Pretty dope article on common with some info on "FF"
and dilla/d'angelo..enjoy.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music-gigs/article2721359.ece
Common's wealth: Rapper Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr
Friday, June 29, 2007
By Russell Myrie
The talented star discusses collaborating with Kanye, recording with Lily – and acting with Denzel
At times his deep Chicago drawl is barely audible. That that doesn't mean he's austere – he just takes a second or two longer than usual to gather his thoughts. But Common's weariness is understandable. For the past couple of months Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr has been in Prague filming Wanted, which brings the ultra-violent comic book of the same name to life.
"It was an incredible experience," he gushes. "I had some of the best lessons working with Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy. He's an incredible actor and real cool. Angelina 's one of the best people, she's a good soul and very gifted."
If you couldn't tell, Common is an actor now. He cut his teeth in Dave Chappelle's Block Party, and had a part earlier this year in Smokin' Aces. But as those familiar with his music would expect, Common is not looking for the usual "raptor" roles.
His next flick, Ridley Scott's American Gangster, also features Denzel Washington. And next year sees the release of the crime thriller The Night Watchman, in which he stars alongside Forest Whitaker and Keanu Reeves. "I'm striving to be part of the good projects," he says. "The same intensity and passion that I put into my music, I'm trying to put into my films."
Finding Forever, is, of course, the other reason that Chicago's finest MC is so tired. He's been hard at work on his latest album for about a year now. The record has been continually delayed throughout 2007, but is finally ready for release. After our meeting he has to hop on a plane to New York to oversee the all important mix-down.
Common's been doing a lot of travelling lately. Finding Forever began to take shape when he followed fellow Chicagoan Kanye West on tour around Australasia and Europe. When they returned to the US, the old friends missed having sunlight coming through the studio windows, something they got used to in Australia and New Zealand, so they decided to finish the album in Hawaii. Such a hard life.
West has been responsible for most of Common's beats ever since the pair collaborated on "Get 'Em High" for West's debut The College Dropout. West helmed nine of the 11 tracks on 2005's Be and is behind eight of Finding Forever's 12 joints. The two have been friends since the early Nineties, when Common was still Common Sense. A then unknown West would hustle his way into the basement of local bigwig No I.D – the producer responsible for much of Common's early work – and rap for anyone who cared to listen.
Common has come a long way in the decade and half since his first singles "Take It Ez" and the remix to "Soul By The Pound" were big hits on Yo! MTV Raps. "At that time Yo! MTV Raps was the goal," he says. "When I first saw 'Take It Ez' on MTV Raps, it was a dream come true. With 'Soul by the Pound' I was glad to get that remix out 'cos my first album was a collection of songs that I did for my demo. It sounded dated to me so when I got to do the remix it was like, 'Yeah.' We got to shoot the video, I had my homies in it and it was mad fun."
Common has released classic albums in all of the noteworthy eras of hip-hop. His second full-length set, 1994's Resurrection, was a classic of the phat beats era, while 2000's Like Water For Chocolate was a high point of neo-soul. His 2005 album Be was awarded an "XXL" rating by respected American hip-hop magazine XXL, and hailed as a breath of fresh air in an era of one-hit wonders from the dirty South.
Common, like Nas, Busta Rhymes and Redman, has built up a substantial body of work and shows no signs of slowing down. "When I was a kid it was my dream to make classic music so that Krs-One would know who I was, and to make music the lowest common folk could relate to, meaning the lowest economic bracket." The video for his new single, "The People", shows Common doing just that as he goes out on a meet-and-greet across Chi-town. Finding Forever is also being launched, as is customary these days, with a "street" single – "The Game" – a lovely piece of vintage boom bap hip-hop. To make it really authentic, Common and Kanye drafted in the one and only DJ Premier for the razor-sharp scratching that forms the chorus.
Common is one of the lucky few. The record execs don't make him put an R&B singer in the chorus or encourage him to rap about 20in rims or diamond chains. Nor do they gently suggest that he add more guitars in a vain attempt to attract the "alternative" crowd.
"I think the record company know me by now, they know what my music is about and they know that's the only thing that will fly with the audience," he says. "The audience can tell if I'm feeling it and if the music has feeling to it. I got to feel it and I'm grateful that the label knows who they're dealing with. They got their ideas on what's good and what's gonna be viable but they don't try to push me to do something that I'm not. Raw hip-hop is still relevant, it's just got to be put together right."
On the one hand, Finding Forever is so named because Common is trying to create timeless music. It is, however, also inspired by the tragic passing of Detroit's J Dilla. Besides his former group Slum Village and maybe Q-Tip, Common is the MC who worked most closely with the sadly departed production mastermind.
Common first met Dilla when Common was working on his 1997 album One Day It'll All Make Sense. At the time Dilla had produced the hip-hop classics "Runnin'" and "Drop" by The Pharcyde, as well as De La Soul's "Stakes Is High" – but his masterworks were still to come.
