LL Cool J freestyle @ After Midnight in Philly (1985)

Say what you will about crossover TV/ Movie star/ Mr. Hey Lover, LL Cool J. Just don't forget to mention that the man was a rap beast in the days of real rap... Energy for days! Originally recorded live from After Midnight in Philly. This is from Lady B's Street Beat radio show circa 1985 on Power 99 FM. "...On Sunday afternoons from one to five/ She's the lady with the juice that's kickin it live...Street Beat Lady B". 'Nuff Respect!
P.S. This post isn't about the video content and this is my first time ever opening/ using imovie... so please save any comments on my cheesy picture edit loop - I'll learn in time. Enjoy.

[@TheOnyxad]

That night was classic. I was in da house! Blue and White Puma Sweatsuit, Blue and White Puma Clydes, White Gold Neostyles and Blue Kangol.

[@ayo30s]

Very Nice, 👍🏾👊🏾✌🏾🇳🇬🇺🇸

[@jamesartemus5016]

Yo I was there. I sold quarts of bear out of my car outside. I was 17 and That's b4 40s

[@cathey2146]

Hey I was there too do you remember any of the ppl that went to the after midnight? What part of philly you from

[@frankanomiks]

Damn I wish I coulda be there I wasn’t even born yet But it was such an amazing time to be alive

[@kaoticsapreme4091]

#qgtm 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@LoveScooby]

LL is the greatest rapper to ever walk on the face of the Earth period.

[@bu1b14]

I was standing right in front of him when he freestyled this jawn at the After Midnight... He asked me my name right after he asked for water... Power 99 edited it out though. Real talk!

[@modxmike7608]

Clarence Carter he destroyed that! I was there too!

[@Queenalika85]

Clarence Carter did you know a guy name zackary who ran the club

[@bu1b14]

@@Queenalika85 Yes! I knew everybody at the club... Met the owner, he lived downtown in one of those high rises...

[@jayreal1971]

Stop playing lol

[@jamesartemus5016]

I use to sell beer outside.

[@bottomirv38st]

I was there at the after midnight 13th and Cherry Street Philadelphia When LL performed this... LEGENDARY!!

[@DjDavito1987]

1985 he was 16!!!! NO 16 YR OLD KID EVER RHYMED LIKE THIS OR WROTE THEY OWN SHIT!!!!

[@Tornado1994]

IN '85, Will Smith was a young philly DJ. He too was only 16.

[@DjDavito1987]

***** RAKIM'S first single didn't come out till 1986, you fucking know it all! In 1985 nobody was fucking with LL COOL J on the mic!!!!!!! You're not from new york so your hick ass has no idea. RAKIM WAS A DJ in 1985 and was doing high school shit. I know because I was there. "ASS WIPE" I havent heard that word since 1985.

[@rodney1b]

+ashtonjackfanny you sound like a hater for real.

[@gabrielsfist1060]

+ashtonjackfanny Yes Rakim is the greatest mc of all time! No doubt about it. The R.

[@pooliansshots6731]

People insulting eachother over rappers from 1985. SMH

[@kereemdavis7576]

One of the G.O.A.T.s, he changed the game! Before him, it was all about RUN-DMC.....facts

[@coolb8545]

Then came Rakim

[@gheewhiz]

fun fact: he was signed to def jam before run dmc 😉

[@gheewhiz]

​@@coolb8545then came nas

[@grapejordan]

They played this on the radio the next day after his performance. people were calling the station wanting to hear it like it was a brand new song. It is a philly classic...thanks for posting...i had it on cassette and it got lost....Thanks again. LL Cool J....The G.O.A.T!!!!

[@djlightfighter]

absolutely a philly classic

[@mrbeatz718]

Daammmnnn! He was killin that! And it was live! He was ahead of his time at that point. Wow!

[@averyt6521]

still ahead of his time

[@kudabeen]

Wow rhyming with an actual vocabulary and not filling a lame verse with a bunch of slang, ad libs and grunts....who knew that could actually work in Rap?

