Common (rapper)

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Common

Background information
Birth name Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr.
Also known as Common Sense
Born March 13, 1972
Origin Chicago, Illinois
Genre(s) Hip hop (conscious/alternative)
Occupation(s) Rapper/emcee
Years active 1992–present
Label(s) Relativity, MCA, G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen
Associated
acts		 Soulquarians
Website common-music.com

Common (formerly Common Sense, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. on March 13, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois) is a Chicago-based hip hop artist known for lyrics that focus on love and spirituality. Though he maintains a significant underground following, in recent years he has gained notable mainstream success. His major-label debut Like Water for Chocolate received critical acclaim and some commercial success, and his latest album Be, which features nine tracks produced by Kanye West, has sold 800,000 copies and was nominated in the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album.[1] Common is the son of former ABA basketball player Lonnie Lynn.

Contents

[edit] Biography

After dropping out of Florida A&M University and being featured in the Unsigned Hype column of The Source magazine, Common debuted in 1992 with the single "Take It EZ" and the LP Can I Borrow a Dollar? under the name Common Sense. Though popular success was virtually nonexistent, he established a solid fanbase among underground rap fans who considered him a socially conscious rapper.

With the 1994 release of Resurrection, Common achieved a much larger degree of critical acclaim, especially among Chicago natives. The album sold well and received a strong positive reaction among alternative and underground hip-hop fans at the time. Resurrection was Common's last album produced entirely by his long-time production partner, No I.D..

The song "I Used to Love H.E.R." from Resurrection sparked a feud with West Coast rapper Ice Cube. The lyrics of the song criticized the path hip-hop music was taking, including the popularity of West Coast G-Funk rap. Ice Cube and Common insulted each other back and forth, finally meeting with Louis Farrakhan and setting aside their dispute. Following the popularity of this album, Common Sense was sued by a Los Angeles-based ska band with the same name, and was forced to change his moniker to simply "Common".[2]

In 1997, Common released One Day It'll All Make Sense, which included collaborations with artists like Lauryn Hill, Q-Tip, Canibus, and Black Thought. The album, which made a point of eschewing any gangsterism in response to questions about his musical integrity, was critically acclaimed and led to a major label contract with MCA Records.

In 2000, his fourth effort saw ?uestlove executive producing and J Dilla producing all tracks but one, the DJ Premier-produced track "The Sixth Sense", one of the most popular songs on the album. Like Water for Chocolate was something of a breakthrough success, greatly expanding his fanbase among critics and listeners alike and earning Common his first gold record. The most popular single from the album, "The Light", was nominated for a Grammy Award.

His next album, Electric Circus (2002 in music), featured a break from the norm, and had Common rapping over electric rock music and electronica-influenced tracks. The album received mixed reviews and did not sell as well as the previous record had, as most fans were turned off by the album's experimentation.

Common won his first Grammy with Erykah Badu in 2003 for "Love of My life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)", a song he performed with then-girlfriend Badu for the soundtrack to the movie Brown Sugar. Ironically, his relationship with Badu ended that same year.

His latest album, Be, was released in May 2005 on the G.O.O.D. Music label, with most of the production handled by Kanye West, a fellow native of Chicago and longtime fan. Two of the tracks were produced by J Dilla, but it was Kanye's newly iconic status that greatly boosted the album's popularity, silenced critics claiming that Common's career was over, and earned him the second gold record of his career, with sales topping out at around 800,000.

Hip-hop magazines hailed Be as one of the best albums to come out in a long time. The Source magazine gave it a near perfect 4.5 mic rating, XXL magazine gave it their highest rating of "XXL", and AllHipHop gave the album 5 stars. The album was also nominated for four Grammy Awards in 2006, including:

  • Best Rap Album, "Be"
  • Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, "The Corner" (featuring The Last Poets)
  • Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, "They Say" (featuring Kanye West & John Legend)
  • Best Rap Song, "Testify"

Common has begun work on his seventh LP, which will be titled Finding Forever. He plans to continue work with Kanye West and wants to work with Dr. Dre. Numerous comments from West indicate that the album will be released in late September (though no official date has been set as of yet), and that the first single will be called "The Glory". West has predicted that Finding Forever will win the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.[3]

In 2006, Common was a model for photos of The Gap's fall season collection, appearing on posters in stores. He also performs in The Gap's Christmas themed Peace Love Gap television spots.

