EVOLUTION, REVOLUTION – THE COMMON SOLUTION

By Marin Randall
Photos of Luis Cruz
AL #47 June 2000

His eyes are almond-shaped, dark brown. His expression is thoughtful but serene, even placid. He always seems to be brooding about something, or observing but without looking at anything in particular, simply absorbing.

It is about 2:30 p.m. and time for the photo shoot. It is a gloomy day, definitely gloomy. The leaden sky hangs over us and the air is made damp and heavy by the rain. The ground is muddy from melting ice, but the sun is shining high. Common quietly glances across a deserted Central Park, hands stuck in pockets to hold up his pants to keep them from getting wet. One hand is now a fist, while the other reaches out toward the lens, Common expresses himself with his hands when it comes to the photos. Whether under a tree or on a bridge, his confidence shines through those dark eyes. Quietly posing and taking different positions without fail, he is simply himself, intriguing. A modest personality that infuses you with warmth, he has none of the arrogance that usually accompanies celebrity or the need to uphold a certain image. He is enough on his own. Common, like a true gentleman, offers his hand to help me up an icy path or across a busy intersection. Today he wears a pair of khaki pants and a T-shirt with a black-and-white photo of Fred Hampton, Black Panther and member of the Chicago Seven. Around his neck he wears a modest amulet made of amber and silver, very beautiful and vaguely resembling a teardrop; the thing that catches you off guard about this object is its uniqueness and total lack of pretentiousness: a reflection of its owner. Simple and original, just like his attire, there is just nothing common about this man born Rashid Lynn. His tenor voice has a China-Town accent.

Common started in ’89, born and raised in Chicago, now lives in Fort Green. If you are not familiar with him, he is the author of lyrics such as “Retrospect For Life” and “I Used To Love H.E.R.” His latest album “Like Water For Chocolate” imparts his experience and wisdom to the rest of the world, making him part of an elite few in the game. Prior to “Like Water For Chocolate,” he tackled very serious topics talking about his feelings about the decline of Hip Hop and the shape it was taking, all encoded in the song “I Used To Love H.E.R.” which is ostensibly about a woman who bewitched him. Only in the last line does it become clear that the ‘she,’ the ‘she’ is Hip Hop. “Retrospect For Life” is a piece about abortion in which he proclaims that “$315 is not worth the soul,” certainly a memorable track but one that takes a very rigid stance. There are women who find this song insensitive to their situation, and that this piece provides people with a predictable phrase to dismiss an intensely personal and private issue, plus many women dispute that their souls are certainly not in danger because of a choice someone else forced them to make. With these personal opinions Common can either be loved or hated. It seems, however, that he now wants to take more risks than in past albums of which critics said they were good but not classics. These statements at the time offended him, but now Common has reached the maturity of being able to listen to his music with a more objective ear that agrees with the critics. 

His art to date has been one-sided and has reflected the lack of balance in his life, a balance that is instead now, at the age of 27, conveyed abundantly by the grooves of “Like Water For Chocolate.” “This album reflects the different sides of my personality, not just the more serious one.” Pieces like “A Film Called Pimp” parody those public figures who do not practice what they preach, especially when it comes to respect for women. The track starts off with Common who, stopped in the street begins to talk about how important it is to respect ladies, but when he is interrupted by one of his ‘whores’ asking him for money, he immediately reveals himself to be someone else. This track stands precisely to indicate how many men preach well and racket badly. Finally, this album offers listeners what they know and expect from Common: an artist who speaks of revolution and politics, of an enormous respect and love for the mothers and fathers of revolution. When you buy the album (because you have to, it is an outstanding record) and listen to the song for Assata Shakur, an activist who had to seek political asylum in Cuba (see AL Words #46, ndt), you will understand how touched Common is by the personalities of the activists and organizers of the revolution, the Black Panthers in particular. Common feels a deep reverence for Assata and his cause, and it was reading his book that gave him the strength and courage that inspired him. “After reading the book and learning her story, I felt I had to dedicate a song to her.” It will certainly touch you too and you will feel the passion Common feels for this woman, her story and the song are alive.

Common's opinion about the expansion of the underground movement in the music industry is very similar to that of the Black Panther movement in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The Panthers believed that educating the black community and mobilizing it in an orderly manner was the only way to achieve positive and substantial changes. The album starts right off with an excerpt from a Last Poets member Gil Scott-Heron's ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ (“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” Ed.), also the album has a strong impact right from the cover which shows two separate fountains, one for whites, the other for blacks in the early 1960s. “Revolution is change for a purpose,” Common states, ’and it starts from your inner self. It starts with you and then infects your family, your community, the whole world. When I talk about revolution, I mean a change, a change in the way people think.“ Common believes that anyone who turns revolution into chaos is in error and leads to deception. ”Revolution must be methodical and quiet, only then will the result be good for your cause, otherwise you will only get a lot of confusion.“ Hip Hop, however, has become a deep voice through which young revolutionaries can get their message out to the world so that it can be heard by the masses. Common uses this voice in ”Like Water For Chocolate“ as he did in previous albums, but with the addition of joviality, cheerfulness so as to reach many more people. 

