- Hip-hop is classic now.
I'm goin' with it, I'm grabbin' it,
I'm runnin' with it, and I believe in it.
And I'm gonna be supportive of other artists
and entrepreneurs as they try to make their moves as well.
I'm tryin' to build somethin' that people can appreciate.
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- LL Cool J is an icon and true GOAT in hip-hop culture.
He even coined the term with one of his albums,
but now the successful rapper, producer, actor, and author
is bringing the classis hip-hop culture he loves
back to the forefront.
As founder and CEO of his company, Rock the Bells.
Rock the Bells is a multi-platform brand.
It's got e-commerce, it's got digital radio,
it's got content.
Why did you want to start a platform like that?
- I felt like what was missing, and the problem,
was that you have fans of Run DMC, fans of Public Enemy,
fans of LL Cool J, fans of The Beastie Boys,
fans of Eric B. & Rakim, and Big Daddy Kane
and Gang Starr and DJ Premier.
They didn't have any place where they could actually
immerse themselves in the culture in a real serious way
where they could read about the artists,
celebrate the artists, enjoy that artists
in their perspective today, see the world
through a modern lens today, be able to buy items
and products that relate to the culture that they love,
and the culture that they've always lived.
So I said, "You know what, I'm gonna do this."
we started off with the station on SiriusXM Channel 43.
It was like, you know what, why not transition
and create a platform as well, and expand this offering?
So we are gonna continue to iterate,
we're gonna continue to improve it.
It's something that's needed,
and at the same time it celebrates
and will make sure that we preserve
the legacy of these artists moving forward,
and we're getting the narrative right, right?
- Yeah, it's interesting you said narrative there
because you've mentioned that storytelling
is a huge part of Rock the Bells as a brand.
Why do you think storytelling is important?
Particularly, when it comes to a culture like hip-hop?
- Because that's what hip-hop has always been about, right?
One of the prerequisites to being great in hip-hop
is your ability to tell stories,
and hip-hop from the beginning has been
about the struggle, about the scales of justice,
and balancing those.
It's been about comin' from the bottom
and making yourself successful,
and all of those things require storytelling.
For people to understand that journey
and to understand that struggle,
there has to be storytellers.
The whole thing about this deal is about support the culture
for the culture, by the culture.
It's about making sure also that these classic artists
from all four elements, whether they're DJs,
whether they're MCs, whether they're into the street art
or graffiti, whether they're into the dance,
that they have ownership and equity in this company.
This wasn't just a pure money play for me.
It was more about getting it right
and doin' somethin' from the heart
and solving a real problem that I think exists,
and that problem is the representation
of classic and timeless hip-hop
in the mainstream and in the world.
So I've really tried to make sure that these people
have equity, they have a stake in it, and I really want
to do something great for the culture.
- You've had such a long career,
longevity within your career too.
I'm interest actually like how do you kind of
approach this venture, as like a CEO and a founder,
maybe differently or similarly to how you
might approach producing music?
- Well, it's a huge difference, right?
As a CEO I have to really think about my team.
When I wanna do somethin' for LL as an artist,
I know in my mind my reasoning and my justification
and my rationale and my objective and my agenda
and I go do my thing.
You have a team, you have to make sure that
everybody's on the same page, so there's that.
It's all the moving pieces, it's me approaching it
with humility, not being an arrogant guy
who thinks that because he has some success in one area
it automatically translates.
Because there is a learning curve there,
so it's me tryin' to make sure that I bring people in
that are smarter than I am.
You know what I'm sayin'?
And really focusing on that,
people that have mastered their crafts in a different way,
and just tryin' to make good decisions in that way.
- Hip-hop, as well, has always been incredibly vocal
from the start about things, about systemic racism,
about police brutality, you've had songs on the issue.
How do you think that the hip-hop of the 80s and the 90s
have kind of informed or inspired
the civil rights movement that we're seeing right now.
- I mean, everything in classic hip-hop culture
it has always spoke to these issues.
Whether it spoke to it in a harsh manner or a subtle manner,
whether it was a hatchet, a sledgehammer, or a scalpel,
these issues have always been addressed in hip-hop culture,
and we take it head on.
When we talk about black lives matter
and we talk about injustice and we talk about
what needs to happen to make this world better,
we're looking at voting initiatives and really
thinking about that and taking that very seriously.
We have a responsibility to also uplift
the community in that way as well.
Rock the Bells is definitely a company
that people can count on if they wanna touch the culture
in a real serious way, and if they want to access
the culture in a way that makes a difference,
Rock the Bells is the type of company
that you wanna be partners with.
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