[edit] Activism

Common is a supporter of animal rights and PETA. He recently appeared in a print advertisement for PETA titled "Think Before You Eat".[4]

Common is part of the "Knowing Is Beautiful" movement which supports HIV/AIDS awareness.[5]

[edit] Performances

Common performed at the 2006 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. He performed at Spring Weekend at Brown University as well as 40 Acres Fest at University of Texas, the University of Maryland, College Park, the University of Wisconsin for their "All Campus Party", the George Washington University for FallFest 2006, and at RutgersFest at Rutgers University in Spring 2006, putting on shows displaying his many skills in hip-hop culture, from rapping to drumming to break-dancing. Moreover, his shows often involve serenading a woman on stage.

Common also performed in his hometown of Chicago at Lollapalooza on August 5.

[edit] Acting career

In 2003, Common appeared on the popular American UPN sitcom Girlfriends. In the episode "Take This Poem and Call Me In The Morning", he appeared as Omar, a slam poet who competes with fellow poet Sivad (played by Saul Williams) for the affection of Lynn Searcy (played by Persia White).

Common is also set to appear alongside Ben Affleck, Jeremy Piven, Don Cheadle, and Alicia Keys in the crime film Smokin' Aces due spring 2007. He makes his big screen debut as villainous Mob enforcer Sir Ivy. He will also appear alongside Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, The RZA and T.I. in the 2007 crime thriller American Gangster.

[edit] Accusations of racism

Following the release of Be in 2005, several mixed-race artists from the UK hip-hop scene took exception to Common's controversial comments about interracial relationships. The situation started out with an article from UK's Touch magazine, in which he stated "When you see dreadlocked dudes with white girls that’s like they going against what the dreadlock’s purpose was."[6] Seeing a personal insult in the remarks, Yungun, Doc Brown and Rising Son recorded a track over an instrumental version of "The Corner" named "Dear Common (The Corner Dub)". Common states that he has heard of the track but never actually taken the time to listen to it, and has not retaliated in song.[7]

[edit] Common and J Dilla

With both artists hailing from the Great Lakes region of the United States (Chicago and Detroit, respectively), Common and J Dilla hit it off immediately. Both were members of the Soulquarians collective, and collaborated on numerous projects together, even placing one song, Thelonious, on both the Slum Village album Fantastic, Vol. 2, and Common's Like Water for Chocolate.

As Dilla's health began to decline from the effects of Lupus Nephritis, he relocated to Los Angeles for treatment, and asked Common to make the move with him as a roommate[8]. Dilla would lose his battle with the rare disease. But his asking of Common to move in with him during his darkest hour is testament of a friendship between the two that transcended rap music, or the music industry. As a result, Common is a friend of the Yancey Family, particularly with J Dilla's mother, Maureen Yancey.

[edit] Discography

For full details including singles and chart positions, please see Common (rapper) discography.

[edit] Albums

Album cover Album information
Can I Borrow a Dollar?
  • Released: 1992
  • Billboard 200 chart position: -
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #70
  • Singles: "Take It EZ", "Breaker 1/9" & "Soul By The Pound"
Resurrection
  • Released: October 25, 1994
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #179
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: -
  • Singles: "I Used To Love H.E.R./Communism" & "Resurrection/Chapter 13"
One Day It'll All Make Sense
  • Released: September 30, 1997
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #62
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #12
  • Singles: "Retrospect For Life", "Reminding Me (Of Sef)/1'2 Many..."
Like Water for Chocolate
  • Released: March 28, 2000
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #16
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #5
  • Singles: "The 6th Sense"/"Dooinit", "The Light/Funky For You" & "Geto Heaven"
Electric Circus
  • Released: December 10, 2002
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #47
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #9
  • Singles: "Come Close/I Got A Right Ta", "New Wave"
Be
  • Released: May 24, 2005
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #2
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #1
  • Singles: "The Corner", "Testify" & "Go/Chi-City"
Finding Forever
  • Released: March, 2007
  • Billboard 200 chart position: -
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: -
  • Singles: -

