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airadam · 1 year ago

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Episode 171 : Ripples and Echoes

"Let me say it again, and say it with feeling..."

- Jay Dee

A big episode this month - both in importance and in number of tracks - as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Kool Herc party at 1520 Sedgwick Ave, Bronx, NY, that arguably sparked Hip-Hop! The format is slightly different from the usual, and the episode is centred around three records which have been sampled, references, and homaged throughout Hip-Hop history - echoing through time. The influences manifest differently as they encounter each artist, so even within the set of tracks that have a common root, there are wide variations of style, subject, and sound. I think you'll enjoy the hour I've put together for you!

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Playlist/Notes

Westside Gunn, 緑, and Kool Herc : Kool Herc Intro

Big up to Westside Gunn for going back to the source and allowing us to hear from Kool Herc himself on this intro to "FLYGOD Is Good...All The Time".

KRS-ONE and Marley Marl : Hip Hop Lives

KRS is one of the greatest MCs of all time - and as Bomani Jones said, maybe the one person you'd pick if there was no music, no anything, and they just had to go on stage and command it. Marley Marl is often overlooked by those not necessarily in the know, but the man behind the Juice Crew (who famously battled KRS in the Bridge Wars) was a revolutionary in the field of production, with his approach to cutting up samples being the grandfather of most of what you would have heard afterwards. Together, they released a 2007 album "Hip Hop Lives", of which this is of course the title track, and a rallying cry for the culture.

[Buckwild] Meyhem Lauren : Love and Loyalty (Instrumental)

Buckwild never wavers from the path of putting in the honest effort that his talent deserves to deliver quality material. If you want popcorn, microwave beats, go elsewhere! This is a great beat from his 2014 "Silk Pyramids" project with Meyhem.

Fred Wesley & The J.B.s : Blow Your Head

A funk classic that must have sounded positively UFO-like when it was released in 1974 on the "Damn Right I Am Somebody" album, and there's a reason for that that I only just learned; the crazy synth wasn't even on the track to begin with. The original was recorded in 1973, and only after that did James Brown, playing with his newly-bought synthesizer, doodle all over the track before adding it to the album! Apparently Fred Wesley was not impressed...

The D.O.C. : Portrait Of A Master Piece

The "Blow Your Head" sample here is relatively backgrounded, definitely not the focus of the instrumental - but as good as the Dre-produced beat is, the star here is without question the MC. This track comes from his first LP "No One Can Do It Better", which had people tipping him for big things, before he was cruelly and ironically deprived of a critical attribute - his voice - when his larynx was crushed in a car accident only five months after its release. He later returned to recording with a changed voice, and has written classics for several artists, but it's a huge shame that he never got to follow his debut up on his own terms.

Hijack : Style Wars

When Brixton's legendary Hijack got a single deal with Music of Life, none of them knew how to create a record as such. The three-man inner core was made up of DJs Supreme and Undercover alongside the MC Kamanchi Sly, and it was actually the latter who suggested using the Fred Wesley sample. Supreme was unconvinced, believing that it would make their track too much of an imitation of the then-recent "Public Enemy No.1", but relented on the basis that the rhymes and cuts would be so good that they'd make up for any deficiency on the beat side. As it turned out, "Style Wars" turned out to be an absolutely classic single in its own right, and in my opinion, never came off as a bite.

Public Enemy : Public Enemy No. 1

One of the first records ever to sample "Blow Your Head", this is arguably the inspiration that all the others you might hear draw from. While it became known to most of us as a track on 1987's "Yo! Bum Rush The Show", the original demo is from all the way back in 1984, and was the track that had Def Jam chasing PE to sign with them. You can tell it wasn't produced with modern equipment, with some likely-unintentional looseness in the timing on the loops, but that in no way prevented it from being a classic.

Digable Planets ft. DJ Jazzy Joyce : 9th Wonder (Blacktolism)

The famous sample is a lot more chaotic at the very start of this cut, before settling into a near-monotone that comes in at various points throughout. Great self-produced track from the "Blowout Comb" LP, the Planets' second, with the lyrical vibes matching perfectly (Ladybug Mecca bringing it home with the best verse in my opinion), topped off by Jazzy Joyce, a veteran Bronx DJ who first played in a club at thirteen, blessing the end of the track with her cuts. I almost defy anyone not to enjoy this one.

