The Conversation the Culture Needs | LL Cool J & Prince

Following the funeral services for Jaden Pierre in New York, Elliott Carterr sits down with LL Cool J and Prince for a conversation that goes far beyond music, entertainment, or headlines.

This episode centers on the emotional condition of today’s youth — the anger, the trauma, the lack of guidance, and the pain too many communities have learned to normalize. From violence and grief to leadership and accountability, the discussion explores what happens when young people grow up surrounded by pressure, ego, survival, and unresolved hurt.

LL Cool J speaks on the importance of presence, mentorship, and community responsibility, while Prince reflects on emotional discipline, influence, and the role men must play in guiding the next generation before more lives are lost.

This is not a viral moment.

This is a real conversation about pain, healing, leadership, masculinity, and the things society often ignores until another young life is gone.

Topics include:
 • Youth violence and trauma
 • Leadership and accountability
 • Emotional intelligence in young men
 • Social media and conflict culture
 • Mentorship and community impact
 • Grief, healing, and responsibility

Read the full Gutter Report coverage here:
Queens Mourns Jaden Pierre: LL Cool J Closes Service as $140M Project Is Announced

Transcript

Meeting At Jaden’s Funeral

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Alright, all right, Elliot Carter here. I ran into these two gentlemen at young Jaden Pierre's funeral services, and uh I just wanted to have a word with them. I definitely give them a shout out for uh coming out and bringing their presence to the funeral. You know, definitely had a a great impact. LL spoke, Prince being there. But uh let's get into it. I'm

Why Prince Shows Up

SPEAKER_03 0:23

gonna ask these guys some questions. We can start with Prince. Prince, what brought you out to young Jaden's funeral services today?

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Well, I seen it. I saw what happened to him, and I didn't get a chance to go to um support him at the park at the time. So I came out here and I think last week I went to the park actually and um laid some flowers down. Roy Wilkins. Roy Wilkins Park, where the incident happened, and I I had to go there. I grew up around there, I've been there several times. And I had to go to the park where is where he lost his life, and I felt good being there, and I just knowing that I showed my respect to him there, feeling. Absolutely. And now as far as coming to the funeral, I definitely was gonna make that. And so um I had to come out here anyway, you know, you know, I speak to my brother L and um and uh whatnot. So I came out here and um, you know, we decided to go there together. And I feel like you know, I can't be out here and not go, just pay my respect to the family and to his memory and to his life. And by being here, it just I hope that me being here keeps people thinking about his life and his legacy. And his legacy for real.

SPEAKER_03 1:50

Absolutely, absolutely. Okay, moving along.

How Trauma Changes A Community

SPEAKER_03 1:54

L, I think it was uh great you came and you you spoke. You didn't even have a speech prepared, and you still did a phenomenal job. So kudos to you for that. Thank you. My question would be uh the impact, the loss of life that you know, Jaden losing his life. What impact do you think that has on the community here in Queens?

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Well, it has a I think um first of all, I want to send my condolences again to the family and the friends and everyone who will be deeply impacted by this. I think, you know, I think these kinds of situations affect different age groups differently. Definitely. I think um, you know, a lot of young kids, when I was young, I saw some really traumatic things as a young child. And anybody from our community who's experienced or saw, whether it's a friend die or someone gets shot or something crazy in their life, it has a lifelong effect on how you live your life. It changes how you view the world. It it in some ways you feel less safe, in other ways it can make you more aggressive, in other ways it can make you more fearful, it affects how you live your life moving forward. You know, I was telling Prince earlier that for me, it it made me realize that life is in a cartoon and that real things happen. So I know that there are people who are gonna be negatively affected by it. But that being said, though, I would hope that my presence there, getting on, um, going to the podium, speaking to the in the pulpit and speaking to the family and to the people there, hopefully they know that there is possible, there's a possibility there. You know what I'm saying? Like good things are possible. And even though this is a tragic event and we know that life doesn't, as a whole, doesn't end here, but can continue, and brighter days can come for the family and for the community. So, you know, that was really it for me. And you know, Princess, you know, we were talking about linking up, and he called me and told me he was going to the funeral. And I said, you know what, absolutely, I'll go with you. And we just, you know, jumped to the car and straight natural.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

We glad we came. Be glad we came, and and actually, it gives you a sense of humility, you know what I mean, and it makes you reflect back and seeing the family and what they're going through. And um, I don't want to, I don't want to keep seeing families even go through that, to be honest with you. If the senselessness of it. And then you got two lost lives now, you know what I mean? To be honest with you 15, 18, you know, and disillusioned people in addition to that, right? Exactly. You know what I mean? Uh even I think some of the people who stood around didn't do nothing, probably right now, thinking about even their actions. And so being here for me is like I just want to sh to show people how important it is that we don't let our youth just sensitely um throw their life away like that. You feel me? I'm quite sure the family of the other guys thinking that way as well. So my point is that I'm glad I came, I learned something. I got a chance to see that beautiful family and the grief that they was going through. But at the end, it was a beautiful ceremony to send them off. You see what I'm saying? And so he was, he was, they spoke so much about him that I didn't know about, you know what I mean? And so, and think about it, this he struggled, he struggled to come