[edit] Singles

Year Title Chart Positions Album
US Hot 100 US R&B/Hip-Hop US Rap UK Singles Chart
1992 "Take It EZ" #5 - Can I Borrow a Dollar?
1992 "Breaker 1/9" platinum #10 - Can I Borrow a Dollar?
1993 "Soul by the Pound" #7 - Can I Borrow a Dollar?
1994 "I Used to Love H.E.R." #91 #31 - Resurrection
1995 "Resurrection" #88 #22 - Resurrection
1997 "Reminding Me (Of Self)" (featuring Chantay Savage) #57 #9 - One Day It'll All Make Sense
1999 "1-9-9-9" (feat. Sadat X & Talib Kweli) #41 #4 - Soundbombing, Vol. 2
2000 "The Light" #44 #12 #13 - Like Water for Chocolate
2000 "The Sixth Sense" #87 #14 - Like Water for Chocolate
2000 "Geto Heaven, Pt. 2" #61 - Like Water for Chocolate
2002 "Come Close" (feat. Mary J. Blige) #65 #21 #18 - Electric Circus
2005 "The Corner" (feat. The Last Poets) - #42 - - Be
2005 "Go!" (feat. John Mayer & Kanye West #79 #31 #21 #79 Be
2005 "Testify" - #44 - - Be
2006 "I Have a Dream" - - - - Freedom Writers Soundtrack

[edit] Other Tracks

  • Erykah Badu & Common - The Light (Remix)
  • Erykah Badu & Common - Love of my Life
  • Kanye West - Get Em High (Feat Talib Kweli And Common)
  • Mary J Blige - Dance for Me (feat. Common)
  • Bilal - Reminisce (feat. Common & Mos Def)
  • Kanye West, Common, JV, and Malik Yusef - Wouldn't you like to Ride
  • Armand van Helden feat. Common - Full Moon
  • Brand Nubian - Maybe One Day (Feat. Common)
  • Femi Kuti - Missing Link (feat. Common)
  • Syleena Johnson - Bulls-Eye (Suddenly) Ft. Common
  • De La Soul - Bitch in Yoo (feat. Common) (Live At Tramps NYC 1996)
  • De La Soul - Biznes (feat. Common) (Live At Tramps NYC 1996)
  • Last Poets, Dead Prez & Common - Panthers
  • The Food (w/ Kanye West) (Studio Version)
  • Real People (Studio Version)
  • Faith Evans – Again (Remix) feat. Common & Ghostface Killah
  • Kanye West - My Way Home (Feat. Common)
  • Fort Minor - Back Home (feat. Common and Styles Of Beyond)
  • Jamie Joxxx - U Still Got It (Interlude) (Feat. Common)
  • Kanye West - We Can Make It Better (Feat. Talib Kweli, Rhymefest, Q-Tip and Common)
  • Kanye West - Back To The Basics (Feat. Common)
  • Common - The Movement
  • Floetry - Superstar feat. Common
  • Car Horn (Madlib Remix)
  • Ghetto Heaven [Remix] (feat. Macy Gray)
  • No Competition
  • Faithful (Live Sessions@AOL)
  • GO! (Live Sessions@AOL)
  • Testify (Live Sessions@AOL)
  • The League Freestyle 2003 (Mick Boogie remix)
  • Hip-Hop 101 (LIVE in Concert)
  • Act Too (LIVE on MTV)
  • 6th Sense (LIVE in Germany)
  • Come Close Part 3 feat. Phife Dawg (Mick Boogie remix)
  • So Cool
  • Jay Dee - E=MC² (feat. Common)
  • Jay Dee - So Far So Good (feat. Common & D'Angelo)
  • Common Feat. Erykah Badu - The Light (Dave Chappelle's Block Party)
  • Hi-Tek - Music For Life (Ft. J Dilla, Nas, Common, Busta Rhymes & Marsha Of Floetry)
  • Busta Rhymes - Midwest Shit feat. Twista & Common
  • Common - I Have A Dream (Produced by will.i.am)
  • T.I. - Goodlife (ft. Pharrell & Common)
  • Common - Holiday in Your Hood (Gap 2006 TV Commercial)
  • Omar - Gimme SUM (Vocal Version) [Feat. Common, Rodney P, Cantibe & Ashman]
  • Omar - Gimme SUM (RAP Version) [Feat. Common, Rodney P, Cantibe & Ashman]
  • Mya - Real Compared to What

