LL Cool J Part 2

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Quest Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. What up, y'all? Welcome back to Quest Love Supreme. So last week we gave you part one of our conversations with L, who Jack tapeed the iHeart Studios Hollywood. Make sure you check that out because we asked L about as early as days, rapping people, doubting I need love, new producers, and some of those rabbit hole questions we always wanted to know. Yeah, we only made it to talking about nineteen ninety. So yeah, here's part two where we talk about everything else. Enjoy y'all. So, also early with Wildcats with Toys or whatever, you're one of the first people in the hip hop lane to start pivoting to other mediums acting. Yeah, how easy or hard was it to convince you? Because I've literally met nobody in our industry that it wasn't a struggle. Me too, I had to be talked and almost by at gunpoint to direct this film I want to do it. How easy was it for you to get into that lane? I had no no problems with it, you know, as long as as long as it didn't do anything that was gonna undermine what I was doing, you know, in music, you know what I'm saying, as long as it didn't undermine that I was cool. You know. I always believed, like my mother used to always tell me, you could do anything you put your mind to, you know what I'm saying. So it's like for me and I used to, you know, watch Bruce Lee and dream about having movies and me and my man Pierre would have the he'd have the was it the thirty four millimeter or the sixteen minute? The cameras the sixteen milimeter cameras and we'd be making kung ful movies and all that. So I was with it. I was I wanted to smoke. I wanted all to smoke. I want to make movies, want to do it all. How easy was the transition to do though? Did you have to get an acting coach? I definitely study. I definitely have had many acting coaches. I went to the Spies Academy. Uh. You know, I worked with a lot of acting coaches, Greta Secat, Winnie Winnie Hill and my current coach. You know, I trained and studied, you know read, you know Stanislavsky and you know and Uda Hagen and you know yo, yeah, oh yeah, that technique. Oh yeah, yechnique. Oh yeah, oh yeah, of course hundred percent. Like I listen, you have to you have to and you have to respect the craft, right Like people assume that I just kind of bounce into things, but I you know, I watched I study everything, you know what I'm saying, and I pay attention to the craft. Was there a role that you passed up that was sort of like, damn, I had first DIBs on blah blah blah. A role I passed up was the the Alan Payne role in New Jack City. I passed that up. Oh really, yeah yeah, I passed on that and I wanted to do it. My father didn't want me to play a drug dealer, but then you did. That's my decision, DN, you know, let me do this. That's a call classes. No creative curfews. You for real, for real, straight up. That probably is my favorite Movie's my favorite Thank you, Thank you guest. Yeah, oh boy. We haven't been on this show every time. Every once in a while where we talk to people about the Latin quarters, and nine of the ten times, everybody's story starts with one time I was there and ll cool J did this, and I'm not even I'm not even making this up. Like every story, they're like, we're there, yeah, I was that, Like I feel like you were. I feel do you have your favorite Latin Quarter story or we do it every time? Very offensive, the racist. It's just like if you sound like as a Mexican country Latin, I totally forgot you are a hip hop legend that was of age of the Latin corner. The only reason why I'm obsessed with the Latin Quarter is because to hear everyone tell the story. Everyone tells of the best time they've ever musically had in their lives, like listening to hip hop, but it always comes on the b side of like fighting and break it. I'm like, why would you go to a place where something could possibly happen to you just to hear what top billing sounds like on the speaker system? Did you ever frequent Latin Quarter or whatever? What is it like in your Like what's your take on the Latin Quarter? I mean it was dangerous, dangerous, Like you know I had to do it one time. Man, Like you know, he's saying something crazy to me. I'm like, what's up. He's like, what's up? What's up? Like what's up. I look down at his hand. He got a raise, a blade in his hand. I'm like, okay, that's what you know, that's what you know what I'm saying. So it's like it was that kind of a spot. But then you hear like amazing dancing and and like you know, it was like a badge of honor to be able to walk around in there with jewelry on. You know what I'm saying. It was so for you. Never think of a vulnerability like yo, man that I can't go there because like I start with you, no no, no, no no, you gotta remember like everybody, I ran with it, yo. No no no no no no no no no no. That wasn't a problem. That wasn't my issue. You know. I'm not saying this impossible. I'm saying, but that wasn't my issue. I was good. I was good. So you weren't a roll with yourself person. You were a not in those not when I went to certain clubs. Now, when I went to the I would do that sometimes, but really honestly, I would go downtown with some of them clubs by myself. Like I might go to CBGB's or something, and you know, fish bone and falling or I'm down there, like you know, standing there and the like they got some punk rock dudes on there. I don't know if it's a sex pistol or who it might be, and they be in there performing at CBGB's. I might go there by myself, but when I went to the Latin quarters, I usually took a couple of dudes with me, you know, depending on who it was, you know what I'm saying. And we was moving around, it was we was good. Plus like I said, you know, I was I was really friendly with all of the guys in the town that were really I had very few real problems, you know with guys because I knew how to not be tough, you know what I'm saying, like how to not and not be a punk either, you know what I'm saying. So I didn't have like a lot of them problems like you know, I just didn't you know what I'm saying. Can you tell us the story of how you and Arli Maum connected and yeah, what is the feeling of the perception of being underestimated by that point in your career? So first, the underestimated piece. The underestimated piece is kind of like, listen, I love a challenge, man, and you know, I welcome those moments when people think that I'm not gonna be able to do something. It's actually it inspires me. I secretly relish the opportunity to prove that I'm more than what you think I am, you know what I'm saying. And so that part for me is like, you know, being down in the fourth quarter is like I just want the ball, like I love that. I live for it, you know what I'm saying. That's why it's thirty some odd years later and I'm still out here. You know, we're still doing arenas. You know what I'm saying, because I just relished that, you know. In terms of me Molly, it was like I used to go up to BLS at the time and do interviews, and one day I was up there and we was doing something and Mally was like, yeah, what's something, And I'm like yo, and he, you know, he always had the great stuff, and