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A Letter From The Editor

A Letter From The Editor

Published Mon, April 4, 2022 at 8:55 AM EDT

When I first met LL COOL J in a non-descript office building in Los Angeles three years ago, it was, in many ways, the job interview I had been preparing for my entire life. For me, basketball and Hip-Hop were more like birthmarks than hobbies.

But LL COOL J didn’t talk about Hip-Hop like it was his job. Rather, he was describing what seemed to be a living, breathing, entity that had evolved out of DJ Kool Herc’s rec room on Sedgwick Avenue, and into a global phenomenon. 

 

And in LL COOL J’s estimation, if we didn’t get it right, 300 years from now, many of the most important b-boys, b-girls, graffiti artists, MC’s, and DJ’s from the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s would be lost to history. 

 

As his words bank-shot off my cerebellum, I was still thinking about the “we” part in the scenario. I imagined he and I fighting shoulder to shoulder in a Marvel-esque sequence in which a supervillain imprisoned all of LL COOL’s heroes and peers within the confines of the dreaded, “Old School” designation. 

 

“It’s classic, and timeless music,” LL COOL J told me. “No one calls James Brown, The Rolling Stones, or Bob Dylan, ‘old School.’ So why should Hip-Hop have to wear those scarlet letters?”

 

That was our challenge. Rock The Bells was to become the symbol for long-lasting reverence, and no age group, color, or creed, was going to be excluded. Simply put, If Hip-Hop got you up in the morning, or soothed you after a nightmare, Rock The Bells was going to be the manifestation of the right path forward.

 

So we built it. We’ve unearthed untold stories, set the record straight, and celebrated achievements that have nothing to do with chart placements or money in the bank.

The flyer for the Rock The Bells festival featuring LL COOL J, Ice Cube, Jadakiss, The Diplomats, Lil Kim, Ghostface, Raekwon, Rick Ross, and Digable Planets.

 And now, we’re building something new.

 

The Rock The Bells Festival in Queens this August  — and every August moving forward — will be a celebration of Hip-Hop’s birthday (August 11, 1973). It’s crazy to think that the first cell phone call was made before Hip-Hop was even invented — surely a testament to how much has been accomplished in less than fifty years time. 

 

While the lineup and experience will change, the mission won’t: elevate, uplift, entertain…and if all else fails….make people nod their fuckin’ heads. 

 

And I think we can agree.

 

“Getting to bring some of the most iconic and influential Hip-Hop artists to the same stage, in my hometown and the city that started it all, is an honor and I can't wait for everyone to see what we have in store for them," LL COOL J says.

 

We certainly has a nice ring to it.

The Rock The Bells Festival is a yearly celebration on August 6. Buy your tickets now.

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