LL Cool J and Q-Tip are Recording Music Together

Music - 3 years ago

zo Zo is a staff writer at Okayplayer where he covers…

Photo Credit: Victoria Ford of Sneakshot for Okayplayer

Photo Credit: Victoria Ford of Sneakshot for Okayplayer

Queens legends connect.

Nearing seven years away from music, LL Cool J has announced that he’s back in the studio. This time, with the mighty Q-Tip behind the boards.

READ: LL Cool J Wins Trademark Lawsuit Over Rock The Bells Festival

Sunday morning, the Radio rapper took to Twitter to reveal he’d begun recording new music with the Tribe frontman and producer. Whatever comes of it would be the NYC duo’s first time collaborating on anything official. And though they’ve never connected on record, both rappers were featured on the classic Violator Records compilation from 1999, along with Noreaga, Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe, Ja Rule, and others.

I just started recording new music produced by my lil bro @QtipTheAbstract 💯💯💯 💯💯💯💯💯

— LLCOOLJ (@llcoolj) December 30, 2019

On LL’s end, we haven’t heard a studio album from the Queens rapper since his 2013 project, Authentic, featuring Bootsy Collins, Chuck D, Charlie Wilson, Travis Barker, and more.

READ: LL Cool J Explained The Meaning of “Pink Cookies In A Plastic Bag” and You’ll Probably Never Be Able to Listen to it Again 

Tip, on the other hand, has been a quiet but persistent presence over the last few years. In 2016, he turned in A Tribe Called Quest‘s final transmission, We Got It From Here, Thank You 4 Your Service, and co-produced a track on Solange‘s A Seat at The Table. Taking a year off, Tip didn’t resurface until the top of 2018, sharing the loose Kendrick Lamar collaboration “Want U 2 Want” on his Beats 1 program, Abstract Radio, and popping up on Anderson .Paak‘s Oxnard. And just this past year, the Queens legend executive produced Danny Brown’s Uknowhatimsayin, widely-regarded as one of 2019’s best projects.