LOS ANGELES (AP) — LL Cool J has snagged wins, co-hosted and performed atop the MTV Video Music Awards stage. Now, the Grammy-winning rapper-actor-author is going solo to host the 2025 awards ceremony.

He's retaking the stage, this time without Nicki Minaj and Jack Harlow, with whom he co-hosted in 2022, the VMAs announced Thursday.

He's also up for the best hip hop award for his single “Murdergram Deux” featuring Eminem. The single is part of his most recent album, “THE FORCE,” which released in September and was his first album in 11 years.

LL Cool J is a longtime champion of the VMAs, having won his first Moon Person in 1991. He became the first rapper to receive the Video Vanguard Award, in 1997. He also performed in an all-star tribute to hip-hop's 50th anniversary in 2023 and a ce

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