In a recent interview with The New York Times, LL COOL J reveals what he feels is lost in current Hip-Hop music. “There’s nothing wrong with rapping about money and success, and there’s nothing wrong with rapping about pure sex — I love them both,” he explained. But “there has to be more to it than that, to me, in order for a project to be compelling.”

In a recent exclusive interview with Rock The Bells, LL shared that he had to actually learn how to rap and write songs again. "Let's take a song like 'Saturday Night Special'. I really worked on writing better songs, wordplay and things that I felt would make me a better rapper," he explains. "I went into this project figuring out how to learn how to rap. What is a song like, how do you write a good rap song? What does a good rap song sound like? What's gonna make the song impactful? I really went into it from that space."

LL notes that despite his four decades in the game, he is still a student. "I really love this music and culture. I wanted to show people that it's possible to continue to learn and elevate your craft. To get my Kobe on, and have that Mamba mentality, and not settle for what was good during another time period. I want people to hear me and say 'wow this guy is amazing'. The 'don't call it a comeback' crew will say 'I knew it', and the 'he raps?' crew will say 'wow that's him?'"

Pre order LL's new album, THE FORCE here.