Peter Yang
LL Cool J
Monday, Aug. 28, 2023 | 2 a.m.
There are several absolute superstars taking the stage in Las Vegas for Labor Day weekend: Lady Gaga, Drake, Adele and Luke Bryan, to name but a few. But the FORCE Live Tour, landing at MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday, September 2 at 8 p.m., has a complete lineup of iconic acts, specifically from the world of hip-hop, which is celebrating 50 years of influence across American culture in 2023.
The FORCE (which stands for Frequencies Of Real Creative Energy and is also the name of his new album) is the first arena-headlining tour for LL Cool J, one of rap music’s pioneering stars, in nearly three decades. The 55-year-old Queens, New York product may be best known these days as an actor in movies and TV police dramas, but LL has revisited the live stage with a vengeance on this outing, which also features the legendary Philadelphia hip-hop band The Roots along with a carefully curated, rotating roster of hip-hop favorites from different generations. The Vegas show also includes DJ Jazzy Jeff, Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa and Ice-T, and tickets are available at axs.com.
“I picked all the acts with my team … The Roots are actually performing with me, like my backing band,” he told SiriusXM’s Sway in the Morning during a recent interview. “It’s a show like no other. I’m not coming to play, and we’re going to have a lot of fun. It’s a festival.”
His massive mainstream-crossover hits take the spotlight for much of the performance, songs like “Around the Way Girl,” “I Need Love,” “Mama Said Knock You Out” and “Rock the Bells.” And the different artists on the bill frequently collaborate onstage, joining forces for each other’s most familiar tracks with The Roots serving as the musical backbone. LL said it was important to the concept of the tour that different artists from different hip-hop hubs participate in the concert to reflect the diversity and impact of the culture.
“No matter where you’re from … you should feel proud of the hip-hop culture you’ve contributed to this world,” he said. “As one of the guys who is a pillar, one of the people who’s a torchbearer for the culture, I respect everybody globally who contributed to hip-hop.”
The tour moves through Denver and San Francisco this week before visiting the Las Vegas Strip this weekend, and it has already hit New York, Baltimore, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Atlanta and more.
“The celebration was a rare glimpse into the golden era of hip-hop that brought forth some of the greatest mic prodigies this genre has ever seen,” wrote The Detroit News. “And at a time when rap has moved to a new sound and direction, this was a much-needed ode to the legends who have shaped hip-hop’s innovative trajectory.”
