LL COOL J premiered his new album with Q-Tip amid the festivities over the 2024 BET Awards weekend in Los Angeles. There was a significant audience at a secret location. The album, which some have already regarded as his greatest ever, has been a huge secret up until this point.
First things first, I can tell you that LL COOL J has a song with Nas on the album, the first time we have heard them together on a record. They are both from Queens. The song is dope and very different from what we’ve heard from either of them, sources said. There’s no audio or anything like that because everybody’s phone was taken, and those who had phones were told not to post anything from it. I’m pretty sure they won’t violate that order, because LL COOL J supposedly doubled down on that.
Secondly, I am hearing there’s a song with Saweetie. Again, there’s no audio, but people are telling me that it’s like a modern-day version of “Doin’ It,” one of his classic records. I don’t know much about her, but I do know that she’s one of the biggest modern-day superstars, so I can’t wait to hear it. The women in the building became hot-n-bothered. LL COOL J ran that back twice because of the positive feedback from the audience.
From what I’m hearing, the album is really dope and the crowd was extremely attentive and enjoyed it. If you know how listening sessions go at these parties, they generally aren’t the best places to hear music. In this instance, I was told that they paid very close attention. I’m sure it helped that they didn’t have phones to distract them, but they could easily have been drinking and talking. For the most part, they didn’t.
It should be noted that LL COOL J did an interview with Datwon Thomas of VIBE magazine fame in front of everybody, and that also helped give people information on the album and the thoughts behind some of the songs. Thomas is a veteran journalist, who has moved into the higher realms of TV production and curation over at Dick Clark Productions.
Overall, the message seems to be that LL COOL J wants to make sure people understand that you can love Hip-Hop and still do Hip-Hop at a high level, even as you get older. I think that’s a good message to keep pounding into the minds of people who continually try to make it exclusively a young person’s sport. Not only that, but I think it’s misguided because they need to see someone like him doing it and doing it well. No pun intended.
LL COOL J has certified classics, so we’ll hear if the rumors are true.