Common

Three years after the lukewarm success of his last album, 'Universal Mind Control,' rapper Common is ready to take his fans back to the basics. The Chicago MC, whose lyrical intrigue has long been based around his appreciation for spoken word poetry, chose to take listeners in a new, yet sonically familiar direction for his latest album, 'The Dreamer, The Believer...

While hip-hop has born countless phrases and trends, from its B-Boy days to Auto-Tune's eminence, coastal beef to Southern dominance, some of the music's most enduring contributions, in any era, have been songs about the ladies...

Common has leaked a soulful second single, 'Blue Sky,' from his forthcoming No I.D.-produced album 'The Dreamer, The Believer.' The Windy City MC, who has reunited with his old collaborator for an album's worth of Chi-town posi-anthems, seeks to uplift with 'Blue Sky,' kicking some vintage wordplay over a sample from Electric Light Orchestra's 'Mr...

Even Common has his flaws. From afar, the conscious MC and lauded actor may have a picture-perfect life but his past experiences -- a mix of both positive and negative -- have attributed to the choices he's made to travel the right path over the wrong one...

We have a sneaking suspicion that Erykah Badu may have partially influenced the title of Common's new memoir, 'One Day It'll All Make Sense.' In a candid Q&A with gossip queen Wendy Williams on her talk show this morning (Sept. 13), Common revealed his ex-girlfriend Badu gave him his very first heartbreak -- and over the phone, no less! C...

Common entered the entertainment industry as a rapper but has added more than one title to his resume since he came on the scene in the early '90s. From rhymer to actor, the 39-year-old is now adding author to his repertoire. The 'Be' creator, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, has penned a memoir titled 'One Day It'll All Make Sense,' due out Sept...

Producer No I.D. is adding another title to his resume, one that will have him overseeing many of the same artists he's crafted beats for. "I'm (now) executive VP of Def Jam," he told Billboard. "I'm going to keep on doing what I'm doing and take it to another level...

Since he took time away from the music game to grow his acting career, Common is ready to get back to his first passion: rapping. The Chicago native, who is featured on this year's Rock the Bells tour, is gearing up for the release of his ninth album, 'The Dreamer, The Believer,' which also finds him collaborating with producer No I...

Lauryn Hill returned to the Rock the Bells stage for the second year in a row, closing out the inaugural show, which kicked off in San Bernardino, Calif. Saturday (Aug. 21). Unlike previous years, this year's RTB had its group of headliners -- including Hill, Common, Erykah Badu, Cypress Hill and Nas -- perform one of their iconic albums in its entirety...

Over the past seven years, the Rock the Bells music festival has worked its way up from a regional Southern California event to become one of the most anticipated annual concert series in the hip-hop world. Kicking off in 2004, straight out the gate, RTB made hip-hop history for featuring the then re-united Wu-Tang Clan on its stage and for being the last place where member Ol' Dirty Bastard perfo