Common (rapper)

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Common

Background information
Birth name Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr.
Also known as Common Sense
Born March 13, 1972 (age 35)
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) 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 moderate commercial success, and his latest album Be, that features nine tracks produced by Kanye West and J Dilla, was nominated in the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album.[1] Recently, Common has begun a burgeoning film career, starting with a role in the action thriller, Smokin' Aces.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Common was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of former ABA basketball player Lonnie Lynn. He was raised by his mother, Mahalia Hines, after his father left when Common was six years old, moving to Denver, Colorado.[2]

[edit] Career

[edit] Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992)

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 attracted to his witty lyrics and unique style.

[edit] Resurrection (1994)

With the 1994 release of Resurrection, Common achieved a much larger degree of critical acclaim, especially among Chicago natives. The album sold relatively well and received a strong positive reaction among alternative and underground hip-hop fans at the time. Resurrection was Common's last album produced almost 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 reggae band with the same name, and was forced to change his moniker to simply "Common".[3]

[edit] One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997)

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.

[edit] Like Water for Chocolate (2000)

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In 2000, his fourth effort saw Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson executive producing and J Dilla producing all tracks but one - the DJ Premier-produced track "The Sixth Sense". Like Water for Chocolate was a great critical success and also something of a commercial breakthrough, earning Common his first Gold record, and greatly expanding his fanbase among critics and listeners alike.

This album saw Common exploring themes (musically and lyrically), which were uncommon for a Hip hop record, as he does on the song "Time Travelin' (A Tribute To Fela)"; a homage to Nigerian music legend, and political activist Fela Kuti. This album also saw the coming together of the Soulquarians - a cross-genre collective of like-minded musicians including Thompson, J Dilla, D'Angelo, James Poyser, Pino Palladino, and Common himself. This group of musicians would also handle the bulk of Common's next album.

The most popular single from the album, "The Light", was nominated for a Grammy Award.

[edit] Electric Circus (2002)

Electric Circus (2002 in music), was a departure from Common's previous releases (and indeed from Hip hop music in general), and featured Common rapping over electric rock music, and electronica-influenced tracks. The album received mixed reviews and did not sell as well as Like Water For Chocolate, with most longtime fans being 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 Badu (his then-girlfriend) for the soundtrack to the movie Brown Sugar. Ironically, his relationship with Badu ended that same year.

[edit] Be (2005)

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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"

[edit] Finding Forever (2007)

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 and Djuan Edgerton. In a recent Newsweek interview, Common stated that the album is tentatively set to be released in June, although no official date has been set.[4] Numerous comments from West indicate that the album's first single will be called "The Glory". West has already predicted that Finding Forever will win the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.[5]

[edit] In The Media

[edit] Commercial Advertising

In 2006, Common was a model for photos of The Gap's fall season collection, appearing on posters in stores. Later that year, he performed in The Gap's "Holiday In Your Hood" themed Peace Love Gap.

[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".[6]

Common is part of the "Knowing Is Beautiful" movement which supports HIV/AIDS awareness.[7]

[edit] Performances

Common will be performing at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, on April 14th, 2007.[8] Common most recently performed at the University of San Francisco's 2007 Homecoming. He had also recently performed at Harry O's in Park City, Utah during the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. He opened for Paul Oakenfold and was joined by Jamie Foxx and Babyface. 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-Madison 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. He recently performed at the Joyce Athletic and Convocation Center at the University of Notre Dame (Fall 2006). Along with Third Eye Blind he headlined 'The Show' which is organized by the Holy Cross Fathers at Notre Dame. Common also performed in his hometown of Chicago at Lollapalooza on August 5. In 2006, he performed with Kanye West on the main stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California.

[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). In 2007, Common appeared alongside Ben Affleck, Jeremy Piven, and Alicia Keys in the crime film Smokin' Aces. 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. On 20 January 2007, one week before the opening of Smokin Aces, he appeared in a Saturday Night Live sketch as himself. The show's host was Piven, his Aces costar.