he had kind of the Juice Crew stuff had just cooled off just enough, so he was kind of like in a little bit of an in between phase. And I was coming off a panther and so obviously, you know, I had got booed at the use of Hawkins thing and all that down down in New York because remember, so said, I don't know so what happened. You gotta remember. So when I came out with that walking with a panther, the real issue with walking with a panther wasn't yeah, there's some songs on there people don't like whatever. The real issue was the imagery. Imagery. So at that time, it was about you had public enemy, you had ex clan, you had care rests that everybody was on the area. And I'm running around with diamonds flooded Minx, champagne, you know, models on the back and cell phones, briefcases cash I'm going to CALLI getting five sixty benches, getting convertible tops, cutting, you know. So they're looking at me like that was foul, you know. And see fast forward ten years now and everybody was you know, when you asked for it to ninety seven, ninety eight, ninety nine, it was different, right, But at that time I was the first guy who really did that, so it was looked, it was frowned upon, right, So that was really the energy. So it felt like I wanted to show that number there was more to it than just the trappings. Does that make sense? I only show them there was more to it than the trappings, like I really because I really loved this. I didn't do it for the trappings. The trappings came, but I did it for the for the love. And so I got with Mally. Mally was like, Yo, what something, man, let me get a remix of something. I'm like, let's do it so that casual yep? Okay, like Yo, let's do a remix. Let me get a remix. Someone said, let's get it, So I said, he said, we'll send me the toys. So I gave Jingling Baby. Okay. And when I gave Jingling Baby, you know, I had been playing with it already, so I had that baseline on there. You know what I'm saying, because I used to make a lot of my beats. Okay, you know what I'm saying. Like you know I'm a type of guy. I mean I made a lot of my beats. You know what I'm saying. People don't realize that. So so I had already had put that base on it. So I sent it to him and he was like, yo. And when that came in, when I walked in the studio. He had the baseline planing. I was like, oh word, He's like, yo, how you got this on here? You ain't? So he like chopped it in and put some stuff to it. Then he put that walking on Sunshine in it, and you know, he said, Yo, I want you to read through the vocals. Though you know what I'm saying. I want you because you always yelling on your Joe. I want you to do it more mellow. I'm like, all right, you know leads to booming. All right, now, this is all right. This is something. So every night every night I would go to z Trip right and I would say to him. I was like, yo, are you guys? Is this all pro tools? He's like what do you mean? I was like, is Yello doing this live or is that pro tools? He's like, no, he's live. I was like, all right, you're protecting him. So about maybe six years later, I went to the pro tools guy right, and I said, let me see, let me see all the tracks real quick, because this is something now as far as I know. So the thing is is that in my mind, Tik's greatest gift as an MC is his breath control. And when you watch the Hot ninety seven free style, like you rarely hear whatever. So like Teriq's you know, he is a communications major in college and so he does his whole circular breath thing. But I never heard a rapper ever use intonation in concert, just like their record, like rock Kim, who's the king of monotone and all this stuff, thigure of a marital plant, like he goes loud and I was like, wait a minute, ll would match note for note like his vocals on each song, and it was blowing my mind that he wasn't yelling and he was talking monotone and still projecting. So I never like that to me, you never get enough credit for that, And you know, I don't even know if that's a thing to celebrate, Like, wow, you sound just like your records, but I've never seen a human being never out of breath matching their vocals and like that's hard, no a record, no record like Booming System, where you kind of are more lowered to do that in an arena. Yeah yeah, yeah, that's like to keep it low like because yeah, but you naturally as an MC, I mean, you're excited, you naturally want to go bi. Yeah, but what makes booming system is the coolness of it, right, you know, you know you hear boxes say keep your composure. You got to keep keep your composure. You gotta you gotta trust it. You know what I'm saying. The audience know what it is? How do you know that and apply that? Especially when you live a life and walk a path in which you almost got to justify every step that you're taking and not performatively prove yourself every time. But literally, like since Panther, every LL record's been an event to me because I always been like, all right, I want to see Like for me Panther, I was like, I wonder what LL sounds like over sample production? You know what I mean? Next record is like I wonder what LL sound was like in nineties production, like you know, topping the beat. So it's almost like even from your biggest supporters, it's like can he do it again? Can you do it? I tell you, Like, like even this this new record I just finished, right, I just finished this record with Q tip and yeah yeah yeah something No, no, that's too that's too fancy. I need I need, I need some cheaps. I need something I can get get right to it, get right to the world. What right, just what happened? Why? Never doing chapstick and did they ever reach? Yeah? Yeah, everybody shaststick for years. My whole life, all that aquall fall and all that run around with the shiny lips like you know, like like I kissed the chicken grease or something like I took the chicken. Yeah, like like I've been like I've been kissing a pot of chicken grease knowing that you got up like everything I'm like, I mean, be a while. It is my first application. That's my first application, you know what I mean? For years, like my whole life. Sorry, nobody ever hear you about doing that, like getting your that's you your merch game. I swear to God that it would sell out too damn long. Yes, I'm sorry, Broke. That's a good damn got. My question doesn't matter, you know, it doesn't you know, with your intonations and whatnot, like with how how do you know like screaming when some of it applies for us and when something is just listen to it. I just listened to it, not really really listen. I really make do the song. Just do the song? What do you what's all the Just do the It's just that I think, right, you must meditate though, because I think what a mir two is asking is like and even what Ponte said about just being nashural on a stage and being excited, Yeah, you have to have a certain still level of control from based on what I'm sick. Well, you have pat yourself. You have to well, you have to be first of all, you know, in terms of cardiovascular you gotta be in shape. You know what I'm saying, because a lot of times, a lot of the yelling and a lot of that can be attributed to people just being out of breath. You're not in shape. But I was gonna ask what family of youth have you drank from? Because you don't seem to age like you know, if you look the same as you do from Helen your mouth God, little melon, little melanin on herb. Bro No th mea. You know you got a cousin like, yo, this is my cousin. He's sixty one. He's like, yeah, what happening baby? It was good? It's good. Cook like you don't do Okay, I'm just gonna start asking vitamins. Lion's main changa rachi like write him in deep Fronte's face right now? Is that I was your mushrooms? You're healthy mushroom. I did not. I've never heard of No one knows what I'm talking about. I don't know what is. