LL Cool J is opening up about studying methods to steadiness his appearing profession along with his ardour for music.
The Grammy-winning rapper obtained candid in a latest interview with The Unbiased about feeling conflicted as soon as his appearing profession took off in the Nineteen Nineties.
“The more successful I became in acting, the less I wanted to do it, as it was taking me further away from music,” he admitted. “I later realized I could find the right balance, that I could do all these things I wanted. But it took time.”
Whereas LL Cool J went on to star in dozens of TV exhibits and motion pictures, together with Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, In the Home, Any Given Sunday and long-running NCIS: Los Angeles, he additionally struggled to search out time to work on his music, even taking an 11-year musical hiatus following the launch of his 2013 Genuine album.
However now the rapper is again along with his newest album, The Pressure, produced by Q-Tip. And although it was a very long time in the making, with some challenges alongside the method, he finally created a bit of work that goes deeper and extra private than ever earlier than, the place he talks “about new things, not just girls or romance on every track.”
“I wanted to show you could continue to make dope stuff and mature as an artist in hip-hop,” he defined. “Because — to speak really candid — we’re used to artists coming out with mediocre offerings that aren’t as impactful or innovative as their first few records.”
“I wanna show you can be creative in your 40th year of hip-hop, just like a film director can be creative 40 years in,” LL Cool J continued. “There’s no reason why an artist in hip-hop can’t continue to be innovative, so long as they stay curious and keep caring and coming up with new ideas.”
Regardless of being labeled as mainstream, the rapper mentioned he’s finally discovered “you just gotta be true to who you are” as an artist.
LL Cool J even took inspiration from Stevie Surprise, Marvin Gaye and Bob Dylan, “artists that wrote about the things that are important to them. I’m not gonna be a prisoner to some mainstream image of myself — what ages well is making what you mean to create. So I said, ‘You know what? I’m just gonna write me some cool shit.’”
He added, “Imma come from the heart, and let the chips fall where they may.”
