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Common (rapper)

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Common

Common (formerly Common Sense, born Rashid Lynn on March 13, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois) is a Chicago-based hip hop artist known for lyrics that focus on love and spirituality. His music falls under the 'socially conscious' subgenre of hip hop. Though he has maintained 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 been certified platinum and was nominated in the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album. He is the son of former ABA basketball player Lonnie Lynn.

History

Common debuted in 1992 with the single "Take It EZ" and the LP Can I Borrow a Dollar?. Though popular success was virtually nonexistent, Common established a solid fanbase among alternative rap fans who consider him a socially conscious rapper.

The song "I Used to Love H.E.R." 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 dissed each other back and forth, finally meeting with Minister Farrakhan and setting aside their dispute. Following the popularity of this album, Common Sense was sued by a ska band with the same name, and was forced to change his moniker to simply "Common".

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..

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, 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 rejected Common's eclectic vision.

Common's relationship with the singer Erykah Badu ended in April of 2003. It is not known who his latest girlfriend is.

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 finally pushed him over the platinum sales mark.

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.com, an internet hip-hop website, 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 is scheduled to perform at the 2006 Bonnaroo music and arts festival in Manchester, Tennessee as well as Spring Weekend at Brown University. He has already planned out and begun talking about his 7th LP, which will be tentatively titled Finding Forever. He has stated plans to continue work with Kanye West and a desire to work with Dr. Dre for the album.

Common and J Dilla

With both artists hailing from the Great Lakes region of the United States (Chicago and Detroit), Common and J Dilla hit it off immediately, both being members of the Soulquarians collective, and collaborating on numerous projects and even placing one song (Thelonious) on both the Slum Village album 'Fantastic Vol. 2', and Common's 'Like water for chocolate'. As his health began to decline, Dilla moved to Los Angeles, and asked Common to move in as a roommate. Tragically, J Dilla would lose his battle with Lupus, but his asking of Common to be a flatmate during his darkest hour is testament of a true friendship between the two. As a result, Common is a family friend of the Yancey family, particularly J Dilla's mother, Maureen Yancey.


Common is set to appear alongside Ben Affleck, Jeremy Piven, Don Cheadle and Alicia Keys in the crime flick Smokin' Aces due in the last quarter of 2006.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Year Title Chart Positions Album
US Hot 100 US R&B/Hip-Hop US Rap UK Singles Chart
1992 "Take It E-Z" #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" (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

See also

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