LL Cool J shares “fun fact” about ‘Murdergram Deux’ collab
A week after the release of his new track, ‘Murdergram Deux,’ LL Cool J has revealed a “fun fact” about his collaboration with Eminem, which features Q-Tip on production.
The single arrived as a teaser for LL Cool J’s fourteenth album, THE FORCE, which is out now. The record includes features from Snoop Dog, Nas, Rick Ross, Saweetie and more. Eminem is amongst them as the two artists teamed up for ‘Murdergram Deux’, a hi-octane track that sees the artists passing rapid-fire verses between them.
But in a new interview with Shaheem Reid, the New York legend has revealed a fact about the track that might be missed by listeners, but proves the calibre of talent on the song.
“I can’t remember when the producer and both MCs were all in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at the time they recorded a song,” he pointed out. LL Cool J was inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 2021, recognising the huge impact he had on hip hop from his breakout as a teenager to today. At the time, Eminem joined him on stage at his induction to perform ‘Rock the Bells.’
Eminem was then granted the honour in 2022. As one of the best-selling artists of the 2000s, a 15-time Grammy winner and a massively influential force in multiple genres, honouring him in the Hall was inevitable.
Q-Tip being honoured in the Hall of Fame comes through his connection to A Tribe Called Quest. As the hip-hop group join the list of 2024 inductees, their producer is honoured too as their leading force.
With all three coming together for this new track, LL Cool J said, “Us three, all Hall of Famers on that one song, I think is dope.” He added: “I just think that’s a cool, fun fact. I think history will shine well on that.”
Realistically, that fact does nothing to alter the song or how it’s perceived by fans, but it’s a nice moment of musical history. It’s a clear display of the incredible calibre on the track and a powerful move that these three legends got into the studio together to still put out exciting new music with an enduring passion for their craft.
“Q-Tip played the beat. I actually watched him create a lot of it. It was absolutely amazing to me,” LL Cool J told Vulture. “Because of the choppiness in the tempo, I felt like Eminem would be perfect for it.” After calling up the musician, the chemistry in the studio was something special. “It just came out crazy to me,” he continued, “I think that song is that moment when you see there is a difference between people really into the craft of MCing and people who are rapping because they can.”