This weekend (August 5), LL Cool J is headlining the annual Rock The Bells Festival in his home borough of Queens, New York. L will be joined by The Roots and DJ Z-Trip as he shares the main event with the MC’s longtime friends and peers Run-D.M.C. Other performers include De La Soul, Queen Latifah, Redman & Method Man, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, The Cold Crush Brothers, Ludacris, Slick Rick, Jungle Brothers, Black Sheep, Brand Nubian, Boot Camp Clik, Salt-N-Pepa, MC Lyte, Roxanne Shanté, Monie Love, Yo-Yo, Lost Boyz, Sha-Rock, and Swizz Beatz. Tickets are still available to the Hip-Hop destination event.

In promoting his event, LL Cool J stopped by Sway In The Morning. In an interview, the Hip-Hop revealed he was in the room when Biggie Smalls recorded “Who Shot Ya?”—and refuted reports it included bars responding to “I Shot Ya” the same year. LL also provided an updated on his long-awaited album The F.O.R.C.E., sharing its name of LL’s tour with The Roots and Z-Trip. It is a Star Wars-inspired title, with LL Cool J making his latest statement on an epic journey.

Black Thought Recaps 50 Years Of Hip-Hop History In An Epic Freestyle

One of Sway Calloway’s “G.O.A.T’s” did not get to leave the show without spitting a freestyle. As LL’s upcoming album is executive produced by Q-Tip, it is a beat inspired by A Tribe Called Quest that he raps to. At 33:00, Cool J raps, “There was smoke when the mother’s water broke / The doc saw the horns, ‘Oh my God, it’s a goat!’ / The nurse cut the cord, got shocked with a million volts / Almost dropped him on the floor, but the baby started to float / Umbilical cord turned into a gold rope / Mic appeared in his hand, his body started to jolt / The angels injected him with lyrical dope / Same drugs they gave Hemmingway and Edgar Allan Poe,” he begins. “Breakbeats played, he had a speaker for a crib / She screamed ‘Jack The Rip!’ and ignited his gifts / To the parents he’s a legend, to the children a myth / Here’s some first-hand experience of Mr. Smith / Alias / Mr. Killin’ Every Rapper In His Radius / Cyphers and stadiums / Buzz is Vibranium / Molecular structure of the nucleus of his cranium / Platinum, uranium / Lyrical titanium / In others words, whoever it concern / If you f__k around with fire…”

The ensuing bars reference LL’s third album, Walking With A Panther. LL Cool J peps up his delivery, and raps with swagger. “Gil Heron with the camouflage gear on / Ignorance is the virus, my ink is the interferon / The Last Poet / Revolutionary with guns loaded / Back to elevate the culture, that’s my only motive.” The crescendo gets Sway out of his seat.

Souls Of Mischief Freestyle New Verses To 93 Til Infinity

Elsewhere in the interview, LL Cool J credits himself as one of the first artists to embrace working with producers from another coast. He mentions how 1987’s Bigger And Deffer involved The L.A. Posse—a production collective that involves Friday co-creator DJ Pooh. At the time, the Los Angeles, California native Pooh was working with King T.

#BonusBeat: A 2020 episode of Ambrosia For Heads’ What’s The Headline podcast that discusses LL Cool J’s GOAT status: