It’s been about 40 years since the 16-year-old Queens rap hyena LL Cool J released “I Need A Beat,” his classic debut single, on the newly founded label Def Jam Recordings. It’s been eight years since LL released his most recent single — “You Already,” a collaboration with the currently-incarcerated Troy Ave. Lately, LL has been too busy raking in NCIS money to focus on his rap career. Last year, though, LL took part in lots of the festivities around hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, including headlining his own all-star old-school Rock The Bells tour. Now, we’ve got a new LL Cool J single that works as a grown-man rap summit meeting.
Later this year, LL Cool J plans to release The FORCE (Frequencies of Real Creative Energy), his first full album since 2013. Intriguingly, fellow Queens rap legend Q-Tip has signed on as executive producer for The Force. Q-Tip produced the hazy head-nod beat for LL’s new single “Saturday Night Special.” On the track, LL sounds relatively locked-in, and he shares the spotlight with fellow rap veterans Rick Ross and Fat Joe. (48-year-old Ross doesn’t often get to be the youngest person in the room, but that’s what he is here.)
The “Saturday Night Special” video, directed by JakeTheShooter, depicts all three rappers in black-and-white, against a bright-white background. It’s clearly intended to evoke Hype Williams’ classic clip for Craig Mack’s “Flava In Ya Ear” remix, which featured LL. Check it out below.
With LL Cool J and Fat Joe on a new song together, I feel compelled to embed the video for the “I Shot Ya” remix, the 1995 posse cut where LL teamed up with Fat Joe, Keith Murray, Prodigy, and a just-starting-out Foxy Brown. I love that song.
“Saturday Night Special” is out now on Def Jam.