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


Common
Albums
Can I Borrow a Dollar? | Resurrection | One Day It'll All Make Sense | Like Water for Chocolate | Electric Circus | Be | Finding Forever
Singles
Take It EZ | Breaker 1/9 | Soul By The Pound | I Used to Love H.E.R. | Resurrection | The Bitch In Yoo | Never Give Up | Reminding Me (Of Sef) | One-Nine-Nine-Nine | Car Horn | The 6th Sense | The Light | Geto Heaven Remix T.S.O.I. (The Sound of Illadelph) | Come Close | The Corner | Go! | Testify


Soulquarians
Groups
Black Star | Reflection Eternal | Slum Village | The Roots
Members
?uestlove | Bilal | Common | D'Angelo | Erykah Badu | J Dilla | James Poyser | Mos Def | Q-Tip | Talib Kweli
Albums
1st Born Second | Amplified | Be | Baduizm | Black on Both Sides | Black Star | Brown Sugar | Can I Borrow a Dollar? | Champion Sound | Donuts | Eardrum | Electric Circus | Fantastic, Vol. 1 | Fantastic, Vol. 2 | Finding Forever | Funky Cousins (Demo) | Game Theory | Heartache | James River | Jay Love Japan | Kamaal the Abstract | Like Water for Chocolate | Live | Live at the Jazz Cafe | Mama's Gun | One Day It'll All Make Sense | Open | Quality | Relive The Moment | Resurrection | Ruff Draft | The Beautiful Struggle | The New Danger | The Shining | The Shining Instrumentals | Train of Thought | Tru3 Magic | Voodoo | Welcome 2 Detroit | Worldwide Underground


[edit] References

  1. ^ "Common Hoping To Get Kanye To Work On His New Album Tentatively Titled 'Finding Forever'". Freshhiphopnews.com. Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  2. ^ Huey, Steve. "Common Biography". allmusic. Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  3. ^ Reid, Shaheem (2006-04-19). "Kanye Says He Won't Do 'Fast-Food' Music — 'M:i:III' Track Took 50 Hours". MTV News. Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  4. ^ "Hip-hop Artist Common Says, 'Think Before you eat'". Petaworld.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-07.
  5. ^ Hope, Clover (2004-11-15)."Common Encourages HIV Testing". Allhiphop.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  6. ^ Small, Elle J (2005-08-26)."Common Interview". Touch Magazine. Retrieved 2006-12-09.
  7. ^ "Common Gets Thugged Out, Ghost Writing For Diddy Too". Sohh.com. Retrieved 2006-12-07.
  8. ^ "J Dilla’s turn in spotlight comes after his death", MSNBC, August 31, 2006.


Persondata
NAME Lynn, Lonnie Rashid, Jr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Common, Common Sense
SHORT DESCRIPTION African-American rapper from Chicago, Illinois
DATE OF BIRTH March 13, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago, Illinois
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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