Ta'Raach : Bea2ful

Still my favourite beat from the instrumental version of the "Re:Lacks Vol. 1: With The World" LP ("Re:Lacks Vol.1 Instrumentals") - all you can say is that it lives up to its name. Warm, inviting, beautiful indeed.

Eric B & Rakim : Paid In Full

A track that needs no introduction, but that would be a poor excuse for not writing anything here 🙂 The title track of the first Eric B & Rakim LP, it was somehow only the fifth single, but a classic that, as you will hear in the following tracks, has been referenced over and over again in Hip-Hop history - a true standard, arguably in the jazz sense.

Marco Polo and Torae ft. Masta Ace and Sean Price : Hold Up

You hear Rakim's voice telling of his stickup days cut up here amongst others by DJ Linx for the hectic hook of this no-pretence track from the "Double Barrel" LP, which somehow is already fourteen years old! Marco Polo's beat gives off serious 70s crime movie chase scene energy, and all the MCs lean into it. Sean P's James Earl Ray line is a little bit ouch, but throwing in the occasional extreme reference was always part of his style.

Jay Dee : The $

Raw, heavy, destructive sound from the MPC of the great Jay Dee/J Dilla from the "Ruff Draft" EP, and easily my favourite cut on there - highlighted by the quote from this month's epigram. Of course, the "Paid In Full" reference comes with the opening of the first verse, perfectly appropriate for a track all about getting that cash. It's yet another example proving that those who grouped Slum Village in with "conscious/boho" rap were simply not paying attention, backed up by beats that - played through the right car system - would simply level any coffee house!

Le$ : Paid In Full

Finally in this section, we go with a heavy tribute from Houston's Le$. From the 2014 "ACE" release, Cookin Soul is on production, giving us a drastically slowed, spaced out take on the original beat. Replaying the original bassline, the rest is synth and programmed drums, with the occasional flash of the original record being dropped in along with Rakim's voice. You half expect him to open up with "thinking of a masterplan", but he instead starts his first verse paying tribute to a classic from his own hometown, DJ DMD's "25 Lighters", another "get money" anthem.

The Alchemist : Imperius Rex

You can get this heavyweight instrumental on the "Rapper's Best Friend 5: An Instrumental Series" collection of beats, but if you want to hear someone pick up the mic and slay it, the clue is in the title. This was the beat for the title track of the late great Sean Price's posthumous album, "Imperius Rex", and sounds suitable weighty to bear the name.

Run-DMC : King Of Rock

The video for this 1985 track, the title cut from their second LP, saw Run-DMC storming the "Museum of Rock 'n' Roll" - and so it was beautifully fitting when they were eventually, and rightfully, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. The group is often taken as the defining line between the true "old skool" and everything that came after, as they broke with many of the stylistic elements that had marked Hip-Hop records up to that point. No disco sounds, no outlandish costuming, but hard-as-nails beats and an aggressive lyrical delivery that indeed aligned them with as much with rock as anything else - hence the title. This track has been sampled countless times, and interestingly, almost always for the lyrics rather than the beat. On production, Run programmed the drums, and Larry Smith took care of the rest - the group were actually not in favour of the guitars, but they worked!

Oh No ft. Roc 'C' and J Dilla : Move

It's not obvious unless you're paying attention, but it's here - check the start of the second verse, where Roc 'C' works his MC name into the Run-DMC reference! The track as a whole channels some kind of vampire film vibe more than anything, if Dracula was banging on the MPC at any rate... However, this is a rare call for outside production by Oh No, who is a beast on production in his own right but pulls in J Dilla here on this tune from his debut LP, "The Disrupt".

PRhyme ft. Schoolboy Q and Killer Mike : Underground Kings

The most recent of the tracks in this section, this one comes from the 2014 "PRhyme" LP, the debut release from the group made up of DJ Premier and Royce the 5' 9". There are actually several Run-DMC samples here, and the reference to "Kings" in the title fits not only those kings from Queens but also Pimp C (RIP) and Bun B, who made up UGK (Underground Kingz) and are both given tons of respect here. Detroit (Royce), Los Angeles (Q), and Atlanta (Killer Mike) come together here for some cross-continental mic wreckage on top of a heavy beat from the production pride of Houston/Brooklyn.

