Despite having an amazing career and legacy spanning several decades, LL Cool J makes it clear he's not stopping anytime soon. In his opinion, all rappers should feel that way, especially the older generation. During a recent appearance on Sway's Universe, the iconic pioneer shared his thoughts on ageism in rap. He believes that music artists don't have to flirt with retirement in the same way athletes do. He even took it a step further and claimed that it could actually make you insecure. "Hip Hop is not a sport," he began. "It's like playing guitar or the horn..." He continued: "So I don't have to stop doing what I do and stop recording at 34."
LL added, "I hear artists all the time flirting with retirement, and that's really insecurity. Because they don't know whether or not they're gonna be able to continue on in their careers. At least that's how it comes off to me." The rapper also noted that it comes off as a lack of gratitude. "You're in a position to have a great career, and you're flirting with retirement for absolutely no reason."
This Isn't The First Time LL Addressed Ageism In Hip Hop
The Queens native isn't known for biting his tongue. So when DJ Akademiks called rappers from his generation washed up and "dusty," he didn't hold back. “Don’t think just because somebody knows how to get money, or fails to get money, that they didn’t make a contribution to the culture. No one discusses Miles Davis’s bank account. We don’t talk about John Coltrane’s bank account. We don’t talk about a lot of Rock musicians’ bank accounts. A lot of great Country artists, we don’t talk about their bank accounts,” LL said in a video posted to his Instagram.
He continued: “Nobody believed in it. How can you make a 5-year plan or a 10-year plan on something that doesn’t even exist yet?” he said. “So just because [Hip Hop pioneers] didn’t get rich, just because they weren’t able to pile up millions or billions of dollars, does not mean that they didn’t make a contribution to this culture."
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