“This is what hip-hop at 50 looks like!” an exultant LL Cool J declared Sunday night at the United Center during Chicago’s installment of The F.O.R.C.E. Live, the rap giant’s multi-artist touring tribute to a tectonically forceful genre, now five decades along and not even close to settling down.
Its titular backronym standing for Frequencies of Real Creative Energy, The F.O.R.C.E. Live is also the first headlining arena tour in 30 years for LL, who during that period had also established himself as an actor on TV (notably, the “NCIS” franchise) and in film, book author, producer, and more. Having gotten his start in hip-hop’s childhood, he is often characterized as the first superstar rapper.