Pete Rock : 'Till I Retire

As you'll pick up on immediately, it's the first and fourth bars of "King Of Rock" that get an outing here, with a clever splicing to declare "I'm the king, 'til I retire"! Don't forget that as much as a producer, Pete Rock is a DJ, and Hip-Hop DJs absolutely hear these snippets and connections and store them upstairs for later use. The track itself isn't otherwise rock-influenced, but just a dope, straightahead canvas for Pete to rhyme on all the way through with no guests. This is a 2008 track from Pete Rock's "NY's Finest" LP - and fifteen years later, his work rate is probably even higher now than it was then!

Z-Trip : Rockstar II

The original "Rockstar" was one of the most popular tracks on the second volume of Bomb Hip-Hop's groundbreaking "Return Of The DJ" series, and so on the third volume, Phoenix's own Z-Trip came back for a second variation on the same theme. Absolutely packed with rock samples and cut-ups, you hear the "king of rock" right next to perfectly placed cutting up of "back again" from Kool G Rap & Polo's "Poison", denoting the sequel status of this track.

Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician : Automated Life Machines

If I say so myself, this was a great pick for this spot - the raw, discordant sound at the very start actually sounds a little like a continuation of "Rockstar II", before it transitions into its own thing, a great bit of boom-bap on the drums with subtle accompanying bass and chilled sounds in the midrange, leading us towards the end of the show. Cincinatti's Fat Jon released this on his "Dyslexic" instrumental EP back in 2000, another bit of wax that made it into my computer recently as part of the Great Digitising, and he's still active to this day. Oh yes - and he can rhyme too!

Ultramagnetic MCs : Bust The Facts

We finish up by going back - I was originally going to being the episode with this, but I think this works out better. This is from the 1992 "Funk Your Head Up" LP by the Ultramagnetics, and while it's nowadays an old track, even then, it was looking back to the early days of Hip-Hop - giving you a flavour of the excitement of the time, and mentioning many of the foundational artists and crews. The only diversion is a few shots thrown at Kool Moe Dee, who Kool Keith clearly had issues with, but apart from that the whole thing is an ode to a period and a vibe that could never be repeated. Our job is to preserve the culture and take it forward.

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!

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shahananasrin-blog · 1 year ago

