LL Cool J Celebrates Becoming First Rapper Honored At Kennedy Center, Shares INSTYLE Cover With Salt-N-Pepa & Marc Jacobs

LL Cool J is still making history. Get the deets on his Kennedy Center Honors, plus check out his new INSTYLE magazine cover alongside Salt-N-Pepa inside…

LL Cool J is being honored for his contributions to Hip Hop with a major award.

The 49-year-old entertainer is making history as the first rap solo artist to be honored at the Kennedy Center Honors, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year. And it’s a big deal as its one of the highest honors you can receive as an entertainer.

Singer Lionel Richie, TV writer/producer Norman Lear, singer Gloria Estefan, and dancer Carmen de Lavallade will also be honored during the event.

“I am blown away,” LL told the Washington Post. “This is the biggest musical award you can receive. To be recognized by your country, and to be able to represent hip-hop as an art form is amazing. I’m surprised, grateful, humbled and honored.”

 

My late grandmother passed some wise advice to me: 'If a task is once begun, never leave it ‘til it’s done. Be thy labor great or small, do it well or not at all.' That adage has guided everything I have ever done in my life and I couldn't be more grateful because it has led me here. To be the first rap artist honored by the @KennedyCenter is beyond anything I could have imagined. I dedicate this honor to the hiphop artists who came before me and those who came after me. This simply proves that dreams don't have deadlines. God is great.

A post shared by LLCOOLJ (@llcoolj) on Aug 3, 2017 at 9:22am PDT

The “NCIS” star will receive the honor Dec. 3 in the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. The show will air on CBS December 26th at 9pm EST.

Congrats LL!

Also…

Here's a sneak peek at LL's INSTYLE September 2017 cover alongside Salt-N-Pepa and fashion designer Marc Jacobs. All the 90s feels.

Photo: LL's IG & FB