LL Cool J on "NCIS," hip-hop and "Lip Sync Battle"

Over his 30-year career, LL Cool J has expanded his reach from the recording studio to movies and television. For the past six seasons of the CBS drama "NCIS: Los Angeles," he's played the role of special agent Sam Hanna and has said it's a role anyone would want to play.

"He's a character that believes in protecting his family, he believes in protecting his country, his way of life, he's loyal, he has integrity, he puts his life on the line every day, to persevere and protect the freedoms of the innocent," LL Cool J said Monday on "CBS This Morning." "And there are people like him all around the world and especially in America there are members of the military and also different law enforcement agencies who put their lives on the line every day to make the world a better place."

His character, a former Navy Seal, is part of a team of agents who go undercover to bring down their targets. LL Cool J said he had "one-on-one training" with a Master Gunnery Sergeant to prepare for the roll.

"Well I'll tell you one thing, it takes more than big muscles to do that job. It takes a lot of brain power, it takes a lot of intestinal fortitude, it takes a lot of will-power," LL Cool J said. "I went down Camp Pendleton and met with some of the Special Ops guys, some of the sailors and Marines and took a tour of the base and saw them doing exercises and stuff like that."

Off screen, LL Cool J may be best known as the two-time Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist who first stepped onto the scene in the 1980s. At 16, he signed a deal with Def Jam Recordings.

In 1990, the Queens, New York, native released his fourth album "Mama Said Knock You Out," earning him his first Grammy Award. Since then, he's sold more than 13 million albums worldwide.

LL Cool J said if it wasn't for hip-hop culture he wouldn't be doing what he's doing.

"Hip-hop is just another way of expressing yourself, right? It is a lifestyle and it is a culture, but the rap aspects of it are just a way of expressing yourself," he said. "Coming from the inner city, necessity is the mother of invention and creativity is found in dire circumstances, I think, stimulate a lot of creativity, so it's not surprising hip-hop grew out of all of this turmoil."

LL Cool J is also the host and a producer of the new celebrity competition series, "Lip Sync Battle," on Spike TV. It was created by Jimmy Fallon, John Krasinski and Stephen Merchant as a spinoff of the "Tonight Show" skit of the same name.

One popular episode featuring Anne Hathaway's rendition of "Wrecking Ball" has over 14 million views on YouTube.

"I never knew that the show was going to have the success that it's having. I'm very, very grateful and happy that happened," LL Cool J said.