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, the rhythm to the boogey to be that's because spells no magic. I'm telling you healthy mushrooms for you anyway? What is? What is the health situation? Here? Are you vegetarian? Pest? Like I meet, I meet, I got it, I got I got to have me a porterhouse or something. Wait, i't to have it. Wait a minute, I'm sorry, I'm an animal. This isn't got to have it. I love everybody. I want you to be a vegetarian. I want you to do that. I want you to be a pescatarian. I want you to have herbs and spike like I gotta have the best. He gets the best coming. Sorry man, wait eat. This reminds me of the very first time I went on my health journey. Courtesy of Mark Jenkins. Right, yes, remember so the second time I met ll and I know you don't remember this. This is like right when the tipping point was out, So it's like two thousand and four. So Jenkins was in LA working out training me and of course lobby call and you were passing the Gower Street in La. So it's like, dog, I gotta go to Roscoe's so fair right exactly, I cheat on my trainer. So I went in right now. You worked out with Mark Jenkins before, So I walked in. I know Jenkins was in LA working with me, him and maybe like two others celebrity clientele. And Mark Jenkins is the guy who his business one his stock went up when he built then for the entitled video. So you know I'm in roscos and pictures the Pink Panthers theme, turn right right and and ll so you can't now. The thing is, this is the second I've not met LL so I don't know if he knows what a quest love is or who a quest love is whatever. So right now I'm panicking because I'm like, oh damn, he gonna tell. You're probably gonna tell. So I like gave him pan I said, well, just coming from a fan standpoints, like yo, man, I said, by the way, I said, you know, I'm a client of Mark Jenks as well, so just you know small, he said, don't worry about it your secret safe with me, worry about it secret safe. The first time I met him, wait, at least that five. But the first time I met him it was the NAACP Awards. We were I think we were doing something for for Bono, like a truth. You know, Bono just started the Red Company for Africa or whatever, so they gave him an award. So there's there's like backstage, there's like a two second quick change booth. There's two of them. Princess in one of them booths, so it's like you can't get in there whatever. So they're like, I thought there was a booge in my nose or maybe a ZiT. I don't know, like I saw something there, so I like ran in the room. Now LLC is positioned right in front of the mirror. I'm trying to like, you know, I just want a good I want a good ten seconds, yes, to make sure that everything's straight, but really to see if I got a bully or whatever. But llll's not budget. You're just sitting there and I don't want to be like yo. And he was like, you say, your secret safe worries. You look marvelous, you know, you just look at me like don't worry you. Marvel's be like the second pop that Jordan Jesus. I wanted to ask you about Chris Lighty because we I had a chance sat down to you know, meet and talk with him before he you know, before he passed, and he talked about specifically the Mister Smith album and for him, how that really kind of set him up at def Jam and like really people saw him as you know, an executive and it you know, put him on another level. What was that Mister Smith album for you and working with him? What was that experience like? Because that was almost like another comeback. Every album is for me most of the time takes on that type of energy. You know. It's because I take so long between records and because I make so few albums that every time it's like, okay, well what's it gonna be? But that one was an amazing experience working with Chris. I trusted him completely in terms of his creative, his ear. What actually happened was I made a whole album called Mister Smith. I made a whole album. I didn't like it, so then I threw it away. You know, I do that a lot. Yeah, we're gonna talk about that too. Yeah, So I did this album. I did an original a mister Smith album with a whole bunch of other songs. It was called Mister Smith. But I didn't love the album. So I was like, eh, I kept that one song with shot skills of mister Smith, but the rest of it I didn't like. I kept that. Yeahs re peace. So me and Chris we just started working. He started finding tracks, finding beats, and I ended up getting with track Masters and then getting with Rashad and you know, it just came together. It came together, and you know, working with them was you know, he was a good dude, man. And you know, I remember Chris, you know, when he first started, we all got along because you know, Chris used to be security at the tunnel, you know what I'm saying. So when he was when he was like working the door at the tunnel, he always gave me love and we always got along very very well. And you know, well she was still here. Yeah, man, I was one of my favorite records on that. When you were talking about I Need a Beat and how you pretty much played it live and then right over it made me think of no, are oh yeah, let's do that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that I think my man, I think Chad might have did that. Doctor, I think so, I think I think so. I think Chad did that. That's my think. Favorite Cha No, no, no, Chad Elliott. Chad Elliott. Yeah. They used to work with Jodasi and all of them and all that. Okay, you know what I'm saying. I was on the impression that the track masters of the entire record did they know they didn't do everything Rashard did doing it. You know, there was a few other few other producers, but they finished it. What happened was we actually work on the album and I was doing songs, and then track messes came in kind of midway and finished the album. So we didn't start the album together. We finished the album. So they they actually made it a cohesive body of work. I have to give Stout some credit, and give Tone and Polk credit, and give Chris Lighty credit because they came in and helped me kind of finish the project and make it a cohesive what we felt was at that time a cohesive body of work. You know what I'm saying. Nah, that's one of like that record mad, because I mean the singles or the singles were like no airplay, Hollis the Hollywood like, Yeah, that was fun. That was fun, yo, you know. I mean that's why, you know, I'm really excited to like for people to hear this record I do with Tip because this is gonna be I thinks how many songs in which Tip so you did? He produced it. He did everything, he did all the beats, he did everything