JumpinJack AJ

Hey, welcome to the board! It's kind of rare to see new members actually post. Heck, it's kind of rare when the regulars make a post anymore.

I like that he's still putting out content supporting the song. This is a great video.

The album is out. I'm loving it.

The show looks great. The crowd is having a great time. His look is fresh. I love that red outfit and the matching mic. He isn't overexerting himself vocally like he used to. He really needs to take this show on the road.

I saw this news. I like it, but I also think it's too soon.

https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/ll-cool-j-force-top-10-rap-albums-chart-1235779195/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawFYRXhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHQmAbo02em4TWYrtxEsoRmnAfYRhgm4FydxCTEhBBC44UbNWtywgjti0KQ_aem_tdd7sosTXTqn6gcpJR_57A LL COOL J’s ‘THE FORCE’ Debuts in Top 10 on Top Rap Albums Chart The rapper's first album in 11 years arrives, as current single "Proclivities," featuring Saweetie, climbs on radio. By Trevor Anderson 09/18/2024 LL Cool J attends the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on Sept. 11, 2024 in Elmont, New York.Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for MTV Despite more than a decade since LL COOL J last released an album, the rapper picks up right where he left off. His new project, THE FORCE, debuts at No. 9 on the Top Rap Albums chart, giving the hip-hop legend his fifth consecutive top 10 result on the list, which began in 2004. THE FORCE, released through LL COOL J’s self-titled imprint and the Def Jam Recordings record label, earned 16,000 equivalent album units in the tracking week of Sept. 6 – 12, according to Luminate. Of that sum, traditional album sales contributed 11,500 units, making THE FORCE the top-selling rap title of the week. 4,000 units derive from streaming activity, with the remaining 500 coming through track-equivalent album units. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.) Robust sales likely trace to LL COOL J’s flurry of promotional performances during the tracking week, including an interview on CBS Mornings and a performance to celebrate the Def Jam label’s 40th anniversary during the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, where the MC delivered a medley of his hits such as “Headsprung,” “Goin’ Back to Cali” and “Bring the Noise.” Released Sept. 6, THE FORCE marked the first project since 2013 for LL COOL J, the hip-hop pioneer who became one of the genre’s earliest crossover stars and, in 2017, became the first rapper to receive the Kennedy Center Honors. The album, largely produced by another rap icon, Q-Tip, of A Tribe Called Quest, boasts a strong supporting lineup, with Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross and Nas among the guest stars. Saweetie features on the set’s current single, “Proclivities,” which climbs 36-31 in its second week on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, while an Eminem feature on the album’s “Murdergram Deux” powers it to become the week’s top-selling (2,500 downloads) and most-streamed (2.3 million official U.S. streams) song on THE FORCE. As noted, THE FORCE is the fifth consecutive top-10 effort for LL COOL J on Top Rap Albums. The streak began with The DEFinition, which reigned for one week in 2004, and followed with Todd Smith (No. 2, 2006), Exit 13 (No. 2, 2008) and Authentic (No. 4, 2013).

Tim shared this with me the other day. It's a good way to start off 2025.

https://www.nme.com/news/music/ll-cool-j-on-reaction-to-his-desire-to-record-new-album-they-looked-at-me-like-i-was-a-hydra-3793756?fbclid=IwY2xjawFTswFleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHapKYcIsXUZgPeGwsJETuc3FhSoNsbaKXGSHi02y5qCJXVIryGrdtGMYpQ_aem_43llndOQPvvBE8HiDO0nCA LL COOL J on reaction to his desire to record new album: “They looked at me like I was a hydra” "People looked at me like I had nine heads" ByDaniel Peters 14th September 2024 LL Cool J at the MTV Video Music Awards 2024. CREDIT: Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images for MTV LL COOL J has spoken about the reaction he got when he revealed his intention to record a new album. Read More: LL COOL J on his first album in 11 years, ‘THE FORCE’: “I want to do the Blackest **** in the world” In an interview with Variety published yesterday (September 13), the veteran rapper – real name James Todd Smith – talked about how people reacted to his desire to work on ‘The FORCE’, which was eventually released on September 6. It marks his first studio album in eleven years. “When I told people, ‘Yo, I wanna do a culturally relevant album’ in the midst of all these [younger artists], people looked at me like I had nine heads,” Smith told the publication. “They looked at me like I was a hydra – a hydra! – looking at me crazy like that, not because of any ill will, but just ‘How can you do that?’” The rapper, who turned 56 this year, followed through with the project, which was mainly produced by A Tribe Called Quest‘s Q-Tip. Smith felt his ability to record such an album at his age would challenge ageism in hip-hop. “It’s like breaking the four-minute mile,” he says. “Nobody thought it could be broken until Roger Bannister did it, and then a lot of people started breaking it. Now you’ll see, when [‘The FORCE’] has success, you’re [seeing] people believing that they can make it happen, and it’s gonna extend the life of hip-hop in general.” He adds that “if somebody doesn’t do it” to show how “a guy who’s been out for a long time can make a new record and be relevant”, then “it never happens”. LL COOL J. CREDIT: Chris Parsons/Press Last month, Smith previewed ‘The FORCE’ track ‘Murdergram Deux’, which sees his first-ever collaboration with Eminem. Q-Tip shared with Variety that it was a surreal moment to be in the studio with a rapper he and Eminem idolised as kids. “This is like a ****ing dream, isn’t it, Tip?” he recalls Eminem telling him. NME spoke with Smith about ‘The FORCE’, an album that he felt “artistic pressure” from himself to undertake. “[I] want to create something that I love, something that I can really embrace, something that I thought was amazing, something that I felt like, like was meaningful to me, something that I could love as a fan,” he said. He also bristled at the common sentiment that “hip-hop is a young man’s game”, saying: “The genre just turned 50-years-old. So, what are we going to call it in 100 years? How is that mindset even sustainable? “You haven’t had an opportunity to see artists continue to grow. Ultimately, the music determines that. We can talk all we want, but how’s that music sounding, b?”