“Revolution is a change for a purpose,” says Common, “and it starts from within you. It starts with you and then infects your family, your community, the whole world. When I talk about revolution, I mean a change, a change in the way people think.”

Music is also a form of revolution: “The underground has always represented something subversive and problematic. I definitely want people to listen to my music, respect and appreciate it because it shows another side of Hip Hop. I've always hoped and wished that people would listen to what I had to say, I think this is my opportunity to make my mark and I will try to touch as many people as possible. I don't want to change anything about the way I make music, I simply want to do what I feel.” And part of what Common feels is a deep and undeniable spirituality. “I don't know if it is because of my zodiac sign, but it is certain that Pisces is known to be very spiritual, plus we, as black people, are very spiritual beings anyway. I feel certain things that have developed my spirituality that drives me to seek God.” Common folds his arms in front of him and leans back as he speaks, his eyes fixed and captivated, “I call God Allah and whether you call him Buddha, Jesus or Allah too, I respect you either way. In a sense we are talking about the same God.” Many people, however, have such an unchanging and devout belief in their God that they leave no room for others“ opinions, but not Common: ”Just as there are different languages, there are also different practices. As long as you follow the laws of nature and the universe, you are doing well and you know who God is,“ he continues, ”The Lord of the worlds created all this and offered us the potential to be Gods...not the Supreme Being, but He created us in His image and likeness." Common speaks with his hands, expressive and open, moving, helping the speech come alive. One does not detect the slightest embarrassment or reluctance in his attitude.

Common's name is still synonymous with the underground, his sound is not appreciated by the masses, but despite this he has a loyal following. He believes that everything has a definite time and its own course: “A lot of people ask me if I'm sorry I didn't sell a lot, but I think it wasn't my time or at least it wasn't when God wanted me to be there. I had to grow a lot, certainly as an individual; if I had smashed right away, I certainly would have lost my hunger.” Now it's all about DMX, Eve, the Cash Money Millionaires and Jay-Z (the one from “Do It Again,” not from “22 Two's” follow me?) and thinking about these artists and people like the Roots, Mos Def, the Jazzyfatnastees and, of course, Common one notices a clear and deep dividing line separating the popularity of commercial rap from underground rap and makes us wonder when the underground will rise to the surface and become popular and how much artists have commercialized the political and social for mainstream rap. Does it depend on the fact that ‘making money’ has replaced ‘making music’? Is it because of this that the underground has not yet exploded and is not yet part of the mainstream? Common, however, is part of that niche of people trying to bring the underground out into the open. Albums such as ’Lyricist Lounge“ and ”Soundbombing II“ are a couple of the very rare examples of this upward push until the Roots produced ”Things Fall Apart“ one of the very few albums of this generation where a real political voice and the sound of underground Hip Hop managed to emerge and got the respect it was due by receiving a Grammy. ”Hip Hop needs balance... Next to the mainstream of Jay-Z, the Ruff Ryders or whoever else gets passed around on the radio, you need the counterbalance of Mos Def, the Roots, Outkast....“ Hip Hop was born out of the underground and that is what Hip Hop needs and will need in the future to stay alive and pure. ”Probably people now only know Hip Hop as synonymous with the sound of Jay-Z and the Ruff Ryders, but there is another side to show. Initially I was convinced that this was music for a select few, that it should remain underground, and this element must always be there-that's what makes Hip Hop so sweet.“. 

Common is one of the founders of what is hoped to be the Renaissance of the message, direction, and form that Hip Hop will take. He hopes to break into the commercial and carve out a place for his music in people's heads, and although his music certainly does not travel easily through what is considered popular, he has always tried to join the record industry for the right and positive reasons, for the love of creation not the paycheck you get. “Follow your heart, express yourself through your music and don't be afraid of the various possibilities. Don't be afraid of causing trouble or eliciting strange reactions if that's the feeling you have.”. 

Common has a different slant than many other mc, in fact he has a very critical and political view of society and this view permeates his music. This artist has no difficulty articulating his observations and grievances despite having to pay a price through his position, or lack of position one might say, in commonly recognized popular Hip Hop. “Like Water For Chocolate” is a sign of growth, in which Common tries to optimize the process of raising people's awareness. The Black Panthers did this through community service, opening schools, free public soup kitchens and educational programs. They went to their people directly in the neighborhoods to teach them to be strong and use their potential. Common with this album wanted to show his different sides while admitting his weaknesses, managing to establish an intimacy between him and the listeners. There is a lot of irony in his search for awareness and this very thing shows us how his weakness transforms into his strength. The Black Panthers did not try to reach people by changing their personalities or painting themselves as perfect beings, but showed them that they were no different from anyone, and people thus understood that they too had the power to act. Both Common's message and voice have matured over the years and through “Like Water For Chocolate” he hopes to show Black people, his people, their potential and resilience. 

Common does not intend to change his personality so as to reach the masses, but he seeks to be accepted and respected enough so that his message will be heard. The black community was looking during the civil rights struggle for a gimmick to succeed without necessarily conforming. Common is trying to pursue the same goal: “People want truth, they want authenticity. Truth is the only one that survives,” he says. It certainly seems that Common is going through another personal revolution, and “Like Water For Chocolate” is another chapter in Common's gradual change into the artist who will be able to reach so many people.