As the future of his next album is rumored to hang in the balance, LL Cool J is testing the heat on Hot Ones. The beloved Rap icon is fresh off an epic Grammy Award performance with dozens of his peers as they celebrated 50 years of Hip Hop. After heating up the stage, he's powering his way through different levels of hot wings on the First We Feast series, and it's an episode that had audiences laughing.
It was also clear from the jump that spicy foods may not be LL's cup of tea. He ate the first wing with a low-burning sauce and joked, "That's hot enough." While laughing, he made it through, but it didn't take long for LL to regret agreeing to appear on the show. The Rap icon was asked questions about his career as he paced himself. LL spoke about this year's Grammy performance and admitted it was his "most enjoyable."
This Year's Grammy's Made Hip Hop History
"I've had other moments hosting, just purely hosting, that were amazing as well," LL further stated. "But as an artist, this was like, by far the most fun for me. Being on stage with Rakim and Public Enemy and Salt-N-Pepa and Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Rahim. I just want people to know that, you know, for years Hip Hop has been served in a brown paper bag. The greasy brown paper bag. I also want people to—I wanted it to be served on a silver platter and thankfully, it was. I was able to make a huge contribution."
He praised the production and Questlove for helping to curate the performance. "I think it turned out to be something real special for Hip Hop," LL added. Previously, Questlove also spoke about the development of the show. He revealed that it wasn't an easy feat getting all of those artists together. Fans took to social media to fire off questions to The Roots icon about why certain rappers didn't show face. Quest was ready for all complaints.
Questlove Set The Record Straight
Undoubtedly, we would have loved to see all of our favorites at the Grammys Hip Hop 50th tribute. However, Questlove revealed that many people declined, others were already booked, and some had excuses that the Rap legend didn't share. There were reportedly talks of having something feature all femcees, but they decided against it. Production also opted to avoid highlighting artists who have passed on because there was always the chance that someone would be excluded and fans would be upset.
Ice-T also revealed that Lil Wayne and Future were supposed to perform at the Grammys, too. However, it is unclear exactly why the two hitmakers didn't make the stage. Check out more from LL Cool J above as he quotes Cardi B's "WAP" lyrics to describe the heat on Hot Ones.