world because again, we were going through the toughest time that we've seen, that we've seen in our lifetime. Yeah, and um, for those guys to put on a show like they did during that time and what was going on, uh I that's I think you should make that a part of your nostalgia run as well, because it was some great basketball play uh during that time. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I I I I will say this though, and then like you said, were some crazy performances, but I was missing the crowd though. I really and they were trying to have the virtual crowd and all that, yeah. Oh, but uh man, those guys, man, uh people like uh Donovan Mitchell stood out and Tyler Hero, Tyler Hero stood out.
SPEAKER_00:Uh what's the brother's name? PJ, PJ, I forget his name. He was he played in Indiana, he had dropped like three games. He had dropped like 50 plus three games straight.
SPEAKER_02:Oh yeah. TJ, you know, TJ, right?
SPEAKER_00:TJ, TJ. I have to uh look up his last name. But yeah, he went to work during that time. And you know what, man? Look to to a real quick um I I'm very thankful now, like when I get to give a brother a a handshake, a hug, a friend that I haven't seen in a while, or either sit. In a stadium and watch a game, I don't take that for granted anymore. Um, you know, especially based on what you said as far as like missing having the crowd there. Uh I I sit back and think like there was a time that uh we couldn't even do any of that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:That was a very scary time.
SPEAKER_02:So from 13, uh then LL released something in 21. It was called the Love EP. It was released in 21. Uh, I really don't have any information on that, but I do have what would you say?
SPEAKER_00:Me either. That wouldn't come up at all.
SPEAKER_02:Uh uh hip hop celebrated his 50-year uh anniversary, man. And um was that 23? Yeah, in 23. And um the tour, the force tour followed that, and LL had another resurgence in 2020. Uh, it was just, I mean, that uh did you go? Did you ever see the force tour? Did you see that?
SPEAKER_00:I did not see the force tour. No, no, and you know what's crazy is uh I think that might have been his fourth tour. Might have been his fourth one. Okay. Did you know he also made an appearance in uh WrestleMania 3, too? No, no, and I'm sorry, WrestleMania 31.
SPEAKER_02:Uh no, no, no, yeah. Yeah, uh the lineup with this man was the roots, was a musical backbone. You know, it had DJ Jazzy Jeff, Sarden Pepper, Latifah, Rockim, Kamen, MC Light, Method Man, and Red Man, Big Boy, Bone Thugs and Harmony, Ice T, uh, Juvenile, Dougie Fresh, Slick Rick, De La Sol, Rick Ross, Goody Mob, and Jadakiss.
SPEAKER_00:Goody Mob, one of my favorites.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he uh, but he all those acts, man. LL was the guy. Uh he was the guy. And uh, because uh I know Quest Love, he would, he would talk about he forgot. It wasn't until he started touring with LL, he forgot like how much of a force uh stage presence that he had. He was like, Man, this guy's a legend. Like, yeah, man.
SPEAKER_00:Like and uh that's uh one of my regrets list is not seeing him perform live. I never saw him perform live. That's a legend. Oh yeah, where where at?
SPEAKER_02:Uh it was in McSonic Temple. He was with uh Eric B. Rakim, Houdini. Oh my god, isn't that crazy? Dougie first supposed to be there, he wasn't there, but it was Houdini, uh, Eric B. Rakham in LL. That's when he was back at the time, back that's when he was going back and forth with Michael Jackson, which was very silly.
SPEAKER_01:With the bad stuff, you know, they were going back and forth, and um yeah he was making fun of Mike, man.
SPEAKER_02:But they ended up becoming becoming cool after that. Okay. Yep. So um, so that brings us to his last album, man. Yes. Uh The Force, Frequency of Real Creative Energy, released September 6, 2024.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Uh produced by uh our boy Q-tip. Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_00:It was a bunch of producers, and well, not a bunch, but uh Eminem produced something on there. Yeah um uh some cat named uh uh Sona Jobarte, I believe that's his name.
