Latest Release
- SEPT 5, 2024
- 1 Song
- The College Dropout · 2004
- Man on the Moon: The End of Day (Deluxe) · 2009
- Like Water For Chocolate · 2000
- Late Registration · 2005
- Be · 2005
- Resurrection · 1994
- Brown Sugar (Music from the Motion Picture) · 2002
- The Auditorium, Vol. 1 · 2024
- Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star · 1998
Essential Albums
- Intimate yet expansive in its depiction of his Windy City, Be is Common’s return to his street-poet roots after the quirky Electric Circus. There’s a starkly real yet ultimately positive worldview throughout, because Common brings as much thoughtfulness to a track about gangbanging (“The Corner”) as he does the gorgeous self-love anthem “It’s Your World.” It’s the equivalent of listening to riveting stories from your pops . . . but over a soulful, scratchy beat.
- 2024
- 2024
- 2024
- 2024
- 2023
Artist Playlists
- The Chicago MC has helped lead the conscious rap movement for over two decades.
- The Chicago rapper’s clips reflect his decades as a hip-hop sage.
- The thoughtful MC's diet of conscious soul and righteous hip-hop.
- Sophisticated flows, sharp politics, and bright orchestration.
- Clyde Cyrus, soho & GHOSTOF9
More To Hear
- The legends discuss teaming up for The Auditorium, Vol. 1.
- The MC and producer duo on “Dreamin’.”
- Common and Questlove discuss their creative processes.
- The artist and chef share their message of nourishment.
- The artist and chef share their message of nourishment.
About Common
Common earned his stripes in the 1990s and 2000s as one of the foremost voices of conscious rap, and he rose to become even more. The Chicago native surfaced in the early '90s, working with producer No I.D. and putting their city on the map with 1994's Resurrection, which featured “I Used to Love H.E.R.,” a song that famously personified hip-hop and lamented its commercialized violence. Over the following two decades, he continued to use his lyrics to comment on Black sociopolitical issues—whether alongside production from sampling wizard J Dilla on Like Water For Chocolate (2000), fellow Chicagoan Kanye West on Be (2005) as a signee to West's GOOD Music label, or jazz luminaries Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins for Black America Again (2016). With an Emmy, a Grammy, and an Oscar on his mantle, he’s only a Tony Award away from coveted EGOT status, and he’s become one of hip-hop’s most trusted ambassadors, using his platform with purpose and conviction.
- HOMETOWN
- Chicago, IL, United States
- BORN
- March 13, 1972
- GENRE
- Hip-Hop/Rap