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[ad_1] The start of hip-hop dates to Aug. 11, 1973, when DJ Kool Herc created continuous break-beats by working two turntables during a party in a rec room at 1520 Sedgwick Ave in the Bronx. On Friday night, exactly 50 years later, a concert was held at Yankee Stadium — roughly a mile and a half from hip-hop’s birthplace — to honor the occasion, featuring Run-DMC, Slick Rick, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Lil’ Kim and Nas. DJ Kool Herc, 68, also appeared onstage to accept an award.Before the show, which was billed as “Hip Hop 50 Live,” the scene outside the stadium was heavy with fans of the sounds from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Middle-aged couples on date nights arrived wearing matching Adidas track suits. A man strolled the promenade carrying a boombox and wearing a Kangol hat. Hawkers sold pins with pictures of Biz Markie and The Notorious B.I.G.Outside a McDonald’s opposite the stadium, a street musician performed Tupac Shakur hits, while an in-line skater entertained the crowd with basketball tricks. Stationed beside a subway entrance was an 8-year-old rapper, Hetep BarBoy, who, accompanied by his father, was selling CDs of his album. “I prefer old-school hip-hop,” Hetep said. “I like Rakim because of his flow and the clean message he was putting into the world. He rapped about positivity, and that’s also what my music is about.”In the edited interviews below, attendees reflected on hip-hop’s 50th. Some recalled witnessing the park jams and parties that defined the genre’s beginnings.Pick a side: Old-school hip-hop or new? Old-school all day. I was at the rap battles in the parks. Hip-hop came from the dirt. You had to be a lyrical assassin then. If you weren’t, you were trash. I feel if you have something to say now, you’re seen as wack. Back then your flow had to be intact.Your old-school hero? Big Daddy Kane was once the prince of hip-hop. He had crazy lyrical flow. He was super-duper fly. He was unmatched.Which old-school hero are you here to see? Ice Cube. To me he represents the beginning of hip-hop’s renaissance. But I’d never use the term “old-school.” I call artists like him “true-school.”What’s a significant hip-hop history moment for you? The public access television show “Video Music Box” was essential to hip-hop’s growth in the 1980s. All the forefathers appeared on that show.Old-school or new? I saw the birth of hip-hop as a kid growing up in the Bronx. I was at those Sedgwick Avenue parties. I saw Cold Crush Brothers and Afrika Bambaataa. So this all goes way back for me. It’s amazing to see how hip-hop has become a global force, but when I was a kid, it was just about having fun in the park. It wasn’t about how nice your car was or how much money you had.Do you ever boast about seeing hip-hop’s birth? I do sometimes tell young people that I saw the beginning of all this, but it usually falls on deaf ears, and they don’t get it. But that kind of response is also part of hip-hop to me, because it’s a genre that’s supposed to be always evolving from its past.Old-school or new? For me it’s still all about Melle Mel, the Sugarhill Gang and Kurtis Blow. They’re the originals. Back in the day hip-hop was wholesome and fun. I don’t even understand it now. Primo GonzalezSecurity guardWhat’s a significant hip-hop history moment for you? I remember seeing “Beat Street” in the movie theater in the 1980s. It was a world I already knew from seeing B-Boys on University Avenue, but for many people, that was the first time they ever saw break dancing culture.Mary Olivette BookmanFordham University music studentWho do you consider a pioneer? Missy Elliott. She had something to say. What she was doing was sonically unique, and her skill and individuality were always immediately visible in her rap style.Who are you here to see tonight? I’m here to see them all. I want to see hip-hop history. Tonight is music education for me.Gearni ThompsonMusic marketing professionalWhat’s a significant hip-hop moment for you? I can still remember riding in a car with my friends when I heard “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang for the first time.Old-school or new? I love the old-school. I feel like the new school is about all the wrong stuff, like buying jewelry and expensive cars. Grandmaster Flash was reaching the kids in a good way. Old-school rap was about community and where we came from. It changed our lives.Ricardo VaronaStreet ball entertainerYour old-school hero? Snoop Dogg. When he and Dr. Dre came out with “The Chronic” it shook the world. Everyone followed their way after that.What’s a significant hip-hop moment for you? An important artist who I feel is too little known now is Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam. Her hit “Can You Feel the Beat” was impossible to not want to sing and dance to when it came out.Wisdom McClurkinHospitality professionalWho do you want to see tonight? Lil’ Kim. She’s a pioneer. She’s from the block. She’s the queen of everything. She was the blueprint. If it wasn’t for her, there would be no Nicki Minaj.William GainesRetired chefOld-school or new? I grew up in the boogie-down Bronx, so I went to all those legendary park jams. They’d hook up the turntables and speakers, and the cops would eventually come to turn it all off. You’d see Biz Markie and Doug E. Fresh. It was a good time. It all started from nothing and became something. But it all began with us just saying to each other: “Yo, they’re having a party on Sedgwick Avenue tonight. Want to go?” [ad_2]

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itsbigseanny · 1 year ago

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Sean Felder of XS Energy Drink Tribute to KRS ONE,shout out to the Blastmaster epic block party yesterday at 1520 Sedgwick Av

#youtube

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trascapades · 1 year ago

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🎙#ArtIsAWeapon

Happy 50th BDay #HipHop

Salute #CindyCampbell #HipHop50

#IfItWasntForTheBronx #BronxKeepsCreatingIt

Reposted from @musicsermon You can't always pin down a catalyst moment for a cultural movement. Hip-hop can. While the elements of hip-hop culture in its original four pillars (MC'ing, DJ'ing, breakdancing and graffiti) and the sounds and techniques that gave us the music had been evolving for a time, Kool Herc's back to school jam, in the rec room of 1520 Sedgwick Ave in the Bronx, on August 11th 1973, is the amalgamation point.

Happy 50th Anniversary to the culture that raised me and sustained me.

