LL Cool J and Eminem teamed up for a performance of ‘Rock The Bells’ at the ‘Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’ ceremony last night.
During the evening, Cool J was handed the acclaimed, Musical Excellence Award by his acolyte Dr Dre at the 36th annual induction ceremony. The event took place at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio, and a pre-recorded version will air later this year on HBO and HBO Max.
LL has been nominated for induction six times over the last eleven years, but 2021 proved to be the year the institution finally accepted him.
In his acceptance speech, the rapper said, “I’d like to thank all of the people who voted for LL to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame year after year. A lot people, when I told them I got inducted, they’d say to me, ‘Isn’t it is about time?’
“You see, what people don’t realise is, I wasn’t thinking about the people who voted against me. I was thinking about the people who voted for me. It was love. Like what I was feeling was, ‘Wow, here’s some people over there who won’t take no for an answer.’
“They like, ‘Yo this guy got to be in here and we’re going to keep fighting for you till we get him in here.’ So I thank you. Other than that, Queens, of course, Harlem, uptown. Queens, I love you.
“The last thing I’ll say is, rock and roll, hip-hop loves you. We borrow your beats. We sample ’em. We turn them into hits. And we know where we came from. We know where things come from….we love and appreciate you,” he concluded.
Check out the performance, below.