NEW YORK (AP) — The Grammy award winning rapper-actor- author LL COOL J will release his first new album in 11 years, “The FORCE” in September — 40 years into his hip-hop career.
Not that he hasn't been making music in that time. “I've always tinkered around in the studio here and there,” he told The Associated Press over Zoom. But over the last two or so years, inspiration really struck. He started working with a producer and pursuing music-making more seriously.
Then he hit a roadblock. “I just felt like the tracks that this producer was giving me were better than the songs that I was writing,” he said. Then the late Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest came to him in a dream. “He told me, ‘Yo, man, that new music you’re working on is great, man.’ But he had a look on his face like a Cheshire cat, like he was lying to me,” he says.
It was a wakeup call — and something told him to call A Tribe Called Quest's Q-Tip to work together. The move worked: Q-Tip produced every track and made all the beats on “The FORCE,” which will be released Sept. 6.
LL COOL J describes the process of making his 14th studio album as “going back to the drawing board and learning how to rap again ... making sure I was really inspired by the things I was saying. That's why there isn't a lot of fluff on this album."
“The LeBrons, the Stephs, the Jordans and the Kobes, they all go back to the drawing board, they always try to make themselves better” he continued. “I wasn't trying to do trendy, and I wasn't trying to recapture anything I did before.”
“The FORCE” is an inventive rap record, informed by LL COOL J's lengthy career, touching on various themes, like the power of self-motivation ("Passion"), full-force swag ("Murdergram Deux," a long-awaited collab with Eminem ), not-safe-for-work sensuality ("Proclivities" featuring Saweetie) and cautionary tales, as evidenced in the lead single, “Saturday Night Special” featuring Rick Ross and Fat Joe.
Particularly effective is the one-two punch of “Huey in the Chair,” — a reference to a famous photo of Black Panther Party co-founder Huey P. Newton — what the rapper describes as “taking a stand for what you believe in,” into the funky downtown beats of “Basquiat Energy,” a celebration of the namesake artist's innovative spirit. The rapper says the American icons share an ability to “express their personal truths,” something he aimed to do on this album.
In that way, “The FORCE,” which stands for “frequencies of real creative energy,” became an unofficial mantra for the release.
“That's what we wanted to present to the world," he said. “It's about wanting to vibrate at a high level.”
And following the 50th anniversary of hip-hop last year, LL COOL J says he “wanted to show people that artists that have had long storied careers, so to speak, can make modern contributions to hip-hop that have a major impact. I hadn't seen that done before. It was another challenge: Can I create something that sounds new and fresh?"
He's not leaning into fads here — expect to hear rappers actually rapping — but no one should consider this a play at nostalgia. The album is stacked with features, even beyond Ross, Fat Joe, Saweetie and Eminem: Snoop Dogg, Sona Jobareth, Busta Rhymes, Nas, Mad Squablz, J-S.A.N.D. and Don Pablito are among them.
“The one thing I wanted to do is, I wanted to meet people where I’m at now. I wasn’t trying to be preachy,” he said. “I’m not trying to tell people necessarily how to live. I did want to express with people where I’m at artistically at this point in my life and give them that. And then they can take that and do whatever they want with it."
1. “Spirit of Cyrus” (feat. Snoop Dogg)
2. “The FORCE”
3. “Saturday Night Special” (feat. Rick Ross and Fat Joe)
4. “Black Code Suite” (feat. Sona Jobarteh)
5. “Passion”
6. “Proclivities” (feat. Saweetie)
7. “Post Modern”
8. “30 Decembers”
9. “Runnit Back”
10. “Huey In Da Chair” (feat. Busta Rhymes)
11. “Basquiat Energy”
12. “Praise Him” (feat. Nas)
13. “Murdergram Deux” (feat. Eminem)
14. “The Vow” (feat. Mad Squablz, J-S.A.N.D., and Don Pablito)
This cover image shows “The F.O.R.C.E.” by LL Cool J. (Def Jam Recordings/Virgin Music Group via AP)
FILE - LL Cool J performs during the MTV Video Music Awards in Newark, N.J., on Sept. 12, 2023. The rapper-actor will release “The F.O.R.C.E.," his first album in 11 years. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
BANGKOK (AP) — A court in Thailand on Thursday found Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a member of a famous Spanish acting family, guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced him to life in prison, in a lurid case that involved the victim being dismembered.
The Koh Samui Provincial Court issued an initial sentence of death for Sancho but commuted it to life imprisonment due to his cooperation during the trial, said Police Col. Paisan Sangthep, deputy commander of the Surat Thani Provincial Police, who attended the hearing.
Sancho, a 30-year-old chef with a YouTube channel, had been charged with the murder of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga, a 44-year-old plastic surgeon from Colombia, when both were vacationing on the Thai holiday island of Koh Pha-ngan in August last year.