sound. Yes, he did everything. I think it's fourteen songs, fourteen here for this, Yeah, it's fourteen and it's all like like a whole new thing. So that's gonna be a lot of fun. You know. I was just gonna ask about another person, since we're talking about having a happy sad moment with Chris Lighty, I was gonna say the last time I was in a room with you, I was fortunate to be in a room with you, Biz and Greg nice As y'all were taping an episode for Serious and so I wanted you to talk about give us a fun Biz story, but also talk about why you even tap Biz to be on your radio station, Rock the Bell. So so Biz, I've known Biz forever, you know, before we made records, and then before Biz made records, he used to just come to my house all the time, coming to the basement. I'd be down there right in rhymes. He'd be sitting there. Yo. He used to just make me laugh. He was just the funniest dude in the world. And me, I love that dude. You know what I'm saying. I love biz man like business, my man, you know what I'm saying. And you know, we knew each other from Long Island. I would see him, he, I would see him, Nona he we'd come to Queens, he would come to the house. So so in terms of the tapping them to be on salute the sample on Rock the Bells, I started Rock the Bells because I felt like the artist that I love, Like when I look at the way Bob Dylan is treated and held in high regard, and Mick Jaggers held in high regard, and you know these various artists, Paul McCartney is held in high regard, I felt like, you know, the Bismarcks and the Big Daddy Kanes and the rock hymns and the public enemies and all of them deserved that kind of treatment as well, and I felt like they weren't getting it. And I felt like, you know, MC light wasn't getting it. Queen Latifa wasn't getting it when I look at and then when I would listen to the channel, you know, which was Backspin at the time, it was like a glorified jukebox, you know what I'm saying. But it wasn't really about the coach and it wasn't really about us. We shouldn't have to make excuses for having long story careers with a lot of success. You should be celebrated for that, not persecuted and penalized for it. And I felt like I felt like the industry was turning hip hop into it was commoditizing hip hop and turning everybody into cardboard boxes. In other words, if you know it's an old box or older box, you just throw it away and you just kind of they weren't treating the culture the way it needed to be treated, and I wanted to. So what I said, I said, you know what what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna do for hip hop culture what I did for me in my own career. So all I did was I said, so the mindset that I applied to me that helped me be here, by the grace of God, for so many years and be successful. I said, I'm gonna do that for the whole culture. And so I took BIS and put them on the channel in Shante and all of these artists and got them all, you know, Grand Master Kaz and and all of them. And now you know, I watched this whole renaissance of hip hop happen. You know what I'm saying. When we did Rock the Bell's Festival and the Cruisers and Rock the Bell's Resorts and all of this stuff, getting that on MTV, thank you, thank you. Yeah, we streamed it. The thing the thing about it is that is that I wanted to do what I've did for me for the entire culture because it can't be about you forever. It has to There has to be more in your life in terms of your journey. You have to want to see others succeed. That's why even when we did the Force Tour, I didn't do the normal headlining thing and like snatch all of the production and make them kind of rap and give them ten feet of stage and no, no, you have the same sound, you have the same lighting package, you have the same opportunities to rock the stage that I do. Because I want us all to succeed, and I want to see us treat it that way. I want them the same way they treat Bono. I want them to treat DMC. I don't want to see a difference. No, man, I don't get it was one of the biggest things I saw when I went to the tour. I always admire how just the professionalism first and foremost. And you know, I really think it's something that every young artist, like every young MC's I really think there's something that they should really see because it very rarely hearing your story. You know, you were first in like everything, so there was no blueprint to follow. But now we're thankful enough that we have a blueprint. And I'm like, yo, go Seel go see Rod, go see the roots. This is what it looks like to be fifty years old and still killing it like they're still a late right right, not on some like oh okay, but like no, still vibrant, like still jamming. Yeah. Well that's because hip hop. You know, it was being served in a greasy brown paper bag unless you had a new hitout, and I wanted it served on the silver platter regardless. You know, Rock Kim deserves to have the biggest stage and the biggest platform, regardless. When we do the Grammy special, we're putting you on the biggest stage regardless. I don't need to. There's no reason why they should be treated otherwise. We live in It's a strange world, right because like I have, I literally have millions and millions of fans all over the world. But because not the majority of them aren't fourteen, that doesn't make them least valuable. Right, So you're like, my fans just had birthdays with me. They didn't disappear, you know what I mean? You know, you know, so like we got to kind of get out of this kind of this this state of mind of like if you're not you know, if it's not the brand new thing and you've been out three years, it doesn't count. It's not how it works. Like I don't know, rolland Stone was discography front the back, but when they come in town to do a show, I go, I don't know, you two's discard back to back. But when they come in town, I go to the show. I love the show. What I'm saying is, yo, people want to see Elo cool J, and they want to see the beasties and they want to see run the EMC. They want to see Public Enemy, they want to see ice T. You just got to put them in a position to be seen, you know what I'm saying, And stop trying to pretend that it's not they don't want to be seen, because that's all. That's just a game. It's not real. Because the reality is the fans love it. They want to buy the music, they want to come to the show. And we saw those arenas and we saw those crowds, and so they're there. And guess what if we went a second time now, it'd be even bigger, you know what I'm saying, It would be even bigger. And we did very well, but it would be even bigger because it because people now see that Yo, now they know it's real and like a word, ah man. And the regional aspect that y'all add to when you know, like you go a certain region and they might bring out so and so and so and so. I can't wait for ought to come back to LA because shoot, it's about absolutely. I really brought up p D and uh yeah, and Brody, I brought up PEP Absolutely David Banner, no doubt, like ran in the third tier Beady and David todd Up. I love it. Yeah, okay, so I'll be remiss if I don't ask this question. And I'm certain that you've spoken about it before and I might have missed the story. But just as a lover of them sees the four three two one situation, Wait, don't do the cynical giggle. Yeah, let me ask the question. Ready, let's go take it back. Let's go Like I'm under the impression that Cannabis was paying tribute to your arm or whatever. Like I never knew the story behind that. I didn't even know it was a disc like sorry for making rehab on. Look, you know, cannabis really ain't do nothing wrong, man, I just you know, Cannabis just touched the third rail. Oh lord, No, he didn't do nothing street, He didn't do nothing room Street. