Goldman Sachs Talks

LL COOL J, Founder and CEO of Rock the Bells, Hip Hop Artist, Music Producer, Actor

LL COOL J, founder and CEO of Rock the Bells, discusses his journey as a hip hop artist, the evolution of rap, and his guiding principles for being a business leader. 

On the key to success in business: “I think one of the things that’s important with any business is you just got to be true to who you are…You can’t be all things to all people…If we sell caramel, we sell caramel. That’s what we sell. We don’t sell chocolate.”

On the secret to having an impact and staying culturally relevant: “You always want to be better today than you were yesterday. I think that’s very important. I think you want to look at your mistakes and incorporate the learnings. And you want to know why won as well, right? Like, it’s not enough to win. You’ve got to win, know why you won, and then take advantage of the victory.”

 

This episode was recorded on October 14th, 2021.