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Breaking Uncommon Ground
12/27/2002 7:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Billy Johnson Jr
For most successful rappers, image--not personal growth--dictates the direction of their career: They don't smile, rap about love, or dance, even if they're happily married with children in real life. But that's not the case for Chicago-bred Common (formerly Common Sense). Hip-hop's status quo doesn't regulate Common's music--his life experiences readjust his artistic barometer, as evidenced in his evolution from misogynist, street-smart rapper to socially conscious freshman to self-assured, thirtysomething MC capable of tackling the issue of accepting a gay friend (a dreaded b-boy taboo).
To commemorate the release of his eccentric fifth album, Electric Circus, here Common shares his philosophies on moving to hip-hop's NYC epicenter, parenting, switching record labels, and the media's tendency to overlook rap's rebels. This is what one of hip-hop's most respected voices had to say:
LAUNCH: First off, did you move to New York?
COMMON: Yeah. I moved to New York, Brooklyn. It's still Chicago, you know--I'm always about Chicago, rapping it forever--but I needed to make that move to New York for business purposes. And the energy is lovely too. It's a good thing.
LAUNCH: One thing that I think is really dope about you is that you've been accepted in this New York community, someone from another place, which in hip-hop is a major accomplishment. How do you feel about that being embraced like that?
COMMON: Well, of course, you know, to have New York appreciate my music is an honor, because they created hip-hop--that's the origin of it. And like you said, it's hard to break the barrier of getting New York people to really get into your music. Because it's the capital of music, it's good to break that barrier. They've been appreciating me for a little while because my music is...some people say it's East Coast-oriented. I feel that it's universal, but you know, if you think about traditional hip-hop, that is East Coast origin. That is the style music that I put out. So it feels good to be accepted. But it's hard, too, because Chicago people are like, "Why you move to New York? Why you move to New York?" It's like, I didn't leave, y'all, it's just that a brother got to progress and get to a certain level so I can bring things back to the crib and help y'all out and be a channel for y'all. Business was getting stuck at one point, we couldn't elevate past this one point because we weren't at the center of hip-hop, man. You got to be either in New York or L.A. to be around the mix, you know?
LAUNCH: That's a good point. Was this something that you were thinking about for a long time? Was it a hard decision to move?
COMMON: Honestly, at first, I used to be like, "No, I ain't leaving Chicago!" I used to have that mentality, and with the artists that did leave their cities, I used to think, "Why they doing that?" But then what really happened is I was really ready to leave Relativity, making phone calls wasn't working--you know, you got to be up in these people's faces, like, "Look, I'm ready to get off this label. I'm ready to do this." And then when I went out there, I started hooking up with a lot of artists that I wanted to work with, just bumping into people that wanted me to do like soundtracks and stuff. It was kind of the theory of you out of sight, you out of mind, in a way. Just because I was around and the accessibility...for me to be with ?uestlove from the Roots and D'Angelo, I wouldn't have been able to do that being in Chicago, you know? So it's been a big benefit. So I made a big decision; it was a gradual decision, it was a progression for me to get to that point where I felt like I'm not dissing the crib 'cause I'm moving to New York. But it's a elevation for me and my career.
LAUNCH: Speaking of elevation: The progression of your records, up till now, is probably the most realistic evolution of an MC that I've ever seen. Some people start off when they're a teenager, and then when they're 30 years old they're still making the same type of records because they want to stay in touch with their core fanbase or whatever. But I've seen a lot of growth from you, and you rap about some really personal stuff. Is that difficult for you, to get that loose?
COMMON: Well, I think I evolve as an artist as I evolve as a person, because my music is an extension of me. And sometimes a lot of it is personal. When I get to a certain point in life, I let be known in my music and I express it. I don't let nobody contain me in this one category: Oh, you do this kind of music. You're only this." No! I'm ever-changing. I'm moving wherever I want to move. Can't nobody really stop me. I'm progressing. If it's any category I would want to fit in, it's "progressive," and that ain't really no label 'cause I go where I want to go. And a lot of that growth comes about, I think, just from me experiencing things in life, whether it may be something serious or even going to see movies, or hanging around certain people seeing different parts of the world, or reading different books, talking to different people, just listening to music. All that will digest, and hopefully I will be able to like release it within the music or within the albums. And I don't just sit around and it's like, "Aw, I've got to come out with the album right now because this is the time!" I feel everything's got its time and I know when I'm at the point where I'm going to be out, 'cause I know that once I feel good about the music and I've reached a certain point, that's when my era is done. So the evolution comes through my growth as a person.
LAUNCH: Would you say that the transition between your debut, Can I Borrow A Dollar?, and its follow-up, Resurrection, was probably your most important or biggest transition?
COMMON: Definitely Resurrection was one big step, because I was still a little kid with Can I Borrow A Dollar? and some of those songs was like, songs from my demo tape and they were kind of old or whatever. And also, I wasn't familiar with too much music at that point. So when I got to Resurrection, I was starting to get into a little jazz, starting to open up to different things like the Last Poets. So that was one big step. And then after Resurrection, One Day It'll All Make Sense all made sense, like it was my step into manhood in a way, like, "I got to be responsible--I'm a young man now. I'm 23, 24. I got to pay lights. I got to pay the house note or whatever. I'm about to have a child." It's like that step into becoming a man. I mean, I'm still learning, of course. But that was a step into saying, "Yo, I'm a grown man now, ain't no turning back or depending on Moms for anything." But Like Water For Chocolate was a big step, too, because that move to New York and switching labels and working with new producers was also a big step. I equate that step to the step from Can I Borrow A Dollar? to Resurrection.