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know what I mean. He touched the third rail. He and said because we had met downstairs earlier, and you know, he said, yo, yo, hell man, like you tell him get a tattooed just like yours. And instead of me saying, all right, man, do you think I'm like nah, I get your own. I'm like territory and all that on the microe and so, and I just said that to him. And then when I played it when I heard him on the record, because I said, all right, he's gonna go do his vocal, I'm like, yeah, do you think when I heard him on the record, He's like, is that a mic on your arm? Let me bo? I'm like, oh, we just had this conversation a so that and that was the original yeah, yeah right, and so he actually it was really more about me being a little bit more oversensitive. I think, you know what I'm saying. I think it was more about that, you know, that being said, look what I try to do with him? I say, look, you know, after it happened, I thought about it. I'm like, yo, you know what, I don't know, say something on the record or something. Nobody'll know what I'm talking about. Just you know, just flip it and do something else or you know. And he didn't want to, you know, go with that. And then he made the record, and you know, but I tried to embrace him later, like I did shows with him at Barclays and you know, I did a show with him. I brought him out Barclays, I brought him out different concerts. I try to give him love because I want him and his fans to know that, you know, I got love for him, you know what I'm saying. It just you know, it was just hip hop. It was just an MC hip hop thing. You know. I didn't really wish him any real ill will you know what I'm saying. How was the with the You spoke earlier about working with track Masters. I want to ask you about the Phenomenon album? Yeah, what was What was that like? And did y'all had yall relationship changed coming off either for better for words, coming off of mister Smith going in the Phenomenon, you know, Phenomenon like like the Phenomenon album was one of those things where I just wanted to experiment. So I went in the studio with Puff and messing around with the Phenomenon song, and you know, me and Steve, you know, had a conversation about it recently because I think now in hindsight, they probably looked at it like I was just kind of baling on them a little bit. But in reality, I was trying to just be creative and do different things and just work with different people in experiment, because I like working with different producers. I like hearing different things I like to I like that. I enjoy it because I do this for fun too. I don't do this just for a chart position or money. I do it because I love it. So part of that love is working with different artists and different producers and being creative. So the phenomenon was fun, you know what I'm saying, Like, you know, it was great. You know Sally Richison on the records, I'm you know what I'm saying, like an hour yeah, yeah, yeah, she was ooh, mister Smith, Yeah yeah, yeah, she's cool. Wow, man, you had I was gonna ask you had a record that drop? It was. This has been some years ago. It was called Take It. Oh yeah, Joe, Yeah, what happened? What happened? It was? It wasn't It was a record that I did on a I did it on a little independent label. I did the album and I did a few, quite a few songs with track masters on there, and I just it didn't have distribution. And it was right around the time when I started my TV show and see I asked Los Angeles at the time, and I just didn't have. I didn't make the time to promote it and really go after it and perform it and get it out there. It was, it was. It was on authentic. It was yeah, it was on authentic and authentic as an album was just kind of created in a little bit of a vacuum. And you know, I was on a TV set, you know, I just was experimented the accidental racist. Damn right, let's talk about it. So you know what I was trying to say with that song, At least I thought I was articulating, because nobody absolutely agreed. That's pretty clear, that's pretty obvious. What I was trying to say is that you keep your shit to yourself. I'll keep minding myself. How about that. Let's start there. You know what I'm saying, like like we just knock going, you know, you know, you keep your symbolism over there, and I'll keep my symbolism over it. That's what I was trying to say. But there is a level of false equivalence there. It's hard to really connect the dots on that because you can't compare you know, honestly, you know what a Confederate flag stands for to what somebody may perceive an outfit. To me, you just can't really you can't really connect those you know what I mean, I can't really connect that. So what I was trying to say, what I was looking to say, is that if we could get a little bit less judgment, maybe it would help us function. You know, if we focused more on what works and less on what doesn't work, maybe it'll help us function better. That's what I was trying to say. But I just didn't you know, I just didn't get there. You know, I just missed the jump shot. You know what I'm saying, Like it is what it is. It's just that that ship bounced off the back of the rim, crazy exploded. The backboard fell down, the scoreboard fell down, My shorts ripped fell off that record. The thing I remember about that record specifically, it came out around the time when it was Twitter. It was like Twitter was all about going ship with gold on top of that ship went gold. It might be platting. That's even even worse, you know what I mean, when they started making the Basketball Player. So yeah, I did not know that. Yeah, yeah it would go, but I forgot about I got a back off that joint. Wow, that was I'm just thinking that one back yo Ill Bomb. Yeah, that one, like Bill Bomb, Now, that one a lot of fun. That was like, you know, running around down in the city, run around at Queens, me and Bem and you know, just run around in the city. And you know, Flex asked me if I wanted to do something. Scratch made the beat. I just went went in the studio and everything I was saying on the record was kind of like what we was living. We had the strobe lights flashing on the trucks and all that. It was all, you know, it was real. It was very real. It was very real. I was gonna say, also, what's my joint on exits thirteen? You better watch me? Oh yeah, okay, So here's the thing. So I don't know if you know christ Chris Rocks nickname is so what Guile Siri dubs Chris Rock. He always calls him track nine because Chris is the type of music fan that like doesn't go for the hit. He goes for the filler. You know, He'll he'll go for Stevie Wonder's Yeah, like the filler