[@Queenalika85]

My uncle ran this club after midnight rest in peace uncle zack

[@rlpologear]

I remember when they used to play this on the Radio..LL went on to record "Rock the bells (original version), Im bad, & You'll rock with lyrics from this performance. After midnight & Philly stand up!!

[@tonyphilly2867]

Thought I was the only one that picked that up especially the original rock the bells part

[@HRDK-SKLETRMUMMR-MEGTRN]

"LL COOL J iz HARD AS HELL!!!!"🔥🎤😈👑

[@nuffsd]

Freestyling at its finest!!!!!!!!!

[@jbwarnock4758]

I was there that night. I wish you all could hear the entire concert. LL was very interactive with the crowd. After Midnight was the second rap venue but the first was Wagners Ballroom in Logan. This was an awesome concert

[@Nate01_]

LL was Hip Hop's FIRST superstar rapper

[@Silkk121382]

..."because I'm lookin' for a battle seeking out all rookies forget oreo eat Cool J cookies"

[@kereemdavis7576]

Silkk121382 one of the greatest lines in hip-hop history.

[@DavidR-ub2dp]

Ll said the oreo cookie line before the bigger and deffer album

[@MrPhillyrick1]

I was there that night! my life! its fucking great!!!

[@donaldgreen8638]

I was 14yrs old when I first heard L.L. free style and I knew after hearing this he was going to be famous ✊🏾😎

[@walibashir102]

Never forget that night. L came thru dropping this in the dj booth. I'm outside the booth with the homey Earl drinking a 40. He came back & performed Rock The Bells the next year on his birthday. Those were the days my homey Big Phil on the door with the big homey Lamont. Then you had a little movie theater in there. We saw Purple Rain there before it came out.

[@andrebethea2772]

OMG!!! I've been looking for this freestyle by LL for years. Thank you KZbin.

[@carlhil2]

I wish people who don't know listens to LL's 80's sh*t to realize this Cat was a lyrical beast and also wrote for your favorite rapper back in the day...

[@cheifrocka60eb]

Best club in Philly history!!! JBM, movie theater, all the fine women....

[@jghschell]

This was THE best thing I heard in 1986!

[@shawnejernigan9923]

Philly willllllll never 4get this...LL is legendary 🏆💯

[@averyt6521]

still a beast. cats not listening. I am.

[@IENetworkTV]

me too

[@thomasbisignani1049]

LL Cool J was only 17 years old in '85

[@jamesartemus5016]

I was there I was with him from the bus station. Yo it was his 16th birthday that day.

[@99alfailiwaqain51]

@@jamesartemus5016 Peace God; wow how much did he have memorized that evening?

[@DavidR-ub2dp]

You can tell LL was on his zenith living legend 👍👍👍👍👍💥💥💥💥

[@LuvsNeoSoul302]

Oh dam! it's official you can find anything on utube! This was a classic and I thought I would never hear it again!! Thanks for posting!!

[@nuffsd]

Thank you for posting this historic nostalgia. Hip-Hop allegedly started in the Boogie Down Bronx, but everybody that was somebody had to come thru Philly, and when L came thru it was over, I don't think no one blaze the stage of 13th and Cherry like that. Literally, he shut it down lol, they moved Springarden St years to come, it was called the After Midnight 2.

[@guysimmons4305]

nuffsd hiphop did start in the South Bronx about 10 to 12 years bf 1985 when LL did this performance. Only the more mainstream rappers like LL ended up bringing the art out of NY but not until probably starting in 1979. NY had a whole underground scene going back years bf the first rap record was even thought of. Im not from NYC im from Long Island so im not being biased. Even living in Long Island if you called yourself trying to rap or dress hip hop they would say "you tryin to be New York" and LI is in NY. Lol

[@DJSkipmode]

They had to come to Philly if they wanted to get on the radio. NY didn’t have any rap radio shows at this time I don’t think. Big respect to Lady B / Street Beat!

[@corp9655]

Best freestyle ever til this day..True!

[@omnidimensional]

He was EPIC! with multi-syllable words!

[@benjamindavid6089]

I remember Lady B playing this on street beat. Incredible!!!

