VIDEO: Sneak Peek - Grammy Host LL Cool J Visits CBS SUNDAY MORNING, 2/8

Surviving in a tough environment as a child motivated him to seize every opportunity he could, rapper and actor LL COOL J tells Michelle Miller in an interview for CBS SUNDAY MORNING WITH CHARLES OSGOOD to be broadcast Feb. 8 (9:00 AM, ET) on the CBS Television Network. Get a sneak peek below!

The 47-year-old host of Sunday's 57TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS® had a challenging home life and was largely raised by his grandparents in Queens, New York. He laughs looking back at his school years and what he overcame to be a Grammy winner and actor on CBS's NCIS: LOS ANGELES.

"When you're growing up in Queens, and you know, you walk in your math class, and your teacher punches you in the back and calls you a dummy, and then you go to your next class, and the teacher's telling you they're going to read about you in the newspaper as a criminal," LL COOL J tells Miller, "You realize that - and then, when you go outside, and you know, you literally have to fear like, 'Will I be able to keep my sneakers, my jacket, and my clothes when I get to my school?' I mean, when you grow up in that kind of environment, when you get an opportunity, and you make the most of it, it's fun. And it's funny. Because it's not easy, you know."

These days, LL COOL J is a married father of four. He talks with Miller about breaking into music, his first acting job in the film "Krush Groove," hosting the GRAMMY AWARDS and a basketball tournament he has sponsored for more than a decade in his old neighborhood.

"You have kids that grow up in the program and people that grow up doing this," he tells Miller. "That's, like, the most rewarding feeling in the world."

CBS SUNDAY MORNING is broadcast Sundays (9:00-10:30 AM, ET) on the CBS Television Network. Rand Morrison is the executive producer.

Follow CBS Sunday Morning on Twitter and Facebook.

To post a comment, you must register and login.