#2561 - LL Cool J

Episode of The Joe Rogan Experience · October 6, 2026 · 2 h 38 min

Joe Rogan and LL Cool J discuss the birth of hip-hop and Def Jam, discipline and mastery, martial arts, lost civilizations, time travel and artificial intelligence.

Summary

LL Cool J recounted signing to Def Jam at 16 as the label's first act, sending a demo made with a drum machine his mother bought with her tax refund to Rick Rubin's NYU dorm, and working with Rubin on records such as Radio and "Going Back to Cali." He and Joe Rogan reflected on early hip-hop as an empowering, aspirational art form, with LL arguing that the gold chains and bravado of the era signified survival rather than ostentatious wealth. He also described touring abroad, introducing hip-hop to a small audience in Maine, and anecdotes involving Run-DMC, Public Enemy's logo and Mike Tyson.

Much of the conversation centered on self-improvement. LL described himself as an artist who is famous by consequence, and advocated discipline, getting comfortable being uncomfortable, simplicity, and relentless pursuit of goals at any age. Both discussed LL's recent start in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Brian Glick, Bruce Lee's influence on mixed martial arts, boxing stylists from Floyd Mayweather to Nicolino Locche, LL's great-uncle John Henry Lewis, and Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings.

In the final hour the pair speculated about lost ancient civilizations, the Antikythera mechanism, extra dimensions in string theory, time travel and possible alien visitation, which LL considered highly probable. On artificial intelligence, LL argued it is an unavoidable tool people must learn to use while preserving the human spark, and warned of bias in training; Rogan worried about who would control AI and suggested it might eventually control itself. LL closed by promoting NCIS: New York.

Chapters

0:01
Reunion and Def Jam beginnings
Rogan recalls meeting LL Cool J at an NBC event in 1994, and LL explains how he became Def Jam's first act at 16.
5:54
Jiu-jitsu, fame and humility
LL discusses starting Brazilian jiu-jitsu and describes himself as an artist who is famous only as a consequence of his work.
11:29
Reading, discipline and perseverance
LL talks about Clausewitz, his mother's warnings about drugs, and the need for willpower and comfort with discomfort.
20:06
Bruce Lee
The two discuss Bruce Lee's influence on LL's acting, his revolutionary mixing of martial arts, and theories about his death.
26:10
Early hip-hop culture
They discuss hip-hop's sudden rise, its aspirational spirit, jewelry as a message, Public Enemy's logo and touring overseas.
44:31
Fighters and the fight game
Rogan argues basketball is a strong base for MMA striking, and they discuss Floyd Mayweather, Nicolino Locche and LL's great-uncle John Henry Lewis.
55:53
Self-awareness and the internet
LL argues people can decide to improve and that real life does not work like the instant validation of the internet.
1:04:36
Rick Rubin and getting signed
LL tells the story of his demo reaching Rick Rubin and Ad-Rock, and discusses Rubin's taste and the value of simplicity in songwriting.
1:19:14
Fame at 16 and dreams without deadlines
LL describes early fame, introducing hip-hop in Maine, and argues it is never too late to pursue goals.
1:30:12
Martial arts, Musashi and mastery
They discuss belt traditions, The Book of Five Rings, harmony, Steven Pressfield, and Mike Tyson and Cus D'Amato on fear.
1:53:26
Lost civilizations and the cosmos
They speculate about ancient civilizations, Antarctic 'pyramids', the Antikythera mechanism and the night sky.
2:00:48
Dimensions, aliens and time travel
They discuss string theory dimensions, possible alien visitation, time machines and the Large Hadron Collider.
2:09:03
Artificial intelligence and wrap-up
LL and Rogan debate AI's inevitability, bias and control, then LL promotes NCIS: New York.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