Turning Loss Into Legacy

SPEAKER_02 5:21

out the womb of his mother. But he came out early. He wanted to come out into life early. Now hard it is that to create life, yeah, you know, it ain't just the people, it's also that God let that happen. Some people can't have babies, man. You know what I'm saying? So he was able to come into this world, you know what I'm saying, early. He came in He came in early, fighting. He came, he was premature, he came in early, fighting, and then he left early. And so it has to be a learning lesson from it. It has to be a reason, and that reason has to be something that you can take and then prevent others from having that same kind of demise in a sense, you feel me? So you keep his name alive that way. They named the park after him, like they said. Community center, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:07

140 million dollar community center is in progress right now. So Donovan Richards said that's in the works.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

So you know what's deep about it when you think about it is that I mean he rests in power. Um his his that situation has us speaking right now, and this will resonate throughout the world. There are people, there are people in Germany watching this and France and Italy and Africa and Nigeria and Russia and just all over the world, people are watching this right now based on his life. You know what I'm saying? So that even that alone shows you how meaningful each and every one of us are. And that's the other thing, too, because we can forget our own personal value. Like you matter, it's not whether you're famous, it's not whether it's how you impact the world and how you live your life. Your value is maximized by how you present and live your life. That's where the value comes from. That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

And you can also, you know, you can you can you can look at me. I came home, I changed my whole life around, you know what I'm saying? And look where I'm at. You know what I'm saying? So you know I had to go to that funeral. I had to, man. For me personally, I wanted to feel I wanted to feel it. I wanted to feel it. I wanted to see, I wanted to see it, and I wanted to experience. I'm glad I did, I'm glad I went, I'm glad Al showed up. Yeah, but he didn't have a prepared speech like everybody else up there. You know what I mean? And neither of you guys had to come.

SPEAKER_03 7:35

Come on up, Al. Neither of you guys had to come, and you still came. So, you know, that shows that you care for your community.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

Yeah, and then let me just say to you, you know, you got people, some people got some people didn't had other engagements, maybe wasn't thinking or didn't know. But but the point is, that's not we're talking about the fact that we was there and it was a good thing, man. It was it was positive, man. I I I love the service. I think they sent them away proper. I think it was beautiful. Definitely. It had essence to it, definitely. It had care and had concern, and everybody in there came and it was crowded, and it was uh a loving memorial to his life, man. Most definitely, you know, but you know, and thank you for even uh you know being here. Now you do know that I'm gonna put this up on my channel first. Yeah, that's that's I don't even know that.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

It's not a loss, you still got access to it. Yeah, that's true, that's true.

Real Ways To Reduce Teen Violence

SPEAKER_03 8:29

Last question the the violence in New York has spiked, especially teen violence, the youth. It's uh it's an atrocity. What do you think as leaders of this community we could do to combat this violence?

SPEAKER_00 8:48

You know, we gotta set examples. We gotta set examples and just show them how to be men. And um, you know, teach them that being a man isn't only about displaying dominance. You know, a lot of times when kids are at a certain age, they want to display dominance in order to prove their manhood. Now, understanding that it really is kind of like a situation where you can, if you learn the proper things and if you're educated the right way, and if you get enlightened and informed the right way, you can actually display your dominance in a positive way that actually is gonna lead to more success ultimately. So, you know, but there's a lot of factors involved, right? Because, you know, we're in a community where if you're perceived as weak, you're gonna get picked on. There's certain little things that come with the territory that make it tough. And that's where emotional intelligence comes in. So, you know, for our for our for our young men, we gotta figure out how to instill and help cultivate that emotional intelligence in them where they can learn how to have manners, engage like men, shake hands, be respectful, uh, help old lady cross the street, and still not be a sucker when the guy just somebody's just slapping you in the back of your head. You don't have to be all those things. You can defend your honor without poking your chest out. You know what I'm saying? Because a true man does that, but you do it the right way. So I think what you're really seeing is a lot of kids that just are begging to be taught how to be men. They just don't know how. You know, they you know, because a lot of us were victims of our community for different reasons. We get incarcerated, we get shipped off, things happen, some of us uh are in the ground. And so how do I there's no one to show them how to be a man. I mean, the only version of a man that I see is someone who's acting in a certain with a certain level of aggression, but that's not the only rep. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 10:53

That's my my take on it. I'm gonna add on to it because I agree with everything he just said. But I want to say

