common

Common Opens Music Program In Correctional Center, Nas Teaches Masterclass

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Common

Rapper Common is making sure his love for Chicago, Illinois is felt. The rapper has opened a music program complete with a new recording studio for inmates at the Stateville Correctional Center. Common Gives To Chicago Chicago native Common has opened a music studio within the Stateville Correctional Center complete with mixing boards, musical instruments, […]

Common, Black Thought, And Seun Kuti Catch A Groove To A Warm Rhythm In Their Video For ‘When We Move’

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Towards the end of last year, Common dropped A Beautiful Revolution, Pt. 1, which sported nine songs and guest appearances from Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz, PJ, and more. Less than a year later, the rapper returned with A Beautiful Revolution, Pt. 2, with 11 songs and features from Brittany Howard, PJ, Marcus King, and more. Now he returns with a new video for “When We Move.”

It finds Common, as well as Black Thought and Seun Kuti, both who appear on the song, on a dance floor, dancing the night away as the groovy track plays in the background. “I’m a just give black power its flowers / Whether in the projects or in the palace,” Common raps as images of pivotal moments in Black history play. “Even when the pale horse tried to gallop / And stir it up, stir it up we kept the balance.”

The new video comes after he, Black Thought, and Seun Kuti performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He also shared a video for “Imagine,” which captured his optimistic vision for the future.

You can watch Common’s video for “When We Move” above.

A Beautiful Revolution, Pt. 2 is out now via Loma Vista Recordings. Get it here.

Common And Black Thought Debut ‘When We Move’ With A Vibrant ‘The Tonight Show’ Performance

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In 2020, Common released his first-ever EP, A Beautiful Revolution, Pt. 1, a jazzy return to his hip-hop roots featuring appearances from Black Thought, Chuck D, Lenny Kravitz, PJ, and Stevie Wonder. Led by the Black Thought-featuring single “Say Peace,” the project found Common once again dwelling on weighty themes and socially conscious messages over Afrocentric production styles. Today, Common returned to the well with Black Thought to release “When We Move,” the first single from the second installment of his A Beautiful Revolution series, which is set to drop on September 10 via Loma Vista.

Also last night, Common dropped by The Tonight Show to debut the track live just as he’d done with “Say Peace,” giving an energetic performance alongside The Roots and longtime friend and collaborator Black Thought and Nigerian Afrobeat artist Seun Kuti, the youngest son of Fela Kuti. As usual, the two MCs brought complex, thoughtful rhymes to the bouncy production while the band channeled the energy of the Afrobeat legend.

A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2 will continue in the same vein of collaboration for the veteran rapper with features from Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, PJ, who will once again be all over the tracklist, and Marcus King, among others. He said in a statement:

“A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2 was created with hope and inspiration in mind. The spirit of the album was meant to emulate what a greater day would sound and feel like. We were in the midst of some tough political and socially challenging times. There was still hurt, anger and pain lingering, so I was thinking, ‘What is the next step in this revolution?’

I wanted to write about that and create music that embodied that. How could this music be an example of the beautiful aspects of revolution that include joy, self-love, compassion, dreams, peace and good times? As a piece of art, I believe we took it to different places musically only to come back to the original intention. To bring joy to people’s hearts, fun to their lives and smiles to their souls.”

Watch Common and Black Thought’s vibrant performance above.

Common Says He Wishes Kanye West Produced A Third Album For Him

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Before he received his break as a rapper, Kanye West made a name for himself in the early 2000s as a producer, crafting tracks for Jay-Z that included “Izzo (H.O.V.A.),” “Takeover,: and “’03 Bonnie And Clyde” as well as other records by Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Beanie Siegel, and more. Kanye broke through as a rapper with his 2004 debut, College Dropout, and since then he hasn’t looked back. Despite this, he continued to produce for rappers like Common who recruited Kanye to heavily produce his 2005 and 2007 albums Be and Finding Forever.

During a recent interview with Andrew Barber for an episode of the Coda Collection’s “Story to Tell,” Common expressed his desire to work with Kanye for another album. “If there’s anything that I sometimes wish is I wished I would have did a third one with Kanye,” he said. “I will say that. It’s very rare that I’d be like, ‘Man, I should’ve did this or wish I did this.’ Because everything happens in this divine time. But I would’ve loved to have done a third album with ’Ye just … And maybe that’ll happen at some other point.”

During the interview, Common also revealed that he intended to work with Kanye for his 2008 album Universal Mind Control. Unfortunately, Kanye was unavailable to collaborate on the project because he was on tour at the time. In addition to that, Common also wanted to change his sound at the time which led to him working with The Neptunes for the 2008 effort.

You can listen to Common speak about a third album produced by Kanye in the video above.