cut that lets you know he's a deep music fan. And when it came out, he was just like this is the one. How come I wish like, why was it more made of? You? Better watch me? Like that to me? You know, you know what's funny, man, I'll tell you that it was like a winner. I think one of the things that that happens, you know, and this happens with labels, this happens with artists. You get so so spoiled by instantaneous reactions that when you have records that kind of hit a different part of your audience that is not as reactive, you just don't know, you know, don't know how to gauge it, you know what I'm saying. Like I've had a lot of songs like that, Like the dou Wop was a song that people like back in the days, really really like. But I didn't know back then how to react to that, how to react to it, you know what I'm saying. I was gonna ask you if we could do that on tour, but I would you know, after like we I mean, we kept mister goodbar, but then there's like some other you just kept cutting them off. Was like, ah, I don't never get Yeah, no we did Nitro, he dropped it Nitro. I was like, oh my god, like, oh boy, yeah, oh boy, oh boy, that's an at wheeler right there. Good god? What was it life working with the Bomb Squad? Excellent? Eric Yoor, Eric Sadler, Keith and Hanks, Shockley, the way they worked on them, the way they could. They built the beat in front of you or is it wow? Yes, they built them in front of me. Yeah. Yeah, it was crazy. Nitro was crazy and it gets no rougher. You mentioned earlier that you have absolutely no qualms whatsoever about scrapping an entire record, So just based on your history, how much is in the LL cool J Cannon vault from radio down to the forced album? And will we ever see any of it? Will you ever released of it? I'll never put any of it out. I probably have you at least won't put none, and you will like this can't come out possumously or I'm not gonna do that. Not gonna do that. But we got to see who lives you know, We don't you know no telling how that's gonna play. Give my help, Gerald, No, no, I'm saying that, Gerald. We don't know no player. But hey, listen, I'm not talking tough in that one. I don't know I'm just so, can you reveal can you reveal what you revealed to me? Yeah? Probably songs if you made with you know who, oh to start there. Oh so with Dre, Me and Dre probably have about forty songs. Yeah, did we doctor Dre? Yeah we had we got we had Zoom that was on the bulwark right right right, but we had you know, but we got a lot of songs in the can, Like I had a lot, Like I'll tell you a record that was mine that he obviously he took my vocals off because he ended up doing it because I was all over the place. But that you know, that song I was that was one of my points that yeah. Yeah, yeah, me and Dre had did that first. Yeah, yeah, that that one. Yeah, it was crazy. Quite a few of them, it's been a lot of them. Had a lot of damned that be he did real well, Oh it killed it. It was dope. It was dope. I love you better man, Yeah, I wasn't talking about that. Working with the Neptunes, what was man, it was amazing working with Pharrell and and with Chad and uh that's when they worked together still too, and it was like, I mean, it was dope. I just, you know, the one thing, you know what's crazy. I was so focused on working out and getting ready for the video. This is gonna sound really crazy. I forgot to ask Pharrell to be in the video. I literally forgot because I forgot, like like like I forgot to ask you. I wanted because I wanted. I wanted for Rell to sing on the hook for Real did the intro? Why didn't he sing that? He was like, no, I don't want to do it. I want to I want to put my man on. I'm like okay. And so once he put Mark on the hook, then I forgot that he yeah to ask for Real to be in the video. And I seen them one day, like, you know, you asked me to black. I just felt crazy. But that's when you got that knife shelf down there on your b So it was worth it for all of us who was watching the video up all right now. I just want to know the things that we don't know that's equivalent to chunking studios. For instance, do you know who's singing on around the Way, girl? Uh, it's the Flex right, that's like Chris, not Chris, but it was the Black Street. It was black before they were black streets, so lighty Darren lighty and all of Yeah, it was them guys. Yeah, it was great as the flex and the driver, remember yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know it was no, it was Lighty and the other one. And Eric's Eric Eric. His name is Erica. Okay, all right? Oh, yes, as we rapidfire? What is the meaning I've always going to ask you this, What is the meaning of blow titious? Yo? Yo? I mean it's just blowtitious? Like you know what I mean? Like, Yo, you know, me and my man Tie fight, yo, Tie, and you know you hilarious with this man like me and me and Tod was seeing each other in the swept like blow ticious. And then I just put it on the record. Now everybody said, yo, he's talking about you know, is he talking about trans he? Was he talking about? Is he going left? Like? It's just blow titious. Stevie Delicious, skeeee Stevie Delicious. Give me coops coops, love me good God, damn hollis the Hollywood. Yes we're again. We got alright. So that was that on that you know what I'm saying. And I actually had another verse on on on the flavoring your Ear remix, and then I changed it to that one POPA love it that that record, the one Yeah Yeah, I love that. Yeah. That was a cool one too. That was fun. Damn. You know some some of them joints. This is the part of the show where he does yeah but okay, So speaking of flavoring your ear, was there a rumor I don't know who told me, maybe Zezdriver told me. Was that verse at all connected? I heard that that was maybe he directed the Biggie or something like that with why would I do that? But then the who shot? Then the I shot you. I was in the studio with Big when he did shot you. I was literally, this is someone trying to make something bugging out. Ye let me tell you something, let me say something. That's why I'm asking some of my no, no, no, it's all good. My record, Like these songs were like sometimes I like it's just like head sprung right. Sometimes I just do comedy on them joints. Sometimes I just do shit that's stupid, Like sometimes I'm consciously doing like Big Ellie a bit silly, big Money, Big really really with an R. I didn't say Big Willie and Big Billy and all these you know, so so between that, like saying that or doing his ship low, it just sounded good to me. I will say that, Yes, you are your your level of humor on record and people ask me on your scissor World, I'm like, oh, God, home and use this because you know, everyone was like, give you your favorite l record and I was like, Yo, I'm sorry, but you can't dance. It's my favorite song of all time. You look like a moro. Yo's favorite shit of all time? Yo. They put a patch on it. Yes, that's what I'm saying, Like for me, can you your your level of humor? Your evil laughter? All? That's my favorite shit of all time. I really love the force the new song, Oh thank you? So you still get the same rush from writing a song that you did when you made I Need to Beat one hundred percent. I love it. I