SPEAKER_02:No, that's a woman. She's uh oh wow. She's a Nigerian, she's a Nigerian um interment uh instrumentalist. I can't think of the instrument that she plays. That song is my favorite song on the album that she's on. Uh but yeah, but pretty much.
SPEAKER_00:Well, ma'am ma'am, forgive me for butchering that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Uh yeah, um, and that um um that's a very good track. I love that track too. I I would say one of my favorite, one of my favorites is uh it well, two of my favorites is uh Saturday Saturday night with Rick Ross and Fat Joe. Love that beat. This Q tip beat. And um was it 30 December's? I love that that beat too. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, Spirit of Cyrus Cyrus is cool. Uh like you said, yeah, but that's called Black Cold Sweet.
SPEAKER_00:Uh yeah. Um that one I really like that track. Uh yeah, that one is is is really, really dope. I really like that.
SPEAKER_02:And he went he was uh he went really black, he was militant on this album, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, he did he was, yeah, yeah, he sure was. Um I was surprised too. Uh um Herbie Hancock had his hands on one of the tracks. Okay. Um passion.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that was pretty good. Yeah, so let's see.
SPEAKER_02:Uh um I put Rose of the lyrics on the spirit of Cyrus. It's it's the hook is about retaliation against the police. Is it hide your hide behind your image and terrorize my village, your life? You won't you won't live it. Wow, your death will be horrific. A 47 grain bullet to be specific. My nine, I'm lifting it to execute a hypocrite. Creep up a little bit and squeeze. I'm sick of I'm sick of it. I walk away slow as the people gather around, quick change of clothes. He changes clothes, blend back into the crowd like the paramedics. Work right, that's not your job. No, you're dead up in the dirt, right? Cause that's because that badge is the mob.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. That can turn into a sword.
SPEAKER_02:Man, I was like, dang, you talk about the cops, man.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Uh yeah, she's a Gambian multi multi-instrumentalist, uh, Sonajabarte.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Militant had an African vibe to it. Yeah. And you know, he reflects the childhood and talked about soul foods, playing spades and brown liquor and solo cups.
SPEAKER_00:Uh yeah. A quick, quick side note, bro. I didn't realize how traumatic his childhood was. Yeah. Uh-huh. You know, uh, with the with the father shooting the the grandparent and the mom. Yeah. Uh with him running, with the the mom ran off with him, and the dad wasn't too happy about that. Yeah, so he overcame a lot. I didn't also I also know that his mother was adopted, his grandparents adopted his mom. Did you know that?
SPEAKER_02:No, I didn't know that, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yep, she was adopted. Um, so and then he went through a lot with uh being physically and mentally abused by her boyfriend. Um, so yeah, I I could feel the passion in that song because he he's he's been through a lot. Um, and then you know, another quick sign, I forget what who he was being interviewed by, uh, but he's always always uh maintained uh a positive vibe throughout his career. Yeah, I can remember him saying one time, like uh somebody was asking him, like, does it bother you that you know black people haven't done this? And we have he said, No, he's like, you know, because the thing is if we just keep pushing forward, somebody black is gonna do well in this and this and this and that. So real good positive brother, man. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, uh, I wish he would have that song. I wish he would have released that uh black suite, the black cold suite. I wish he would have released that as a single. I I'm not wasn't I wasn't a bit too a fan of proclivities, but I know why he did it, and he has sweetie on there, on there, and you know, it was provocative lyrics, some of what he does, and you know, he liked the sexy stuff, yeah. Um, but it just didn't catch on because I remember him was pleading to the people on TikTok, man, make it, you know, make it viral. Like it just it just it just didn't give you that feel to make it viral.
SPEAKER_00:Um yeah, I think at Matt Proclivities was the third single release from that album because Saturday Special was one, single uh Passion was two, yeah, Proclivities was three, and then uh well pretty dope track too. Um shout out to you know Detroit's own Eminem, uh MurderGram.