The island is famous for its monthly “Full Moon” beach parties, attracting travelers from around the world for all-night raves.
The convicted man is the son of Rodolfo Sancho Aguirre, a prominent Spanish actor, and Silvia Bronchalo, who has also been in acting. Both parents are 49 years old and attended Thursday's court session.
The court also ordered Sancho to pay more than 4.2 million baht ($125,000) in compensation to the victim's family. Lawyers representing the family at the trial had asked for 30 million baht ($882,000), Spain’s EFE news agency reported.
EFE also quoted Sancho's father Rodolfo telling media after the verdict that he intended “to always keep fighting, to keep fighting."
At his trial on the island of Samui, Daniel Sancho had claimed he got into a fight with Arrieta for allegedly trying to sexually assault him. He said that Arrieta fell as they scuffled and hit his head on a bathtub, losing consciousness and then dying.
He had pleaded not guilty to charges of premeditated murder.
Sancho acknowledged dismembering the victim’s body and disposing of the parts on land and at sea. For the charge of concealing or damaging a body, he received a four-month prison sentence, reduced to two months for acknowledging the act, said Paisan.
He had also pleaded not guilty to the charge of destroying another person's documents — the victim’s passport — for which he received a two-year prison term.
The elements of the case — violent death on a holiday island, the celebrity connections and the lurid details — attracted huge coverage in Spanish media. HBO produced a Spanish-language documentary on the events.
The case came to light when trash collectors found what the Bangkok Post newspaper described as a sawed-off pelvis and intestines weighing about 5 kilograms (11 pounds) in a fertilizer sack at a garbage dump.
Shortly after that, Sancho reported to police that Arrieta was missing, and police then gathered evidence linking the two men that led them to detain and interrogate him.
Police established a narrative, claiming to the press that Sancho had confessed to the murder and saying he had planned it because Arrieta threatened to disgrace him and his family by revealing their alleged sexual relationship.
Sancho, through his father and his lawyers, said that was a distorted version of what he told police, and denied having a sexual relationship with Arrieta.
Police obtained surveillance video showing Sancho allegedly purchasing a knife, rubber gloves, garbage bags and cleaning solutions at a convenience store before Arrieta's death, which prosecutors claimed bolstered the charge of premeditated murder.
In his closing statement earlier in his trial, Sancho told the court he regretted his actions, the Spanish newspaper El País reported.
“I am sorry that a life has been lost and that parents have lost a son,” Sancho said. “I am sorry that his family was not able to bury him properly. I’m sorry for what I did after the death.”
Under certain conditions, Sancho can apply to be repatriated to serve the remainder of his prison term back home after several years of incarceration in Thailand, according to a treaty between Thailand and Spain.
The handful of Spanish nationals in Thai prisons includes another man convicted of premeditated murder and dismembering his victim.
Artur Segarra Princep was convicted of the 2016 killing of fellow Spaniard David Bernat. Police suspected that Segarra robbed the victim, whom he was said to have known. The body was kept in a freezer in Segarra’s Bangkok apartment until parts were tossed into Thailand's Chao Phraya River.
His 2017 death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 2020 by Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
A prisoner van carrying Daniel Sancho Bronchalo arrives at Koh Samui provincial court in Surat Thani, southern Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. A court in Thailand has found Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a member of a famous Spanish acting family, guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced him to life in prison, in a lurid case that involved the victim being dismembered. (AP Photo/Thanapat Cherajin)
Spanish actress Silvia Bronchalo, mother of Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, leaves from Koh Samui provincial court in Surat Thani, southern Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. A court in Thailand has found Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a member of a famous Spanish acting family, guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced him to life in prison, in a lurid case that involved the victim being dismembered. (AP Photo/Thanapat Cherajin)
Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, father of Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, leaves from Koh Samui provincial court in Surat Thani, southern Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. A court in Thailand has found Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a member of a famous Spanish acting family, guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced him to life in prison, in a lurid case that involved the victim being dismembered. (AP Photo/Thanapat Cherajin)
FILE - A Thai police officer escorts Spanish Daniel Sancho Bronchalo on suspicion of murdering and dismembering a Colombian surgeon from Koh Phagnan island to Koh Samui Island court, southern Thailand, Monday, Aug. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Somkeat Ruksaman, File )
Media gate is seen outside Koh Samui provincial court in southern Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanapat Cherajin)
Spanish Actress Silvia Bronchalo, mother of Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, arrives at Koh Samui provincial court in southern Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. A court in Thailand is expected to sentence the son of the actor accused of killing and dismembering a Colombian surgeon on a popular tourist island.(AP Photo/Thanapat Cherajin)
Spanish actor Rodolfo Sancho, father of Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, talks to reporters arrives at Koh Samui provincial court in southern Thailand, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. A court in Thailand is expected to sentence the son of the actor accused of killing and dismembering a Colombian surgeon on a popular tourist island.(AP Photo/Thanapat Cherajin)
