As we close out Minority Health Month, I chatted with the legendary rapper LL Cool J and his wife, Simone I. Smith, about how important it is to take control of our health in the Black community, what they did to instill healthy habits in their own family, Simone’s journey as a 20-year cancer survivor, and what it means to LL COOL J to celebrate four decades in hip hop this year.
As a 20-year cancer survivor, Simone has a unique lens on health and prevention; this was true for her even before her cancer diagnosis. “I’ve always been in tune with my body. Staying up-to-date with my doctor’s appointments was very important. You gotta go to the GYN and to the medical doctor. You have to get your annual blood test,” she explained.
“And I’ve done that with my children, too. So with my cancer journey, they watched me. It’s about taking care of yourself, paying attention to your body. Nobody knows your body the way you know your body, right?” Simone continued. “We always talked to our children about health, going to the gym, eating well, taking vitamins, and supplements. So that plays a big role in our house.”
LL COOL J added that he has always been into exercise and fitness, and his children have seen him in the gym all their lives. “Since day one, they’ve been watching me in the gym,” he said. “They all work out and believe in the power of being physically fit.”
He also explained that he was first motivated to work out 40 years ago by guys in the neighborhood who would go away for a long time and come back bulked up. He noticed how they had created a positive outcome from a negative situation.
The then up-and-coming rapper took that as a cue.”I can be fit. But I don’t have to go away or get into trouble to get in the best shape I can be,” LL COOL J said. “Taking care of your body, early detection, and awareness are the keys. You are the architect of your own fortune.”
LL COOL J and Simone I. Smith have partnered with Pfizer to promote using the American Cancer Society Cancer 360 assessment tool, which will help us understand our cancer risk factors. Check it out at PfizerforAll.com.
The couple agreed that the partnership felt like a natural alignment because of Simone’s previous cancer diagnosis and the program’s emphasis on early diagnosis. “You know, she got a bump on her leg and then paid attention to it and went and got detected early,” he said. “So, it was a natural connection between what Pfizer was doing with PfizerforAll and what we went through in our journey.”
Simone agreed and talked about how this partnership aligned with the work she is already doing with her successful jewelry line, Simone I Smith Jewelry. “I create pieces to uplift and empower, and it is important to give people hope and faith, so a lot of my designs inspire that,” she noted. “Maybe a year into launching my brand, I gave a portion of the proceeds to the American Cancer Society; it was something I wanted to do as a 20-year cancer survivor.”
“Especially because science is everything. The more you give, the more they can research, and the more they can find cures for all these different cancer forms,” Simone continued.
“So partnering for this campaign came very naturally. Because it is all about early detection, it’s all about getting your scans. Early detection is what saved my life. I could have been somebody who didn’t pay it any mind, but early detection absolutely saves lives.”
It is no small feat for LL COOL J to reach four decades in hip hop. We have seen so many legends leave us before their time. With Rock the Bells, he can create a legacy with intentionality. “Rock the Bells is about the preservation, the elevation, and innovation of hip hop culture. And so, you know, for me, you have to do something bigger than you in life. You have to think two, three, four hundred years from now, 1000 years from now,” he said. “And you want to do something that’s gonna maximize your potential on earth, and set the world up to be a better place than when you came.”
LL COOL J said he could have focused his energy on his career so that it was solely financially rewarding, but it would not have been spiritually rewarding for him.
“So, I started Rock the Bells so some of the people who helped lay the foundation for me, who helped pave the way for me, could have access to the type of insights, creativity, and energy I put into my projects. That’s why I have the channel on Sirius XM, Rock the Bells Radio, that’s why we have the Festival, and collaborations with Simone I. Smith,” he continued. “That’s why I do all the things, give the early pioneers and icons jobs, embrace younger artists and introduce them to audiences that may not know them, mashing those generations together, which to me is super important.”
Although he spends much of his time acting these days, music is still a driving force in LL COOL J’s heart and mind. “Music isn’t a cure, but boy, life would be miserable without music and hip hop,” he said. “There is something spiritually rewarding on a deep level in hip hop culture in the music, and the people, and what it does for us as human beings.”
Go to Pfizerall.com to check out the American Cancer Society 360 assessment tool.
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