SPEAKER_01:Murder Gram.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was uh that was pretty dope. I mean, and I I I you know as a as an artist, if you invite Eminem on your track, you're gonna that you're gonna have to come with your pen game. And uh L did that on that track for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Who was that? I think it was Black Thought that Black Thought said that like, man, I gotta I gotta rewrite my rhyme.
SPEAKER_00:Now that's huge for that's you and Black greatest, you know, spitters to say that for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you know. Man, I said a lot. When I read that, I was like, oh man, I think uh Quest Love said that.
SPEAKER_01:It's like, yeah, yeah. But Black Thought's like, I gotta write this over.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Now who put who produced that track, the black, the black cold suite? Um that don't sound it sounded like a q-tip track. I know the q-tip did most of the production on the album. Yeah, let me let me look that up.
SPEAKER_02:But yeah, I think she uh he did, I believe he did. I think because she she brought her um instrument, so she produced the part where she played her instrument, and he he came up with the beat. Let's see, the personnel. Yeah, q-tip did the programming for yeah, you see it. Okay, uh one, two, four, six, four, four, five, six, eight, nine, ten, and twelve.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he was all over this mug, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah, he left his print on that for sure. Yeah, I mean, shout out to him too, man. Um, he's always kind of been known, you know, Tribe Call Quest and as a rapper, but uh he's produced some incredible tracks for hip hop. Um Love uh by Nas is uh one of his tracks. So he did a great job on this album. And uh for it to be a 11-year hiatus between uh the last his last album and uh and this one, um that's a lot of he lived a lot of life in between us. So I I I'm I'm putting this album up there with some of the best of in his catalog. Very good, very good pen game, bro. Oh absolutely, man.
SPEAKER_02:Um we have we've been having a re reinsurgence of uh uh hip hop royalty come back and drop some dope albums, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:He was one of them, Public Enemy did one. Man, that um that album that uh Rest Development did. Um I haven't heard that. Oh man, I wore that out. Um okay.
SPEAKER_00:I'll tell you uh another one, Slick Rick's album was really good too. Oh, okay, yeah, really good album.
SPEAKER_02:There's a few people, man. Um, I can't these artists escape me right now, but yeah, it's a lot of people came back out and dropped some dope albums.
SPEAKER_00:We spoke about him earlier. Ice Cube, his last album was was dope.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, I didn't see, I didn't listen to that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that was dope.
SPEAKER_02:Hmm. Yeah, man, he has a well illustrious career, man. One of the best to ever do it. You know, some people got him in the top five MCs.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:I wouldn't argue with that against that at all. Um multi multi-talented. What are you about to say?
SPEAKER_00:I was gonna uh a quick throw back back, quick throwb to the uh to the 80s. Uh do you remember the um the LL Cool J troops, the gym shoes?
SPEAKER_02:Man, I wrote that in my notes. Yeah, I want to Did you I didn't I didn't own any troops, man?
SPEAKER_00:Did you I didn't either and that they was too expensive for me. No, my mama was not, she was not gonna buy me that. I can remember my grandmother used to tell me all you doing is buying a name, baby. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're spending money on names. So no, I I was not one of the fortunate ones back then to to own a pair of those, but uh I remember they was fresh though, they was dope.
SPEAKER_02:I I just thought the design was too busy, he like had a lot going on on it, man. Okay, and that's what uh kept me from getting it, and uh I just uh yeah, and I get where he was coming from, but I was at that time I was all Nike, man. At that time, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was all Nike, I was Nike was my what's my my brand at the time, and uh and some kid case west. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I had the uh Elise's and Diodorus, those was a part of my the shoes that I was rocking back then.
SPEAKER_02:What about the lotos?
SPEAKER_00:Lottos to love them, love them British nice, nice man.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, uh yeah run them see man, they state man, they should they shut the game down with Adidas, man.
SPEAKER_00:You know them top tens, uh even the um even the Patrick Ewing uh Adidas called.
SPEAKER_02:Uh but yeah, you had uh Heavy D. He he he promoted Nike, he had a Nike song, and then we know uh Nelly had Air Force Ones, but nothing come close to my Adidas. No, like you know, two fish fucky fresh on my feet.
