news

LL COOL J's F.O.R.C.E. Live Tour Kicks Off on Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

LL COOL J's F.O.R.C.E. Live Tour Kicks Off on Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Published Mon, August 7, 2023 at 4:20 PM EDT

What better way to celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th anniversary than by seeing the GOAT live on stage with other living legends?

On Aug. 11, LL COOL J's The F.O.R.C.E. (Frequencies of Real Creative Energy) Live tour presented by Rock The Bells and Live Nation, will kick off in Baltimore. Headlined by Rock The Bells founder and Hip-Hop legend, LL COOL J — a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Kennedy Center Honoree, and a two-time Grammy Award winner — the tour comes three decades after his last headline arena tour.

Rakim, Queen Latifah, and De La Soul will open the Baltimore show with LL, in what will be one of the most unique Hip-Hop tours to date — the show will play like one live set, or "live mixtape" as LL explained. In addition, every stop on the tour will be backed by the legendary The Roots as well as DJ Jazzy Jeff and DJ Z-Trip. There's really never been anything like this done before in Hip-Hop, a point that Roots drummer Questlove made on Instagram following his dynamic appearance with LL COOL J at this year's Rock The Bells Festival.

"LL COOL J, DJ Z-Trip, and The Roots rockin for the rest of the summer during this RARE time our shows are on hold," he wrote. "Once in a lifetime to catch this magic."

The tour will hit 18 cities during its run, and each city will feature different artists joining LL, The Roots, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and DJ Z-Trip. As aforementioned, the show will kick off in Baltimore on Aug. 11, and will continue on to Cleveland on Saturday (Aug. 12) and Chicago on Sunday (Aug. 13). In a stellar display of camaraderie, respect, and a genuine love for Hip-Hop, the Cleveland show will feature Common, Redman and Method Man, MC Lyte, and Jadakiss, while the Chicago show will feature Rakim, Common, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Doug E. Fresh, and Slick Rick.

From there, the tour will roll through arenas across the United States and Canada, before wrapping on November 19th in Boston, MA, at TD Garden. Tickets are available now at rockthebells.com/forcelive.

Related posts

LL COOL J Kicks Off The F.O.R.C.E. Tour In August With The Roots, DJ Z-Trip and DJ Jazzy Jeff

Jul 10, 2023

Rock The Bells Festival 2023: 13 Dope Moments

Aug 06, 2023

LL Cool J performs onstage during the 36th Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on October 30, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio.

LL COOL J, Rakim, Cam'ron and Pop Smoke Featured on Collectible MTA Cards

Aug 04, 2023

What's new