If you have the means to do it, do it. I go to concerts alone all the time, either because I can't always expect friends to pay high ticket prices or to go to independent artists they've never heard of it.

The energy is great. It looks like a good show. I especially like that red outfit.

Oh man, I hope he does more of these. When he did the book tour, he booked a D.C. event, but it got canceled before tickets went on sale.

I feel like the song has gotten lost in the shuffle a bit, so I'm glad to hear he's still talking about it. Especially on a platform like that.

This is kind of a weird thing to make you tap out on an artist you've like for a long time. Did you have the same problems with "The Rain"? Let an artist express themselves. You don't have to rock with every facet of their art.

The album hasn't come out yet, so I'm updating the title of the post. Her website still says "new music coming soon".

New single!

CHIP-FU - Like Us Invisible Footprints 2024 (Coming in October)

I think Men In Black could go on forever. Of course, that should only happen if the stories make it necessary. A main factor of the appeal of the first movie was that it was completely original. After that, the stories can be original, but you can't re-capture the newness and overall original-ness of it, being introduced into that world. Since they wrapped things up nicely in the third movie and since the fourth one involved other characters and was pretty average, they should just leave the original universe alone. I think it could be a good idea to reboot it in the future, slightly change the tone to make it its own, and have the release of the films be more consistent. A big picture of multiple films should be in mind up front so that they don't vary in quality. I'm interested in seeing what might happen.

https://coveredgeekly.com/sony-men-in-black-5-seemingly-revealed/ Men in Black 5 seemingly revealed to begin filming next year By Alex DuthieJuly 11th, 2024 According to a recent production listing, an untitled Men in Black sequel will seemingly begin filming as soon as January 2025. Although Sony has yet to officially announce “Men in Black 5”, franchise star Will Smith’s MIB performance at Coachella only fueled fan speculation. The news comes from ProductionList.com, a popular website typically known for keeping tabs on major movie and TV show productions. As per the listing, the Men in Black sequel will begin filming next January in London. Hollywood veteran Tommy Lee Jones originally starred in the first three movies alongside Smith, who both played the franchise’s fan-favourite MIB agents. However, due to the studio pivoting in which direction they initially had planned for a fourth movie, Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson ended up taking the lead roles. The two Thor: Ragnarok stars replaced both Jones and Smith in Sony’s Men in Black: International, which didn’t quite perform as highly as the studio hoped. It’s been around half a decade since International released in theatres. Sadly for everyone involved, the latest instalment in the franchise ended up disappointing too many fans, which left any sequels starring Hemsworth and Thompson as the leads up in the air. Since Smith’s Coachella cryptic MIB cameo, theories and speculation that the studio has plans to bring back the original cast have been at an all-time high. The 1997 original is still said to be the best in the movie series, with its second instalment being one of the biggest letdowns prior to International being released. Despite any harsh reviews, each movie has still managed to make a decent buck at the box office. Men in Black 5 has yet to be announced but will reportedly begin filming in January 2025.

As for a time table, he only said he'd probably start promoting the album about a month after Bad Boys: Ride or Die came out. He didn't hint as to when it would come out, but my guess is that it would be before the end of the year (there's always a spike in albums being bought during the holiday season). Big Willie Style and Willennium were both released in November.

As I look at it, there are some simple minded mouth breathers who will always bring up the slap. As for people with some sort of platform or celebrity, they will bring this up just to get clicks/attention. Will has moved on. Most people have moved on. I haven't clicked on this kind of stuff in a long time.

It's cool to hear this side of things. So much of matches up with what Ready Rock C has shared in the past.

I wouldn't expect a music video without the interview segments. It's a short film that uses those clips to dive into the subject matter. They have the song-only version up.

I definitely prefer Dance In Your Darkest Moments over Rave In The Wasteland, but whatever.