LAUNCH:Could you talk about one artist, whether it be Last Poets or someone else, that was really influential on the way you think about making music?
COMMON: One artist that influenced me a lot? In hip-hop, it would be A Tribe Called Quest. They influenced me a whole lot, because they were progressive with their music they was--they was changing and evolving as artists, and it was just coming from a different angle, coming from a different place, which was dope. And I felt that jazz. Like I said, I started getting into the jazz, and Tribe are one of the groups that influenced that. So A Tribe Called Quest would definitely be one of the biggest influences. And then from there, Stevie Wonder, Last Poets, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and sometimes I be listening to Massive Attack. I started opening my brain up to more music, you know?
LAUNCH: That's really interesting, because people might expect that you only listen to hip-hop music.
COMMON: Yeah, I used to have that mentality, like, "Man, I don't like that [non-hip-hop] stuff!" You know, I'd kind of block it. But as I grew older and a little wiser and experienced different cultures, it opened my mind to everything. Whatever I like, I'm going to digest it and enjoy it. You can't shut down one, sound or whatever area or nothing, no style of music--you can't do that. At this point now I'm going try to find different stuff everywhere, like the Buena Vista Social Club or just off-scale music.
LAUNCH: Earlier, you mentioned your transition between labels. Was it your choice or Relativity's choice for you to leave?
COMMON: It was my choice. It was like, "Man, I got to get off this plantation!" It wasn't working out; I wasn't happy making records no more. Because it's like being on a team where you know they don't know your style of play, so they ain't giving you the amount of playing time. They ain't putting you in the right situations. So I was discouraged, man. That's why my last Relativity album [One Day It'll All Make Sense]was like real solemn and a little dark--'cause it was like, down. It was depressing just even knowing that--it's like, they were asking for me certain things as an artist that I ain't even into. Whoever was the new cat out, it was like, "Yo, you should make a record like such-and-such!" And basically them telling me, "Look, we ain't going to promote you unless you give us this." It was a long process, but I broke for freedom, baby.
LAUNCH: I always feel for artists like yourself who are not always trying to be status quo, recording stuff just to get something out. A lot of times it seems that that's what sells the most records, and that's what record companies want to promote. And now you've stepped up to a bigger label, MCA. But your records are still not commercial records full of radio songs. Do you feel like it's a catch-22, being the kind of artist that you are and having a major-label record deal?
COMMON: Well, I think that we got a harder struggle, as artists, trying to do something different that ain't bringing like the mainstream sound. It's like, record labels to magazines to radio stations to video stations, a lot of them don't want to try new things too much. I mean, the majority as a whole don't want to try new things. So when they hear something new, and you come up with a whole new flavor, it's like, "Aw, man!" It's almost like they don't think for themselves to a certain point--like some of the labels and some of the magazines and stuff. They don't think for themselves. Is it like, "We going to give them something new; we appreciate this, so we going to put it in our magazine first or put this on the cover first"? No. Instead it's, "We got to continuously keep putting the same things out, 'cause we know this is making money." I understand it's a business, but at the end of the day, when you think of longevity and careers, it's about quality too, along with the money. It's like you got to break a certain point and then you start recognizing. I mean, if you look at the Roots, they broke to a certain point. And D'Angelo crossed that certain barrier with his own style of music.
LAUNCH: Those artists have a lot of real soul, and I definitely feel like your records are really soulful.
COMMON: Yeah, to me, soul music is the everlasting, the key. Soul music cross color barriers, it cross cultures, it just crosses a lot of things--so if you make soul music, you ain't going to lose. Eventually as long as it's in you, and you making it from your heart, then it's going to come out right. I mean, there are millions of people that love Stevie Wonder. It's just natural. He's making that soul stuff that people can dig, you know?
LAUNCH: Another question: You have a daughter; how has being a parent affected you, your music, and your career?
COMMON: Well, it's a blessing--that's a life that I'm living for also. I'm not only living for myself, but I'm living for her now too. So of course it's an inspiration. It also made me more responsible. Like I said, One Day It'll All Make Sense ; I was feeling real serious about parenthood. And I still take it serious, but that don't mean just because you become a parent, you stop. You ain't got to just be stiff, like, "Oh, I'm a daddy--yo, I can't do this, I can't do that." You still got to live your life and make yourself happy too. So at this point in my fatherhood, I'm at a good stage where I enjoy her a lot and enjoy my life, and I just live and learn. I'm growing as a father and I just use her as an inspiration, and also it helps me to be a child too, because playing with her sometimes, I be feeling like I'm on her level, like I'm a little child, you know? That's how it is.
LAUNCH: I understand you're interested in helping and inspiring other children, like starting community centers and stuff like that.
COMMON: Yeah. For now, we got this foundation we started called On Common Ground. It's a nonprofit organization and we basically trying to raise money to help out--first of all, just to get enough money so we can buy computers for kids and put them in some of the schools. We want to be able to take kids on different trips, so they can go into different parts of the world and experience different cultures to open their minds up. 'Cause a lot of the shorties just be stuck in the neighborhoods. We are setting it up so we can get like some little, baseball leagues and a cheerleading league, different little events for the children to do in their spare time. And also we're raising money for political prisoners too. So that's what Common Ground is about. I go out sometimes and do little speaking engagements or lectures or whatever at colleges and high schools and some elementary schools. So we're trying to touch the people in any way we can. Honestly, the more power I get as far as the artists, the more resources I got. But even with me where I am now in my career, I can still do something--anybody can, really. It's up to you. You can just talk to a shorty and help them out, you know?
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