[@gheewhiz]

really? I thought it was beat street 🤔

[@traceysommerville4804]

LL...I STILL KNOW A LOT OF THE LYRICS 2 THIS...USED 2 ROCK NON STOP...TILL MY TAPE POPPED!!!

[@marionfranklin5559]

uncle L is the future of the funk !!! his contribution was major to the game . i remember waiting on the release of i'm bad at the record store with my boys and studying the album cover from front to back . we were like some little hip hop critics lol bar for bar .

[@andrebethea2772]

This brings back so many memories. A Philly Classic. LL killed it! We were young bulls. This freestyle will be forgotten.

[@grellimichael]

he was only 16!!!!!! Lady B and the GOAT it gets no better

[@jungledoctor1202]

Respect the pioneers. Put some respect on his name. In this era, you had to have skills or you got punched in the face. Lol!! LL is a classic Hip Hop artist.

[@melundank1039]

genius.....no 16 yr old to this day ever touched todd

[@zaire718]

wooo!!! LL showed his raw talent here. Much respect to the G.O.A.T.

[@4mydamnself89]

G.O.A.T

[@PrAnG2000]

01:09 ~ "From Hollis Queens, from the Boulvard. Like a pharaoh with a chariot, except I have a car."

[@RoeLuv1]

popped my tape listening to this too much back in the day. By the way, this is the Real After Midnight. the one on 13th & Cherry ST. not the one that moved to Spring Garden

[@Queenalika85]

Intl_Roe my uncle ran that club

[@DiversityTalent]

Wow . . . . Been a long time since I heard this. I think I still have the original files. LL d id 3 songs that night. First time he was in Philly and I was his DJ. . . .Spoke to LL about years later and we had a good laugh. . . Brian "Double D" Dennis

[@MrBoswel1]

Lucky to everyone who was there philly was the big hot bed for rap

[@aaroncarter8272]

The Q3a that he mentions at the end of this freestyle is a queens city bus that ran through Jamaica ave through farmers Blvd where L grew up. There was also the Q2 which did the Hollis route Run DMC, Ja Rule. The Q3 did Murdock blvd. Q4 which ran the linden Blvd route Tribe called Quest. Q5 route Merrick Blvd into Laurelton. Southeast Queens stand up, our rap history is rich and legendary.

[@richardmccormick859]

Young, hungry, and rhyming animal back then 🎤🎤🎛

[@thenighttrain2689]

Jazzy Jeff on Questlove Supreme brought me here.

[@NJPUNISHER10]

STR8 BEAST🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@JOESPILLZ]

Thank you! That brought me back to being 8 yrs. Old rockin LL shit in my walkman! He went in!!! #Philly

[@marcstarling787]

Smile...memories....you ain't party if you wasn't at the After Midnight... 13th & Cherry Sts... Real Hip Hop...Raw...very good times...Salute!!!!!!!

[@RuaTheRapoet]

Excellent T La Rock-style... you can see his own style peeking out already too (La Rock would never say something like "eat Cool J cookies"). Real Hip-Hop.

[@Silkk121382]

..."turn yo girl into a Cool J groupie"

[@t.breeze8659]

This is back before the definition of freestyle changed. Freestyle didn’t mean off the dome until the early 90s.

[@hottrakz]

the part of north Philadelphia where I'm from it always meant off the Dome, I'm 50 maybe we had it wrong but that's what we always believed

[@desmondfelix]

Monster. I wish he would just forget the swag R'n'B. One of the greats

[@desmondfelix]

Good because he has always ripped up the mic!

[@MrPinoyboy68]

This freestyle was outright sick!!!

[@goldenmodem8722]

Back when hip hop fashion was worth wearing

[@KontryBoy706]

Daaaaammmmnnnn Eat Em Up L Chill!!!!

[@jankomango]

epic 2019 , i still hear it

[@davidhopson729]

Man!!! I was THERE!!! Mad respect for Cool J. Real freestyle!!!!!

[@TollFree999]

His vocabulary range was crazy!

[@TravelingTal]

I was there that night! After Midnight baby Cherry Street!

