LL Cool J Has a Surprising Response to Olympic Breakdancing

LL Cool J had a time watching the breakdancing portion of the 2024 Olympic Games. The rapper and actor visited D-Stroy’s SiriusXM show “CTRL, ALT, D-Stroy,” where he broke down the love and pride he felt watching the breakdancing competition this year.

“I did feel like I was part of it, whenever I see the boombox radio, obviously,” LL said to Entertainment Weekly. “It personifies that, so it’s like, when I see that, I always think about my music and my contribution to hip-hop. So it was amazing man. I’m so happy about hip-hop culture.”

While the 2024 Olympics marked the first time breakdancing was included in the worldwide event, it will reportedly not return to the games when they come to Los Angeles in 2028 — which LL thinks is a shame.

“I hope that they reconsider bringing back breaking for the 2028 games,” he said. “I do know that the breakers will be even better in the 2028 games. There were a lot of great ones out there, don’t get me wrong, but I think that it will only get better and stronger.”

“You just have to give it some time, and I feel good about it, man,” he added. “I love this culture. I love hip-hop, man. I love it.”

As The Root previously reported, the breakdancing portion of the competition captured hearts and minds this year, specifically the infamous performance from Rachael “Raygun” Gunn. The Australian Olympian received all zeroes from the judges (yes, zeroes) when competing this year, becoming a viral moment no one had anticipated.

While many in Australia insisted that Raygun was “the best” the country had to offer, the performance led to a larger conversation about a Black art form being made a mockery of on the Olympic stage and how she even was able to compete at that level in the first place.