Parenting, Respect, And Leadership

SPEAKER_02 11:00

there was a time back in the days, we feared um not in a scary way, but we feared our parents, our mothers, our fathers. Yeah, I know what you mean. Now, now mind you, you know, I I went to the street. You know what I'm saying? But even I feared my mother and father. That's why I couldn't do something in the house, things in the house had to go to the street. But the point is nowadays I don't think they fear their parents, right? And I think that because they don't fear their parents, they don't fear nobody else. And so, and another and another thing I'm gonna add on to that is that we can't let the kids think that they are the most important people in the family. The most important people in the family is the mother and the father, right? So we the ones like you take care of your mother, your kids, and stuff, you're raising them. I'm talking about for people who are out there that have a mother or a father or both living under their roof, you know, you have to know that, you know, you have to have the utmost respect to revere your your parents. Because they really ain't gonna tell you nothing wrong. But it comes to the point that we we be thinking that as they growing up, we don't let them understand that that you know the parents are the most important people. Not even not the people in the street and not the uh not you and as a as a child in the family. Of course, you you're getting taken care of, you're getting raised, you get you're getting food in your mouth, you got shelter, you get whatever. Even in a poorest household, you're getting taken care of for the most part. So, you know, the kids can't walk around like like they like you know, like they scare their parents sometimes. You got parents that are scared of their own kids. You got people in the community, right, who are scared of kids now in the neighborhood. You see? And so that shit, that's that has to change, man. You know what I'm saying? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:06

And I agree, I think that changes through leadership. I think that's the thing, right? Like ultimately, you know, if my kids are out of pocket, I have to look in the mirror. I agree. I have to. There's no way for me, there's no way around that. As uncomfortable as that might make me, if my kids, if they're doing something out of pocket, I gotta look in the mirror. That's right. Because it's leadership. Right. If you're you know, like there you go. So, so leadership. So, but now to to give some to be some empathy to the situation, some parents are young, some parents never learn leadership. So now we gotta, we gotta learn. True. We gotta, we gotta, we gotta dig in. That's true. We gotta recognize, you gotta recognize your weakness and then strengthen it. You gotta know. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 13:54

Like, you're dead right. You know what I mean? He's right. Because even me, I gotta

Staying Present Even While Incarcerated

SPEAKER_02 13:58

tell you, wait, I I was away for 34 years and six months. My daughter's eight when I left. She was 41 when I came home.

SPEAKER_03 14:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

So, but guess what? We wrote continuously. My mother and my sister made sure that she came up, and her mother, I constantly stayed on her about everything. I wanted to know her school grade, I got every every every uh report card. I couldn't go to her graduation. I wanted to know everything about I only got one daughter. But I made sure, I told her, I said, don't look for a father in a man. You got a father, he's just locked up. So when you pick a man, you pick a man because he loves you, he cares about you, and he's doing the right thing. Because I ain't want her to mess with nobody that was in prison. Yeah. That's ever been in prison. And no, she said to me, Dad, you got people who ain't been in prison just as bad as people who out here. I can mess with a guy who ain't never been in prison. He can be just as bad as you. You might have just got away with a lot of things. Exactly. But she listened to me and she's doing good. She's a pre-op nurse, she's excellent, she got a beautiful husband. I got grandkids, you feel me? And so, you know, you have to be involved in their lives, man. Especially the boys, man. Yeah, absolutely. The boys, man. You could because there are factors in society that's waiting for kids to make mistakes.

Fishnet Theory And The Lion Lesson

SPEAKER_02 15:18

You ever heard of fishnet theory? If you want to catch a a um uh a shrimp, right? The hole gotta be a certain certain size, right? If you want to catch bass, that's a sort of form of fish, it has to be a certain size. If you want to catch lobs, it's a certain size. Anything that don't fit what you're trying to catch will slip through, but everything else gets caught. Well, that's what's going on with the black males, too. We just want some of y'all. We don't need all y'all because some of y'all, that's wiping away a whole another generation of people.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Yeah, I mean, you know, that's really interesting because I it just made an analogy pop in my head. It makes it real simple. Just you think about the lions in Africa. Now, imagine taking away 60, 70% of the male lions. Yeah. Wow. That's big.

SPEAKER_02 16:07

I didn't even I didn't even think of it like that.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Nah, yeah, that is the take away the male lions. Take away the male lions, take away the majority of the male lions. What happens? There you go. Yeah. Hyenas running wild, it gets bucked wild real fast.

SPEAKER_03 16:21

The whole jungle go crazy. There you go. You change the dynamics of the jungle, the power structure, everything.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

There you go. So, us as as mature lions with kids, with grandkids, with children that, you know what I'm saying? We gotta say, look, this is what we need, this is what it, you know what I'm saying? This is what it is.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Yeah, make kids you got, man. I'm like you, I got one daughter. Yeah, see how she's doing, good. She's doing amazing. Yeah, man. I talk to her every day, hours. Yes, that's right. I would be a good role model, man. I don't play about my daughter. That's my my everything, my world. You know what I'm saying? And I I'm like you, I got one daughter, I don't even want no more because I'm one and done.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

So, yeah, understood.

Gratitude And Closing Thoughts

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Well, thanks for having us, man.

SPEAKER_03 17:11

I I appreciate you guys' time. I appreciate the the impact you guys have on your community, and you guys just caring and showing up. So I commend you guys for that. Thank you, and thank you for the interview. And you guys have a wonderful day. You too, huh?