mean, you know, like, I love the fact that the way people address the idea of me having an album is going to be very different after I put this record out, because right now it's kind of like a warm and fuzzy cute. All that's cute, and let's talk about what you've done, because that's just the nature of our game, right because when you do something a long time, the bar goes up and the expectations go down. Right, So my bar is up here and the expectations for what I'm going to deliver is down here, and so we you know, you have to be self aware with that, right. So I love it, you know, I love you know, making songs, and I love the challenge of showing people what's possible in hip hop. We haven't had an artist that's been out multiple decades to put records out that really have impact. We've had quotables, we've had critical acclaim, you know, we've had everything kind of in between there, but we haven't heard anybody really smash them. Yeah, nah, man, it's change. I was when we were at the four Stour. I was just sitting there and I'm watching it and like, you know, this is you know, rock cam, this is everybody, Daylight, Everybody some of my favorite rap routs all time. But I was just really watching your performance and it really reminded me of something like a mirror you would say, like how what you're saying like kind of like the curse of the straight A students, so to speak, Like no one you have so much longevity and so much, consistently so good. We take it for granted, take it for granted, And I'm just watching thefore and I'm like, I'm watching it, but I'm like, yo, I know these songs like and I don't think people really give you that credit as an MC. They give you the credit as you know, breaking being a pioneer and all that, but I'm just like, yo, funck all that. If we just talking raps Dog like ll is probably the most quotable rapper ever, Like I knew all the songs. I think that's I think that's I think that's probably you know, look, that's all subjective, right, Like, I don't really concern myself with that part of it. What I will tell you is this, obviously I'm good enough to still be here. So that's a start. I mean, because you were telling your story and I'm like, it's not an eighty damn bro. And when the album comes a lot of them gonna listen, They're gonna listen. Can you tell us like you told us it was you and Tip. That's really kind of all you told us, was you? Right? Yeah? You know, I'll just just driving on what season is it coming? What season is it will be cold outside soon. Come. How do you I'm regaining your masters back from that? Ye? How did you do that? It just it just worked out. I mean, you know people you own your masters? Yeah, he should? Should you open that place? Crazy? By the way, there's a song. So when I'm was teaching the n y U there's a song. I don't know how well now that poss explain to me a whole, like how two inch tapes are whatever a rare commodity. There's an actual LL song on one of the Nation a millions reels that I never heard before. It was just like one verse, probably because that's probably Rick Rick probably just like a raven shit. And yeah, probably that makes a lot of sense because you know, it's funny, like a lot of the original Public Enemy songs. At the time, Rick came to me and he was like, yo, he wanted me to record Uzie ways a ton wow. And I was like and I was like yeah, he was like, do you want to record it? I'm like, well, what do you mean. He's like, well, you just do the song. I said no, I write my own rhymes, though. Rick. He's like, oh, okay, okay, okay, So then he did. He ended up doing Public Enemy. You know what I'm saying. So, you know, so he brought me UZI ways a ton. He brought me like he wanted me to record a lot of those PE songs. You know what I'm saying. Oh my god, you had a reck I'm on the Street Fight the soundtrack the Light Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah? What was I was just wilding, man, like, just having fun. Like a lot of the songs are like become like jam sessions, just vibing and then say, yo, I keep that. I like it. You know what I'm saying. I don't like for me to be honest with you, you know. And this goes back to the MC comment that you kind of that you were talking about. Like the difference between me and a lot of the other guys is that for a lot of them, they're always focused on being as descriptive and as creative and as clever as they possibly can lyrically on every song. I don't do that. I go for the feeling of the song, whatever the song requires to feel good. That's what I do. It is I'm not so so what does But what that does is you get in situations where you only need twelve points to win sometimes you need forty five, sometimes you need seven, sometimes you need nineteen, as opposed to a guy who's always out there trying to go to thirty forty every night. That's the so creatively, that's why I probably am not in a lot of those conversations because that's not my focus. I look at guards like Michael Jackson. I look at Rick James, I look at you know, James Brown. I look at you know, these artists, Marvin Gay. I look at these different artists, and the thing that they all have in common is the feeling. It wasn't about just the lyrics, right, the technical lyric was not what made you feel good? You know what I mean? Nah, I mean because we sang the whole flavor in ear verse and blow t is ain't even real word, but it just it's so good, you know what I mean. But I bet you you know if if in a certain scenario, if you said you're like blow you know what I mean, like you just it's just a vibe, So that was you don't say I'm saying no. That's why, like my catalog is the way it is, because part of being able to run fast is being confident enough to run slow. Damn. You know, you know, you know, being it, you know what I mean, that's part of it. I ain't all the time, you know, because you know you see Hussein boat jogging, You're like, oh, he ain't really fast. It's like he's jogging. Okay, you know you understand I'm saying. So that's kind of part of But I think that I have to stick with that. I have to be myself. I don't want to be fighting for my lyrical life on every song. That's not what it's about because people don't need that for me. For me, what they need is to be touched in their souls. So whatever the song requires, that's what I'm gonna do. You already do that for now. I have one point five questions because you already mentioned his name and I forgot what was it like? Uh? Cay telling the process of making serious effect with Michael Jackson. Mike is hilarious man. So like, first of all, you walk in the studios adry ladies, traffic, I'm like, yo, Mike's in traffic is hilaric. Like. But we had a good time, man, Yeah, we had somebody, you know, we had so much fun And just what year was that made like I found this around around the I'm bad around the bad a little bit after the bad area, like, no, my bad, there's a bad battle yeah, radio Lee baying. Oh yeah, they came out on Radio School. I came out first the Battle the bad albums. It's going to be right here, Yo, No, it definitely ain't. And so I was like, yo, you know, just working with Mike was just it was just a lot of fun, you know what I'm saying. We had a good time in the studio. We hung