Grandmaster Caz supplied a blunt, unfiltered glimpse into hip-hop’s competitive roots throughout a current look on the BagFuel Podcast, revisiting the second LL Cool J emerged within the mid-Eighties and disrupted the panorama for a era of MCs who helped construct the tradition from the bottom up.

“When LL [LL Cool J] came along, what were your thoughts about that?” requested host Esso.

Caz, a Bronx icon, didn’t hesitate. “Couldn’t stand him… couldn’t stand him,” Caz mentioned, repeating the road with the identical chew it carried almost 4 a long time in the past.

His frustration wasn’t private. It was the sting of watching a teen turn into Def Jam’s subsequent celebrity at a time when pioneers like Caz felt neglected. LL had the charisma and throttle to dominate a style shifting from neighborhood pastime to nationwide trade, and Caz admitted the rise hit a nerve.

“He was that n***a,” mentioned Caz, reflecting on a profession through which his personal early improvements had been usually overshadowed by youthful stars with company equipment behind them. “He was that next n***a that was going to get everything I thought I deserved.”

Grandmaster Caz Envyed LL Cool J During the 80s hip hop

The LL Cool J questions would lead into Caz’s involvement in Hip-Hop’s 50-year run, which has included a decades-long affiliation with him and the traditional track “Rapper’s Delight.” The Sugarhill Gang’s hit was constructed on his rhymes with out correct credit score.

“I’ve been answering ‘Rapper’s Delight’ questions for 50 fuckin’ years, almost,” he mentioned. While part of his historical past, Caz has turn into accustomed to talking about it on a regular basis as Rap music evolves.

“I’ve been answering Rapper’s Delight questions for 50 fuckin’ years, almost,” mentioned Caz. “I would have been swinging from a chandelier if I let that shit bother me, get to me or whaterver.”

Caz in contrast the lengthy arc of hip-hop to a curler coaster—wild, unpredictable, and typically punishing, however inevitably steady. “No matter how outlandish it get, it always lands,” he mentioned.

Grandmaster Caz believes the identical will maintain true for a style presently navigating chaos, algorithm-driven aesthetics, and generational fragmentation. After the twists and turns, he argued, hip-hop could “have to start it over,” predicting a future the place a brand new era rebuilds the tradition from scratch.

Caz’s reflections traced the emotional rigidity between legacy and evolution, linking the rise of LL Cool J to the style’s enduring capability to reinvent itself.