SAN FRANCISCO — LL Cool J brought out some of the best of old school hip-hop for his F.O.R.C.E. tour stop at Chase Center on Friday. The headliner topped a bill that included Ice T, the East Bay’s E-40, Doug E Fresh, Slick Rick, Salt-N-Pepa and Rakim—all backed by The Roots, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Stro Elliot manning the sampler.

As headliner, LL Cool J didn’t disappoint. The braggadocios rapper performed two separate sets and brought his confident persona to his performance, easily occupying the stage and rapping his hits. Emerging through a cloud of fog as sirens blared and red and blue lights flashed, he started with “I’m Bad,” from 1987’s Bigger and Deffer. He stalked the stage, stopping every so often to gesticulate to the lyrics, focusing his full energy and attention on the crowd. The Roots’ Black Thought put in double-duty as hype man, backing up LL’s rapping and adding lyrical punches, showing off his extensive knowledge of LL’s lyrics and discography.

LL paused long enough to ask The Roots to “break it down” right before the beat dropped for the synth intro to “Doin It,” from 1995’s Mr. Smith. As fans screamed, he danced with tuba player Damon “Tuba Gooding Jr.” Bryson and guitarist “Captain” Kirk Douglas. Plumes of smoke shot up from  the stage, accentuating key points in the chorus.

Next, LL went into “4, 3, 2, 1,” from 1997’s Phenomenon. Black Thought replaced the lines originally rapped by Method Man, Redman, DMX and Canibus. Quickly moving on, LL Cool J went into his verse from Craig Mack’s “Flava In Ya Ear” remix before getting to his own remix of “The Boomin’ System,” from 1990 album Mama Said Knock You Out. 

Up next was, “Big Ole Butt,” from 1989’s Walking with a Panther, mixed with the funky bass line from Dennis Edwards’ 1984 hit,”Don’t Look Any Further.” The first of his two sets was fast-paced and full of energy, packed full of many of his uptempo hits. “Luv U Better,” “Around the Way Girl,” “Headsprung” and “Jingling Baby” came in quick succession. A trumpeter came out to play the intro to “Going Back to Cali,” from 1987’s Less Than Zero.

Next, LL brought out E-40.

“This is the Bay Area, right?” he asked as the intro to the East Bay rapper’s “Captain Save a Hoe” came on. E-40 followed up with “Sprinkle Me” and his verse on Big Sean’s “IDFWU,” before departing the stage.

The Roots kept the stage warm. Throughout the night, they were situated on a platform wrapped in screens that scrolled through the names of notable rap acts in celebration of hip-hop’s 50th year. The lighting highlighed DJ Jazzy Jeff, Stro and drummer Questlove, allowing the audience to see how the music was made—an equally important aspects of hip-hop culture.

The band performed for a few minutes before Ice T arrived.

“This is that player shit, we took this from the movie ‘Superfly.’ Curtis Mayfield…” the 65-year-old stated as he went into “I’m Your Pusher,” from 1988’s Power.

Ice T also addressed his past beef with LL Cool J.

“We came to peace because it’s all about the culture,” he said. “You battle, you talk your shit and you get back to business.”

He went on to educate the crowd on how he popularized the word “OG” to hip-hop: “I’m your old uncle that talks a lot of shit,” he said as a lead-in to “O.G. Original Gangster,” the title track to his 1991 album.

He rounded out his set with soundtrack tunes like “New Jack Hustlers” (from “New Jack City”) and “Colors” from the movie of the same name. He spit some bars a cappella before departing the stage.

The Roots, who kicked off the night and performed a couple of short sets, opened with Black Thought taking center stage and the ensemble rocked the stage with the likes of “What They Do,” from 1996’s Illadelph Halflife and “The Next Movement,” from 1999’s Things Fall Apart.

Rakim hit the stage next and performed with the same gusto and stamina he had in his youth, starting with “Microphone Fiend.” Black Thought again played the role of hype man, deftly rhyming alongside Rakim, word for word. He went on to perform crowd pleasers like “I Ain’t No Joke” and “Move the Crowd” before capping off his set with “Paid in Full.”

Doug E. Fresh kicked off with “The Show,” showing off his beatboxing skills and bringing the crowd into the show through call and response and on-command hand waving. Following “Let Me Clear My Throat,” he went into a beatboxing solo before bringing out Slick Rick for “La Di Da.” The latter was backed by two female dancers, and he performed popular songs “Mona Lisa” and “Children’s Story” to close out the set.

Salt-N-Pepa were joined by two male dancers. With such a long lineup, their set wasn’t a long one, but it was entertaining, starting with “I’ll Take Your Man,” from 1986 album Hot, Cool & Vicious. Next up was “Get Up” and “Shake Your Thang,” from 1988’s A Salt with a Deadly Pepa.

“We’ve been doing this for 38 years,” said Salt (Cheryl Renee James).

The pair had not missed a beat, dancing and rapping confidently. They continued with “Expression,” “Whatta Man” and “Let’s Talk About Sex,” concluding with the hit that put them on the map, “Push It.”

DJ Z-Trip ran through a quick set of old-school break beats before bringing LL Cool J back out to cap off the show with a final set, featuring his slower jams like “Hey Lover” and “I Need Love.”

Follow Mel Bowman at Twitter.com/melmichel and Instagram.com/coco_michel_coco. Follow photographer Matt Pang at Twitter.com/mattpangs.