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| Common |
His current album 'Like Water For Chocolate'
[Buy]
is Common's fourth album and follows his 1992 debut 'Can I Borrow A Dollar', 'Ressurection'
(1995) [Buy], and 97's
'One Day (It'll All Make Sense)'. Possibly partly due to his move from now-defunct Relativity Records in December, 1998,
to MCA Records, it sees Common move more toward the commercial mainstream, but
in many respects retains his unique vocals and thoughtful lyrics. To demonstrate
this he recently collaborated with Erykah Badu on one of her songs on
her new album and she was in his 'The Light' video. Released as a double A single
'The Light' features a sample from the Bobby Caldwell classic 'Open Your Eyes'.
The other side 'The 6th Sense (Something You Feel)' was produced by DJ Premier and features rising star Bilal on vocals.Common is seems to be liking the UK with several recent visits to these shores. He played three sell out gigs at the Jazz Cafe in July, was in London again over the weekend of the Notting Hill Carnival and appeared there on the the Sunday (27th August) putting on a quality performance. He was back in October to tour and is back xx/xx/xx for another London show.
Rashid Lynn, aka Common, from Chicago said, “I want people to not only feel what I feel, but get their own interpretation from it.” Common's tracks utilise expressive poetry moulded into sublime tracks produced by the likes of Jay Dee, D’Angelo, Premier and Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson of Roots fame amongst others. ?uestlove, well know for his work with the Roots as sequencer and drummer, also acts as Executive Producer on this latest album.
Common’s Like Water For Chocolate had been highly-anticipated
and has been purported to represent the thoughts of a young Afro-American striving to follow a positive road in life, minus the self-righteousness.
“This album is about balance for me. On my last album, 'One Day It’ll All Make
Sense' [Buy], I was stepping into manhood and a certain knowledge and a certain path I wanted to travel,”
Featured performers include D'Angelo, Mos Def, Black Thought, Rahzel, Slum Village, MC Lyte and Femi Kuti. Common also travelled to Cuba to meet with exiled Black Panther, Assata Shakur. The meeting resulted in
'A Song For Assata' featuring Cee-Lo Green of The Goodie Mob & Assata Shakur, the stunning penultimate track on the album.
In the last few years, Common has increasingly been able to articulate his strong views about his community which have
seen him form the 'Common Ground' foundation. Aiming to reach beyond South Side,
Chicago, he hopes to raise capitol to fund community centres, summer camps and establish scholarships.
This would be to raise awareness of political prisoners throughout the U.S. and
those exiled beyond, as well as other subjects affecting his community.
Download Common's Ecard and send it to your friends.
Check out Common's US website www.okayplayer.com.
For further information please contact :
Shane: 020 8910 3277 :: email: Shane.ONeill@umusic.com
| Intro |
Early Doors: 1979-1985 |
False Dawn: 1985-1990 |
Underground Years: 1990-1995 |
The Renaissance: 1995- 2000 |
The Future: 2000 & Beyond |
Artists & Discographies |
