LL Cool J has been making music for more than 25 years. Through it all, he says, he's tried his best to remain authentic.
"The last thing that I want to do is be a hack," says the rapper and actor, born James Todd Smith. "Someone who is adapting to whatever the current trend is, and manipulating the public into being on board with me even though, from an artistic standpoint, I'm not doing anything."
Credit Kris Lager Band / YouTube - ponderlandproductions
Most of us tend to identify the Blues with the rural Deep South and urban centers like Chicago and Memphis. The powerful form of self expression we call the Blues has penetrated every corner of America and continues to spread around the World.
Longtime blues joint Gip's Place, in Bessemer, Ala., has been forced to close its doors. Weekend Edition profiled the place two years ago. Host Scott Simon takes note of the closing.