#Bgirls #BBoys #Emcees #DJs #ForTheCulture

#31DaysOfHipHop50

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culmer · 2 years ago

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11th August 2023 Marks the 50th Anniversary of #HipHop and 1520 Sedgwick Avenue the birthplace. Design by Madina.co.uk

https://www.madina.co.uk/shop/sweatshirts/1520-sedgwick-ave-beat-street-style-hiphop-black-sweatshirt/

#hiphop50 #design #fashion #hiphopclothing #illustration #art #hiphopstyle #1520 sedgwick ave #kool herc #beat street #wildstyle #style wars #madina #rap #2023 #bronx

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perfectlytremendousdaze · 1 year ago

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Flashback Friday Song of the Day - Rapper's Delight - Sugar Hill Gang

Hip Hop Turns 50 “The musical and cultural movement that would become known to the world as hip-hop began on Aug. 11, 1973, inside a recreation room at 1520 Sedgwick Ave., a 102-unit residential apartment complex in the Bronx borough of New York City. Yet when Cindy Campbell decided to throw the now legendary party credited as the big bang of rap music, making history was the last thing on her…

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#flashback friday #hip hop #hiphop50 #music videos #rap #song of the day #sugar hill gang

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thisent1 · 1 year ago

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Artist of the Week: DJ Kool Herc [Celebrating Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary] Dear entertainment-loving visitor of TH...

#FeaturedArtist #50thAnniversaryofHipHop #ArtistoftheWeek #BacktoSchoolJam #CliveCampbell #DJKoolHerc #HipHop50thAnniversaryMusicFestival #HipHopHistoryMonth #MusicalInfluencerAward #RockRollHallofFame #THISENT

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ncisladaily · 1 year ago

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“I mean, there were people who used to look at us at that time and say, ‘Where is the band?’” recalls LL Cool J of hip-hop’s early years and the reaction audiences would have.

As the genre hits its 50th birthday on August 11, no one is asking where the band is anymore. The culture that has emerged out of what Kool Herc was doing that night in 1973 in the rec room of 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in the West Bronx is the most popular musical genre on the planet.

One of the first mainstream stars of hip-hop, LL Cool J himself has come a long way from dropping his “I Need a Beat” single back in 1984. A multi-Grammy winner, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and the first rapper to receive a Kennedy Center Honor, the multiplatinum-selling LL also has become a star of the big and small screen with Toys and NCIS: Los Angeles.

Tonight, Queens-raised LL will headline the Rock the Bells Festival at Forest Hills Stadium alongside the likes of The Roots, Run-D.M.C, fellow CBSer Queen Latifah, De La Soul and Rakim, to name a few. On August 12, LL will start up Round 2 of The F.O.R.C.E. (Frequencies of Real Creative Energy) Live tour with The Roots, DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Z-Trip and a mash-up of some of hip-hop’s finest. The tour will culminate on September 3 in Los Angeles.

A self-admitted fan as much as icon, LL has emerged as one of hip-hop’s foremost chroniclers with his Rock the Bells business and initiative. Coming off ringing the opening bell on the Nasdaq this week as a part of celebrating hip-hop’s golden anniversary, LL spoke with me about the history of the genre, the culture and how it all looks from his perspective.

DEADLINE: What was it, who was it, that drew you into hip-hop growing up?

LL COOL J: I know when I heard the Cold Crush Brothers and when I heard Flash or what I heard Run-D.M.C. or the Beastie Boys, I just was attracted to that magnetic confidence and energy in the musical dynamics. It just it just made me crazy, man. I just loved it. I fell in love with it instantly. It’s like what I was born for. How about you?

DEADLINE: When I was a kid, I saw Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five open for the Clash. and I was like, “This is where it’s at.“

LL COOL J: Yeah, and you think about the Clash having Flash open for them — there was a lot of backlash, I remember at that time. People were like, “Oh, who was this they bring it on tour?” and Grandmaster Flash and the Five ended up crushing it and being one of the most revolutionary groups

You know, it’s that magnetic confidence — you’re a kid and you love it. I think, as you grow older, evolve as an artist, maintaining that creative inspiration and maintaining that joy, and maintaining that energy, that jovial vibe. That feeling. It just works, man — that’s really how it was done. And that is about dreaming, right? Like if you want to accomplish anything, you got to dream. And then you got what you got to act. So you got to listen, you got to learn and you got to act. You got to take action.

DEADLINE: Certainly, hip-hop had established itself in New York by the early 1980s, but you went on some of the first tours taking it outside the five boroughs. What was that like back then?

LL COOL J: (Laughs) I mean, there were people who used to look at us at that time and say, “Where is the band?” Right? “What are you doing to those record players?” So those turntables, I used to call them record players. I remember going to Maine and having to explain to people that my DJ was cutting the record back and forth and, you know, like actually having to do a tutorial on what they were witnessing just so they could have some context, so that they can relate. But, you know, the flip side of that is they were curious and showed up.

