LL COOL J, the Grammy award winning rapper, actor and author, will release his first new album in 11 years, “The FORCE” on Sept. 6 — 40 years into his hip-hop career. He's always tinkered in the studio, he tells The Associated Press, but over the last two years, the pursuit became more serious. A Tribe Called Quest's Phife Dawg came to him in a dream, resulting in LL COOL J enlisting Dawg's band mate Q-Tip to produce the album, which is out Sept. 16. He says this album is about showing people that rap veterans can still contribute to and have an impact on modern hip-hop.
