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‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ Star LL Cool J Weighs In on the Series Coming to a Close

LL Cool J is taking a look forward while also weighing in on his show, NCIS: Los Angeles, ending after 14 seasons. He spoke with Entertainment Tonight’s Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner on the GRAMMYs carpet on Sunday. On Jan. 20, CBS announced that the current 14th season would be the last for NCIS: Los Angeles.

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“Well, I gotta tell you it’s not hard at all,” LL Cool J said about wrapping up playing Sam Hanna. “CBS did an amazing thing with us; it’s been an amazing run. We talking about 14 years. We not talking about two-and-a-half, three years and ‘Oh it was fun while it lasted.’ This was 14 years.

‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ Star LL Cool J Points Out Show’s Tremendous Numbers

“So, I think that the show has done tremendous numbers,” LL Cool J said. “I mean, our last [NCIS] crossover did tremendous numbers,” he said. He was talking about the Jan. 9 three-show crossover between NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and NCIS: Hawaii. “I couldn’t complain, I have nothing. All I could say is, ‘Wow, what a ride,’ you know what I’m saying?”

LL Cool J was told that NCIS: Hawaii star Vanessa Lachey extended a standing invitation for him to come on her show. LL Cool J, 55, did entertain the thought. “I’ll definitely keep that invitation in mind, Vanessa, and you never know. We’ll see what happens. Maybe I’ll come play a little bit, we’ll see,” he teased. “Anything is possible.”

LL Cool J Is Busy Working On His New Album Right Now

While LL Cool J might be saying goodbye to his NCIS: Los Angeles family, he is working on his upcoming album which is executive produced by rapper-producer Q-Tip, ET Online reports. 

“It’s really solid. It’s my first album I’m putting out through Def Jam, through Universal,” LL Cool J said. “I haven’t done that in many, many years. I think Q-Tip did a phenomenal job. I’m not going to talk about my vocals or the songwriting and all that, I have to let the world judge that, but… objectively the work that Q-Tip did on the record and the music is crazy,” he said.

Meanwhile, LL Cool J says that he has been living by a mantra offered by his mother and grandmother. “My mother used to tell me, ‘Todd (LL Cool J was born James Todd Smith), you can do anything you put your mind to’. And my grandmother used to tell me, ‘Every task is once begun, never leave it until it’s done. Be thy labor great or small, do it well or not at all.’”