[edit] Accusations of prejudice

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."[9] 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.[10] Common was accused of making bigoted statements during a concert at Emory University in 2006, when he rapped about his certainty that "damn niggers from Duke lacrosse" had raped a "black princess," a reference to Crystal Gail Mangum, who had accused three white Duke University lacrosse players of rape.[citation needed]

[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.[11] 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 discography.

[edit] Albums

Album cover Album information
Can I Borrow a Dollar?
  • Released: 1992
  • RIAA certification: None
  • USA Sales:
  • 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
  • RIAA certification: None
  • USA Sales: 500,000
  • 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
  • RIAA certification: None
  • 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
  • RIAA certification: Gold[12]
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #16
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #5
  • USA Sales: 700,000
  • Singles: "The 6th Sense"/"Dooinit", "The Light"/"Funky For You" & "Geto Heaven Remix T.S.O.I. (The Sound of Illadelph)"
Electric Circus
  • Released: December 10, 2002
  • RIAA certification: None
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #47
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #9
  • USA Sales: 343,000
  • Singles: "Come Close"/"I Got A Right Ta", "New Wave"
Be
  • Released: May 24, 2005
  • RIAA certification: Gold[12]
  • Billboard 200 chart position: #2
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #1
  • Singles: "The Corner", "Testify" & "Go"/"Chi-City"
Finding Forever
  • Released: June, 2007[13]
  • RIAA certification: —
  • Billboard 200 chart position: —
  • R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: —
  • Singles: "A Dream"

[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" - - #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 Sef)" - #57 #9 - One Day It'll All Make Sense
1999 "1-9-9-9" (featuring Sadat X) - #41 #4 - Soundbombing, Vol. 2
2000 "The 6th Sense" - #87 #14 - Like Water for Chocolate
2000 "The Light" #44 #12 #13 - Like Water for Chocolate
2000 "Geto Heaven Remix T.S.O.I. (The Sound of Illadelph)" - #61 - - Like Water for Chocolate
2002 "Come Close" (featuring Mary J. Blige) #65 #21 #18 - Electric Circus
2002 "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)" (featuring Erykah Badu) #9 #1 - - Brown Sugar Soundtrack
2005 "The Corner" (featuring The Last Poets) - #42 - - Be
2005 "Go!" (featuring Kanye West), "Go! Remix" (featuring Joy Denalane) #79 #31 #21 #79 Be
2005 "Testify" - #44 - - Be
2006 "A Dream" (featuring will.i.am) #85 #49 #77 - Freedom Writers Soundtrack/Finding Forever

[edit] Filmography

Year Film Role
2002 Brown Sugar Himself
2007 Smokin' Aces Sir Ivy
American Gangster TBA

[edit] Wiki audio samples

[edit] See also


[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ "Common Hoping To Get Kanye To Work On His New Album Tentatively Titled 'Finding Forever'". Freshhiphopnews.com. Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  2. ^ Chicago rapper has cure for common hip-hop
  3. ^ Huey, Steve. "Common Biography". allmusic. Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  4. ^ Template:Cite web Common debuted the 1st single for the album, "South Side," on VH1's Super Bowl Pre Bash. The song features Kanye West. Common and Kanye West also made a version called "South Side Super Bowl" about the NFC Champion Chicago Bears.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Hip-hop Artist Common Says, 'Think Before you eat'". Petaworld.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-07.
  7. ^ Hope, Clover (2004-11-15)."Common Encourages HIV Testing". Allhiphop.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  8. ^ "Johns Hopkins University Spring Fair".
  9. ^ Small, Elle J (2005-08-26)."Common Interview". Touch Magazine. Retrieved 2006-12-09.
  10. ^ "Common Gets Thugged Out, Ghost Writing For Diddy Too". Sohh.com. Retrieved 2006-12-07.
  11. ^ "J Dilla’s turn in spotlight comes after his death", MSNBC, August 31, 2006.
  12. ^ a b Gold & Platinum (Database). Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on February 23, 2007.
  13. ^ Ali, Lorraine (December 25, 2006 - January 1, 2007). Music: Common (Magazine, Online article). Newsweek. MSNBC. Retrieved on January 25, 2007.

[edit] External links

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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