LL Cool J
LL Cool J says Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons formed Def Jam as a label and that he was its first act.
“Rick and Russell together formed Def Jam, the label, and I was the first act”
Listen from 2:26 · Def Jam Recordings
LL Cool J
LL Cool J observes that while the world has become more public, music listening has become more private.
“In a weird way, even though the world is more public, music has become more private”
Listen from 3:37 · Hip-hop
Joe Rogan
Rogan argues famous people benefit from activities like jiu-jitsu where status and charisma count for nothing.
“I think it's really good for famous people to do something that doesn't depend at all on your personality or your status or your stature”
Listen from 7:42 · Brazilian jiu-jitsu
LL Cool J
LL Cool J describes himself as an artist who became famous as a consequence of his work rather than seeking celebrity.
“I'm a celebrity by consequence, like as a result of what I did. I'm not a guy who's celebrity minded”
Listen from 8:18 · Fame
Joe Rogan
Rogan believes the conspiracy theories about Bruce Lee's death stem from a dispute with triad financiers of his early films.
“I think that rumor has to do with the triad, with the Chinese mob, because they were financing his early movies”
Listen from 22:29 · Bruce Lee
LL Cool J
LL Cool J says hip-hop was the first time he heard kids like himself sound empowered, at a time when Black youth on TV appeared mainly in handcuffs.
“Hip-hop was the first time that I heard young kids like me sound empowered”
Listen from 27:57 · Hip-hop
LL Cool J
LL Cool J argues that gold chains in early hip-hop signaled toughness and survival in the neighborhood rather than displays of wealth.
“See, jewelry back then was a message. You know, any neighborhood. It was, I can wear this in this neighborhood”
Listen from 30:08 · Hip-hop
LL Cool J
LL Cool J says the Public Enemy logo is a silhouette of his friend E-Love taken from a photo of them on stage.
“Chuck D. from Public Enemy took a picture of my man standing next to me on stage and put him in silhouette”
Listen from 38:47 · Hip-hop
Joe Rogan
Rogan argues basketball is an excellent athletic base for MMA strikers because of constant direction changes, footwork and hand-eye coordination.
“I think basketball is a huge factor for big athletes in particular”
Listen from 45:14
LL Cool J
LL Cool J says he only learned of the boxers in his lineage, including John Henry Lewis, through DNA research on Finding Your Roots.
“I didn't even know that I had all of these boxes in my family till I did my DNA research with Henry Louis Gate on Finding Your Roots”
Listen from 50:13 · Boxing
LL Cool J
LL Cool J says Rick Rubin stripped down hip-hop production, earning a 'reduced by' credit on his debut album.
“Like, my first album, Radio, it says, reduced by Rick Rubin”
Listen from 1:04:38 · Def Jam Recordings
LL Cool J
LL Cool J recounts that after rejections from labels, his mother used her tax refund to buy him a drum machine for his demo.
“She took her tax return and bought me a Korg drum machine”
Listen from 1:07:39 · Def Jam Recordings
LL Cool J
LL Cool J says he prioritized how lyrics feel over technical complexity, likening his approach to James Brown's.
“I was more in the James Brown zone of, how does it feel?”
Listen from 1:14:04 · Hip-hop
Linked moment · 1:58:07Skip to 1:58:07 using a listen link in the info box.
Joe Rogan
Rogan contends that the pyramids could not be replicated today with the tools supposedly available to their builders.
“Giving the tools that they had, supposedly, giving the knowledge that we have today, we can't make that”
Listen from 1:58:07 · Lost civilizations
LL Cool J
LL Cool J says that if he had to bet, he would say Earth is being visited by others.
“I think it's high probability. If I was going to bet, I would say yes”
Listen from 2:04:38 · Unidentified flying objects and government disclosure
Joe Rogan
Rogan says that while participating in the White House cage fight event he felt it was cool but questionable.
“While we were doing it, I was like, I don't think we should be doing this, but it's cool”
Listen from 2:08:31
LL Cool J
LL Cool J argues AI is unavoidable and people must choose to use it as a tool rather than be overrun by it.
“So the question is, are you going to... Use it as a tool or are you going to allow it to steamroll you?”
Listen from 2:10:02 · Artificial intelligence
LL Cool J
LL Cool J points out the contradiction of people who say they hate AI while relying heavily on chatbots.
“People hate AI, but then they run around on ChatGPT all day long and have damn near have a relationship with ChatGPT and Claude”
Listen from 2:11:15 · Artificial intelligence
Joe Rogan
Rogan says his main AI fear is control, and suggests AI may ultimately control itself, which might be better than human misuse.
“I think ultimately the real problem is it's going to be in control of itself. But that might be better”
Listen from 2:12:28 · Artificial intelligence
LL Cool J
LL Cool J warns that human bias is often built into AI through how machines are trained.
“the way they, you know, you code and write these, you know, inform these machines, the bias a lot of times is built into”
Listen from 2:12:58 · Artificial intelligence
Joe Rogan
Rogan suggests current human civilization is a restart following an earlier lost one.
“I have a feeling that this is a complete restart of civilization that we're currently in right now”
Listen from 2:19:21 · Lost civilizations
LL Cool J
LL Cool J says NCIS: New York is shot on location across the city, which he calls the star of the show.
“We're shooting all over the city. And New York is like the star of the show”
Listen from 2:31:48 · NCIS: New York

People

In the conversation

Joe RoganAmerican comedian and host of The Joe Rogan Experience
LL Cool JGrammy-winning American rapper and actor, star of NCIS: New York

Discussed

Rick RubinAmerican record producer and author, a friend of Huberman's
Russell SimmonsDef Jam co-founder
Ad-RockBeastie Boys member who heard LL's demo and programmed early beats
Bruce LeeMartial artist and actor who inspired LL Cool J to act
Mike TysonFormer heavyweight boxing champion who fought Jake Paul
Cus D'AmatoBoxing trainer who raised and trained Mike Tyson
Miyamoto MusashiJapanese swordsman and author of The Book of Five Rings
John Henry LewisLight heavyweight boxing champion and LL Cool J's great-uncle
Brian GlickBrooklyn jiu-jitsu instructor who teaches LL Cool J
John DanaherNew Zealand-born grappling coach
Floyd MayweatherBoxer who appeared in a cut Foul Play segment
Ciryl GaneFrench UFC heavyweight who beat Alex Pereira on the White House card
Steven PressfieldAmerican author of books on creativity including The Artist's Journey
Chuck DLeader of Public Enemy
Howard SternAmerican radio host on whose show Stallone's parents argued in 1992
Quincy JonesRecord producer who worked with Michael Jackson on Off the Wall
Tim GroverTrainer and author of Relentless, recommended by LL
Steven SpielbergAmerican filmmaker whose upcoming film about disclosure was discussed

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From the publisher

LL Cool J is a Grammy Award-winning rapper, actor, and philanthropist. Look for him on "NCIS: New York," premiering October 6 on CBS and streaming the next day on Paramount+.www.paramountplus.com/shows/ncis-new-york/www.youtube.com/c/LLCoolJwww.wearefamilyfoundation.orgwww.llcoolj.com Perplexity: Download the app or ask Perplexity anything at https://pplx.ai/rogan. Don’t miss out on all the action this week at DraftKings! Download the DraftKings app today! Sign-up using https://dkng.co/rogan or through my promo code ROGAN. Switch today at https://www.Visible.com for just 25/mo. Or Save $10 on your first month of Visible+ Pro with code ROGAN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on October 7, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Music Interviews·Self-Improvement·Music History