LL Cool J appears on “What Now?” with Trevor Noah: Explains How Grandfather Helped Launch His Career

LL Cool J joins Trevor and Eugene to look back at the journey from a kid riding mini bikes and dreaming big to one of hip-hop’s most enduring stars.

He shares stories about Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson, the family values that kept him grounded, and why real reinvention requires letting go of your ego. Along the way, LL explains why he believes intuition is God’s voice, why cynicism is cowardice in disguise, and how his grandfather’s belief in him helped turn a teenage dream into Radio. His grandfather died before LL turned pro, yet the older man seemed sure that fame was coming. During his final years in a VA hospital, he would hear the radio and insist, “That’s Todd on the radio.” LL believed him and later named his 1985 debut Radio for the man who had heard his future first. The album followed “I Need a Beat,” the 1984 single LL released at 16 that helped put Def Jam in business. Produced by Rick Rubin, Radio became Def Jam’s first full album and delivered “Rock the Bells” and “I Can’t Live Without My Radio.”

The family story then took a sharp turn when the grandmother who secured his gear drew a hard line over school. She told LL to choose school or leave her house, then added one last rule about keeping his nipples un-pierced. That was tough love with a punch line, and Trevor Noah laughed right along with him. Grandma could live with the rap career, but nipple jewelry was one step too far.

The kid who chose music built a catalog that moved from hard battle records to the vulnerable “I Need Love.” His grandmother later inspired “Mama Said Knock You Out” by urging him to fight the critics who thought his run was done. LL won a Grammy for that record in 1992 and another for “Hey Lover” in 1997 before entering the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021. He returned with The FORCE in 2024, showing that the music career born in his grandparents’ home was still alive.

He also became a lasting screen star through Krush Groove, In the House, Any Given Sunday, Last Holiday and S.W.A.T. His biggest television role came as Sam Hanna, the agent he played for 14 seasons on NCIS: Los Angeles.