out, you know what I'm saying. We were always cool. It was great. Plus, you know, I spent so much much time with Quincy Jones. You know, he taught me a lot about career between him and Lino Richie. So now it was amazing. It was amazing. Okay, So my my final question is when when we first started rehearsing, we of course had to put off a few days because you just became a yeah yeah three times over, which made me think, like, how what advice could you give us those who are in budding relationships, dice who are newly married and whatever, how to maintain uh, your sanity and your family and also career be a career because I think. I think it's rather like notable and applause worthy that you know, you and Simone have made it through the storm, you have kids and and all that successful business too. I would love some ear rings. We could work that out, I think. I think. Look, man, I think what I what I've learned, man, is where I'm starting as I ain't playing detective. Okay, it ain't gonna be no detective work involved. I'm not doing that. Okay, it's no detective work. So it's gonna be what it's gonna be. All I'm starting it. Let's because I need sanity and I need to be calm and relaxed, and that's it. So I'm not doing no detective work. Okay, I ain't coughing nothing, and I ain't playing detective. So I'm out that game. Okay, So now you just take it off about fifty percent of your drama everything, right, I put that with that, just like, okay, no detective work. That's first thing. Second thing is I'm gonna try to help facilitate your dreams, make your dreams come true, right, help you with your dream make sure you write. And then the third thing is I'm gonna always go after my dreams and my purpose wholeheartedly. You know what I'm saying. And the better I take care of me, the better I can take care of you. You know what I'm saying. And then you know, then there's little things. You know, you can't be afraid of silence, man, you know what I'm saying, Like, we ain't got to be talking. Man, It's all right when I tell you, when I tell you, there's one point by day for where the roof a daily tab on ll idioms her way past, like wake up and smell the coffee. I'm not playing literally, I'm going I missed out. Oh all right, I don't in the house, yeah yeah, the one the pants leg? How did that? Was that? Just something? Yeah? I did it? Listen the bike messages in New York did it? I liked it because they used to do it for that episode of Oil. Wouldn't get on their chain the chain, so I'm like, yo, I'm rolling my joint up. Man. I just started wearing it like that and it took on the life of his own. But my favorite thing about that is that's my son on the theme song in the house. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, wow. Last yeah, I put them on there. Debbie did a sitcom too. Yeah, I did the sitcom with Debbie Allen, the last time she acted in the sitcom. It was amazing. Working with Debbie was great. She's she's amazing. Okay, last last question, No more films, because you've been asked for a minute. Well, I just we just wrapped and c I asked we did fourteenth seasons. I have a well, I guess I could talk about a little bit with the tentative deal. I got to reoccur role on n CIS Hawaii, and then I got some films that that I'm looking at. Yeah, I got some films. I got some films I'm looking at for sure. I think we've asked absolutely everything. Cool James Todd smith Man, No, for real. I I know every time we like thank you whatever and like give you the presidential but for real, when I say thank you, I'm happy to be here. Man. You're literally one of my favorite creative human beings ever. And the thing is is that, as we said before, you make it look so effort like literally it's like Steph Curry, Like after a while you're just like, all right, great, it's going in like a big deal. All right, But yeah, and I think now, especially in light of the onslaught of death that hip hopics experience a lot of premature careers. Cut and Frank also seeing a lot of brothers just self sabotage their things, like that's why I'm watching people, and like you're you're a really exemplary of human beings that aren't afraid even if you make a misstep, like it's like, okay, well that didn't work. What else is there in the territory? Right? And I would say this, I would say in terms of the self sabotage, just to just to put some words out there in the universe for people. You don't limit yourself, right, you know what I'm saying, You don't limit yourself. You have to be comfortable with them. We're seeing something bigger for your life, and you have to be comfortable with that idea. A lot of people think they're comfortable with it, but the reality is when they every time they say that they self talk to themselves about doing something big, there's a little voice that jumps in there and says it's not possible because it's gonna require you to change. It's gonna require you to change. And a lot of it is also just fear based and kind of feeling like everybody, a lot of people feel success is like hitting a lot of and it's not. You know what I'm saying, it's it's the effect is like hitting the lot of But the journey isn't, you know what I'm saying. So so, so you gotta be willing to believe in yourself and that aspect of yourself, and you gotta really believe. You gotta believe, man, you can't be limited. You gotta believe in yourself and believe in the power inside of you to do something greater with your life. You know what I'm saying. And that really is something that you know when you when you're drifting off to sleep at night. You have to envision something greater for your life. You have to take make a conscious effort to control your thoughts on a daily basis so that you're seeing yourself go to the to the height you want to go to. You can't just be your Your mind shouldn't be like a cork just thrown in the ocean, just randomly bouncing around. You should be very intentional about what you want out of life. I need you to gather everyone in hip hop and just lock them in camp and just op yeah. I just yeah. That was a moment that was definitely put that off because they you know, they was, you can't do it. They can't I own this, okay, so they knew no owned it, but ing below, I get it. I was the car side didn't know it's your car. All right, I'm gonna be having Fantigolo and Sugar, Steve Man, unpaid Bill and Light. Yea, man, you don't want to rate? Why do what I do? Thank you great James Stott Smith has finally come on this question. We don't need no more. Episodes were good. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. Till on, loan bro, thank you, thank you for listening to The Quest Love Supreme. This podcast is hosted by a mere Quest Love Thompson, like YOUA Saint Claire, Vante Coleman, Sugar, Steve Mandell and myself unpaid Bill Sherman. The executive producers are Mer just walked into the goddamn room, Thompson, Sean g and Brian Calhoun. Produced by Britney Benjamin, Jake Pain and Ia Sinclair. Edited by Alex Conroy. I know Alex Conroy, produced for iHeart by Noel Brown and Mike John Auto engineering by Graham Gibson at Iheart's La Studio. Thank You very Much. West Love Supreme is a production of iHeartRadio. 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