[@travislee9727]

Bring back memory the winter of 85

[@joshuaerickson1969]

LL Cool J took over over rap in mid 80s and schooled his Rivals

[@hancockteeshirtcollections9897]

You give me some water!!!! lol

[@mishun1]

@grapejordan I remember that shit...Lady B played it the next day. That's when After Midnight was on Cherry st.

[@marvinwhitaker3800]

It was a good time in hip hop I remember they freestyle had it on cassette back in the day although I wish I had went that night to after midnight🎤🎶

[@MrKidwave]

BRINGS BACK SO MANY MEMORIES.....WHEN HIPHOP WAS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERED

[@user-ee7qg6hj5d]

The best ever

[@rong805]

My personal favorite MC of all time!

[@DJFRANKNICE34]

I REMEMBER THIS WHEN THEY FIRST PLAYED THIS. I USE TO HAVE THIS ON CASSETE TAPE!!!

[@UnapologeticallyEboni]

Yall should see my face right now! #Classic

[@Pirate7X]

Lady B on WHAT 1340 & Mimi on 105.3 WDAS, yeah! Classic yu are so right, folks requested this like the new Tuff Crew 'My Part Of Town'.

[@troylewi]

Yes! I remember, the best era

[@bu1b14]

I was standing right in front of LL when did this at the After Midnight... He asked me my name right after finished.

[@bobafett317]

LL is a pioneer in this game. NY where it all started, Peace yall.

[@jeremiahwoods7077]

In Philly killing it

[@rockturbo-hg2un]

Most of the young rappers in the streets of philly used LL flow tell me I'm lying... then big daddy kane

[@hassanburton669]

HOT DANG!!!!!!!!!🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@MIXPRO68]

WOOOOO WEEE-A YOUNG LL WAS GOING CRAZY ON THE MIC.LL MEANS LASTING AND LEGENDARY.

[@SJMoscol]

if the mona lisas name was theresa, id get a piece a , the mona lisa

[@davidharris1982]

Uncle L. A Complete Beast On The M.I.C !

[@nuffsd]

Maaaan you went into the archives for this shit. This is why I tell these new school cats don't get it fucked up, although Uncle L is on t.v. doing his thing, he is the G.O.A.T.

[@Shammago]

Wow...imagine if this version of LL battled Canibus.

[@MrSuperken1]

Hooooo lawd!

[@user-oq8ur8eq6e]

Would’ve loved to have seen that!

[@Pirate7X]

Ha Brother Dennis, much respect! Yeah he did "I Want You" & something else...

[@gheewhiz]

🐐

[@Machiventa]

FUCKING SICK!!

[@curiouslymavismade]

One of the greatest rappers to ever do it.

[@NYNEDollaSign]

Envious of everybody who was there that night to witness this piece of history

[@forensicaccountant259]

I knew I'd get through all the comments without seeing a mention of the MCNEIL LEHRER line. 🤣

[@alstan631]

@grapejordan I had this on cassette as well. I went to Vincennes in Indiana and I had a friend from Philly that let me dub this. I let someone borrow the tape and never got it back.

[@neilcasualsanthony895]

Well dope and fly WORD 😎

[@terrenceliburd8655]

Moe D, Special K, and TlaRock, influence this style of intelligent, high vocabulary, extreme braggadocio form of Emceeing. But this this dude was teenage kid doin this!

[@esseen100]

Great story!

[@DJFRANKNICE34]

YO!!!! GIVE ME SOME WATER!!!!!

[@coryjones8022]

🐐, nuff said

[@robertprice2193]

Aunt nothing like that radio

[@Mizvision]

@phillylistens So did i back in 86' my bulls came to my crib to hear it!! lol

[@sirgrant7168]

that was a deadly LL at that time.....I heard him get more crazy than that...I wish I can get it!!!!!!

[@99alfailiwaqain51]

Peace! Do you have a tape? WBLS?

[@sirgrant7168]

NOPE!

[@99alfailiwaqain51]

@@sirgrant7168Peace! What did u hear before King? A better freestyle? Unreleased joints? I’m definitely interested I used to work for Eric B…

[@averyt6521]

I got ll He is best Most versatile

[@superkato17]

I got this on tape....and now MP3!!!!

[@LesismoreAdventures]

🔥🔥🔥