SPEAKER_00:That's another uh that was another track on the wizard. My uh my he probably would do that a thousand times before he let the track hit, but classic track. Shout out to DM Run DMC, man.
SPEAKER_02:Hey people, go back and listen to the run DMC episode I dropped a couple of years ago. It's one of my favorite episodes. Uh I love run DMC, man.
SPEAKER_00:So I I got a uh quick question for you though. Do you have because I I know you uh salute to the when you do the toy thing, toy Tuesdays. Do you own do you have a LL Kool J uh in your collection? No, I haven't seen one actually.
SPEAKER_02:I haven't even seen one. Um I saw MM and they wanted, man, like 150 for it. I'm like, uh I might do it, man. But uh uh I you know I got uh Harris Hip Hop, I got Biggie. That Biggie is sweet.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, yep, yep, I got Biggie.
SPEAKER_02:Tupac, run DMC.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, I got them too. Yep. Got Outcast. I got uh TLC and Lil Wayne.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, yeah. Are you talking about Funko Pops?
SPEAKER_00:The Funko Pops, yeah. The small ones, not the big head ones, but like the the thin version. They don't really made too many of them, I don't think. Yeah, I got uh Kid and Play. Okay, oh wait, okay bizmarke.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I I got a quick trivia question for you. All right, so um this is like a multiple choice. So what was LL's first rap name? Was it uh J Ty Smith, Smith Sincere, JT Lover, or J Ski? Gotcha. You got one of the movies I got you on this one. It was uh it was J Ski, was his original rap name. Okay, but he he changed it because it was he he didn't want to be affiliated with the cocaine culture back then because you had Curtis Blow and then you had uh J-Rock. Is it J-Rock Ski? Uh my man that did uh he might have did the Pee Wee Herman track, I can't remember.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that's um Joe Ski Love.
SPEAKER_00:Joe Ski Love, yep. So he changed it because he because those guys were affiliated with the game back then. Uh so he didn't want to be affiliated with that, so he changed it to LL Cool J. Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, Joe, Joe Sky was, I mean, he way back then, man, because I only known him from um Pee-Wee Dance, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yep. He had another track. Okay, I just I can't remember what it was, but I I know the Pee-Wee Herman was his his most famous one.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it busy y'all. Take it off, out of people. Yeah, uh man, yeah. Thanks for coming on here, man. I find another topic to get you on here. I was thinking I got a few things, ideas, but uh, but yeah, I got some more coming up down the pike. You got Bobby Brown coming. Okay, continue with the Prince boy. But I want to incorporate some um, I need to incorporate some more hip hop, man. Maybe that, maybe a Tupac, man. Gotta do a Tupac.
SPEAKER_00:I would love to do that, man. I I but I'm thankful. Thank you for uh the opportunity, bro. Sorry it took so long. But I'm uh I'm glad we got it done.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, man. Well, yeah, let's let's keep that Tupac in mind, man, because I like to give him his flowers because uh I you know I named my I named my first dog uh Tupac.
SPEAKER_00:What's funny? I was a big collector in um in fish back in the day, like the early 90s, and I had a um it wasn't a red devil, I forgot what the name uh Ramsey was a it was a uh Jack Ramsey. No, I think that I forget the name of the fish, but his name, uh Jack Dempsey, that's what it was, Jack Dempsey. And I named him Tupac. He was the biggest fish in the tank, too.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, I got you know Tupac. I got Rock him right now. Okay, uh, but yeah, Tupac was that guy. And I hate the disrespect that he gets now. These millennials, these Gen Z, man, want to disrespect Pac, man.
SPEAKER_00:Um let's do him right. Let's do him right. I'm with it.
SPEAKER_02:All right, man. Thank you, man. I hope you have a good rest of your day, and um stay blessed, man.
SPEAKER_00:You too, my brother.
SPEAKER_02:Right. And remember, like I always say, keep those classics current.
