LL Cool J discussed the changes artists should make to their music amid the ongoing #MeToo and #YouOKSis movements as he chatted with the Daily Beast in a new interview.
When asked exactly how much is going to have to be altered, the 50-year-old admitted it’s an “incredibly important decision” that people have to make for themselves.
“I don’t think you can paint it with a broad brush. What are you going to do? How do we do that? How do we look back and rewrite America’s history? It’s a wonderful conversation to have and a worthy conversation to have; but in practice, what are we going to do? Are we going to erase all the music? Do away with all the magazines?”
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The “NCIS: LA” actor, whose real name is James Todd Smith, insisted that “all people should be respected.” However, he did admit that he doesn’t know “what that looks like” yet.
“Only time can reveal that. It’s such a sensitive topic, I think that people deserve to be respected but I don’t know how you go about implementing that respect, and each individual artist has to decide what that means in terms of what they put out. But what does that mean to film? What does that mean to painting?
“So many people are suffering and being marginalized and it’s just so wrong. Just in general, I think people deserve better.”
“There’s a bigger conversation there. SO many people have so much pain and there are so many systemic reasons. So you’ve got people with a billion dollars doing wrong and poor people doing right; you’ve got people who deserve better and they’re being treated worse.
“There’s a lot of room for improvement, man. And it goes beyond little man’s rap record that comes out next week. It’s a start! But we gotta get this thing right. I think the Statue of Liberty should have meaning. More than a lady with an arm in the air—it should be welcoming people.”
The star’s candid chat also saw him discuss how “extremely important” it is for black voices to be heard in the boardroom, as well as the studio and on set.
“Having a seat at the table is a beautiful thing and it’s necessary. But I think that it’s also important that when we get our seat at the table, that we execute. It’s about the excellence. It’s not just about having the position, it’s about having that position and over-delivering.”
