Chicago rapper Common is one of Chicago’s first success stories. With his career origins in the mid-’90s he is known for his lyrical ability and extremely conscious lyrics. He is also renowned for having a very soulful and jazz-inspired type of sonic. The rapper is also a known poet.
Common did very well in Chicago and New York on an underground level operating in the same space as artists such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Black Thought. Furthermore, he joined forces with neo-soul artists and brought awareness to issues surrounding Africa and the Five per cent nation movement as part of The Soulquarians collective.
In an interview with Complex for their ‘Rules to This Shit’ documentary series, the lyricist (real name Lonnie Lynn) spoke about the trials and tribulations of embarking on a rap career and recalled a time his entourage friends stole items from Redman’s dressing room in the 1990s.
Detailing the beginning of his career, Lynn remembered, “When I first started, I would have a guest list of like 30 people. I remember one of my first concerts. I was opening for Redman and Kool G Rap. Some of my friends went into one of their dressings rooms and stole stuff off their rider and ate their food.”
He continued, “I ended up having to pay for it. The promoter was like, ‘We charging you. We know that was your homies.’ I was not ostracized, but I felt bad. And it just was one of those things where it was growing pains.”
Lynn then explained how at the beginning stages of his musical journey he was insistent on bringing his friends to all his events, unveiling, “Early on, that immaturity would show itself. For one, I’d always insist on bringing my guys with me to every show. I’m not talking about four or five. I’m talking about 15, 20 dudes! They’d get backstage and run amok.”
However, since then, the rapper has grown and, throughout his career, has been a one-man army working with J Dilla, Kanye West and many others to get to where he is today. You can watch Lynn’s interview in the video below.