DEADLINE: Now, you are heading back out on your first arena tour in decades with The Roots, plus the God MC himself Rakim, Queen Latifah, Big Boi, Method Man and Redman, many more. It’s all going to conclude on September 3 here in L.A. What brought you back on the road like that for the 50th anniversary?

LL COOL J: Well, we’re actually doing some really innovative because we’re combining the band and the DJs

DEADLINE: Oh.

LL COOL J: Yeah, so I got DJ Z-Trip, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Roots. So this is a whole new take on live hip-hop performances. It won’t be like anything that anybody has seen because it’s not just acoustic, it’s a mash-up of all of these vibes and sounds. I think that that’s going to be take it to another level, you know?

DEADLINE: In a way that seems like the perfect celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop, unto itself.

LL COOL J: I appreciate you saying that, I think it is.

It’s perfect for us because it’s what we love to do and what we want to do, right? You know, we had so much fun doing the Grammys — that’s where the idea was sparked. We performed on the Grammys together, and it was myself and The Roots obviously and then all the other acts were involved ..

DEADLINE: That tribute was amazing, everyone was there, and it was seamless …

LL COOL J: Well, that’s the goal for the tour. The F.O.R.C.E. Tour is like the Grammys tribute to hip-hop from February’s ceremony. It’s a celebration of all of this music, but it’s mashed up so this act, that act, this act, me coming out, them coming out, I come out — it’s not conventional. It’s not kinda like, “Oh, we stop and then there’s a set change.’ It’s like once that first downbeat starts, and once that first turntable scratch happens, you know, we’re off to the races for the rest of the night.

DEADLINE: I know you’ve heard this before, but as you get ready for the show at Forest Hills Stadium with the Rock the Bells Festival and then the F.O.R.C.E. Tour, there’s also that large swath of your fan base who know you as an actor, on NCIS: LA and more, not as a rapper. Does that negate some of your legacy for you, or do you see it as an opportunity of sorts?

LL COOL J: It’s funny you say that, because I been thinking about it a lot recently. It definitely doesn’t make me feel like anything negated. I mean, if anything, I’m just blessed to have more than one talent. So to me, it is absolutely an opportunity … remember that’s not everybody … a lot of our listeners on our Rock the Bells radio channel are under 25. But there are a lot many who see me as a host, some don’t even know I act. To me, I do think it’s an opportunity to put people up on something new. You come to the Rock the Bells festival. You come to the LL Cool J tour. For some people, it is going to be a new experience, and that’s OK.

DEADLINE: In a way, you are going back to your own roots with this tour, with The Roots …

LL COOL J: Kind of. Look, hip-hop has never had a Santana moment. Hip-hop has never had an artist that was able to go away for a decade and then reappear. To re-emerge and impact new generations in a major way. Partially that’s because the genre is so young.

Beyond me, that is what I want to do for hip-hop culture. I looked at the way Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney and those guys were treated in the rock genre. Then I looked at how the Rakims, the Method Mans and Ludacris and different acts were treated in this genre. And I say, “You know what, these artists deserve to be celebrated at a higher level. They deserve to play on the biggest stages and be seen in the biggest way.” This festival, the tour, is not about LL Cool J. It’s about my desire to see hip-hop culture celebrated and elevated at the highest level.

DEADLINE: With the 50th anniversary coming next week, your career has in many ways spanned most of the first five decades of the genre. Not a position a lot of artists in any genre, in any medium, find themselves in – as an artist and, with Rock the Bells, an archivist to some degree. What’s your perspective on that?

LL COOL J: It makes me feel amazing, because this is what I wanted to see. I wanted, I wanted the new generations of hip-hop and the earliest generations of hip-hop to be able to coexist and to be equally as popular with their cohorts, so to speak.

For everybody to be able to be respected and loved and be able to have fun and do music and do shows at a high level and be on top. I believe in hip-hop. I respect hip-hop artists as much as I respect to Miles Davis or Charlie Parker and various acts and other genres. I love the fact that people are celebrating it. I just want the celebrations to be done at the right level executed properly. And it’s all good.

#ll cool j #ncis la

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