LL Cool J is celebrating after learning two man have been indicted for the murder of his friend Jam Master Jay.
The Run-DMC star was killed in 2002 and now New York police officials are convinced they have the men responsible.
"I'm just so happy that they got indicted on that," LL tells Rolling Stone, "and I'm just glad that they're one step closer to a conviction. It was an absolute tragedy. Jay will always be forever respected by me."
The arrests have brought back happy and sad memories for the rap pioneer, who toured with Run-DMC in his teens.
"I can't even remember the first time I met Jay," he adds. "He was definitely already in Run-DMC, but we're from the same neighbourhood. Every time I met him, he was just the coolest dude in the world. He just had a great smile, a great personality, a great energy. It always seemed to be really clear that he knew what he was doing. He was a very smart guy.
"He was a lot of fun, and he just brought an air of security to everyone around him. Like, he was very confident. He was so cool."
Jam Master Jay was at his studio in Queens when two men shot him. Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan, Jr., have been accused of the murder over a drug deal gone bad. They have pleaded not guilty, but bandmate Darryl 'DMC' McDaniels is confident the cops are near to closing the case.
"It's been a difficult 18 years not having him (Jam Master Jay) around while knowing that his murderers were not yet indicted for this heinous crime," DMC said in a statement. "I commend NYPD, NYC Detectives, Federal Agents and all the law enforcement who were involved in this case, for not giving up and working to bring justice for Jay."
LL Cool J echoes that, adding: "It (Jay's death) is one of the things that makes me have thoughts that I don't want to talk about in interviews. So I'm just glad that what happened with the indictment happened now, and I'll leave it there. I'll take 18 years over no years; 18 is better than nothing."