The two became so close that Dilla ended up producing all of Like Water For Chocolate, bar the DJ Premier-produced "Sixth Sense", and for a while they shared an apartment in LA. "Dilla, man, he was one of the cleanest dudes you'll ever find," says Common. "He was always dusting this and cleaning that. Man he dusted off everything around the whole house, everything was kept neat.
"It was incredible to be able to wake up and hear J Dee making beats," he adds. "I remember thinking to myself, 'This is an artist's dream.' It was a joy."
Finding Forever features a retouched version of "So Far To Go", the song featuring Common and D'Angelo that first appeared on Dilla's final outing The Shining. This time, the beats are a little phatter and crisper, and Common has re-recorded his vocals. But apart from that it's pretty much the same. Which isn't a bad thing.
"I wanted a J Dee song on my album and I didn't have any beats at the time," he says. "I knew this song was gonna have an impact, plus I felt that some people didn't hear The Shining. And D'Angelo, he's one of the best."
Common speaks wistfully of the album Dilla and D'Angelo were planning together, which was set to be titled Jay D'Angelo. If we're really lucky a few of those songs may show up on D'Angelo's hugely anticipated third album, which is meant to drop before the end of the year.
Another song on the new album that seems to show Common reflecting on days gone by is the Will.i.Am-produced "I Want You". He doesn't make it too obvious, but it seems to be about a singer we all know, but haven't heard from in a while.
Erykah Badu has long been a feature of Common's career. They first collaborated on "All Night Long", from One Day It'll All Make Sense. "Love of My Life", their duet about hip-hop that won a Grammy, was released when their relationship was going from strength, and Badu influenced 2002's Electric Circus in all sorts of ways. This was Common's Marmite record – the left-field soul crowd, and those who only buy two or three hip-hop records a year, loved it. But the hard rocks hated it and took the mickey out of Common's newly eccentric dress sense.
A cynic might opine that "I Want You" is purposefully vague, so that Common can deny all should he feel it necessary. But, for now at least, he doesn't seem sure. "Is it about Erykah Badu? Nah. I think some of the references and things that I think about could relate to us, but it also has other elements of other women that I've dealt with."
The real surprise on the album is the brilliant guest spot from Lily Allen. "Driving Me Wild" must have been recorded on one of her happier days Stateside, because it sounds great. Not only does Allen sing the hook and a nice little bridge, but it sounds like her vocal has been sampled for one of Kanye West's signature chipmunk-soul soundbeds. The pictures that have surfaced of the two working together seem to show a relaxed working environment.
"Kanye created a beat and I was thinking of rhymes. So we came up with a chorus and Kanye started coming up with a melody and he was like, 'Do you think we should get Lily Allen on this?' So I went and dug into her music more, like, 'Yeah I think she would be dope.' I felt that she could really capture that stuff, and she dug into it and sounded good. She came in there free doing her thing. She was uninhibited and just kept going with it until I was, like, 'Yeah that's it.' I appreciated her coming through and I like her style."
Their styles complement each other. Music-wise, Common's done it again. But how long will he have to wait for that Oscar?
'Finding Forever' is out on 30 July on Geffen/Universal
and dilla/d'angelo..enjoy.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music-gigs/article2721359.ece
Common's wealth: Rapper Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr
Friday, June 29, 2007
By Russell Myrie
The talented star discusses collaborating with Kanye, recording with Lily – and acting with Denzel
At times his deep Chicago drawl is barely audible. That that doesn't mean he's austere – he just takes a second or two longer than usual to gather his thoughts. But Common's weariness is understandable. For the past couple of months Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr has been in Prague filming Wanted, which brings the ultra-violent comic book of the same name to life.
"It was an incredible experience," he gushes. "I had some of the best lessons working with Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy. He's an incredible actor and real cool. Angelina 's one of the best people, she's a good soul and very gifted."
If you couldn't tell, Common is an actor now. He cut his teeth in Dave Chappelle's Block Party, and had a part earlier this year in Smokin' Aces. But as those familiar with his music would expect, Common is not looking for the usual "raptor" roles.
His next flick, Ridley Scott's American Gangster, also features Denzel Washington. And next year sees the release of the crime thriller The Night Watchman, in which he stars alongside Forest Whitaker and Keanu Reeves. "I'm striving to be part of the good projects," he says. "The same intensity and passion that I put into my music, I'm trying to put into my films."
Finding Forever, is, of course, the other reason that Chicago's finest MC is so tired. He's been hard at work on his latest album for about a year now. The record has been continually delayed throughout 2007, but is finally ready for release. After our meeting he has to hop on a plane to New York to oversee the all important mix-down.
Common's been doing a lot of travelling lately. Finding Forever began to take shape when he followed fellow Chicagoan Kanye West on tour around Australasia and Europe. When they returned to the US, the old friends missed having sunlight coming through the studio windows, something they got used to in Australia and New Zealand, so they decided to finish the album in Hawaii. Such a hard life.
West has been responsible for most of Common's beats ever since the pair collaborated on "Get 'Em High" for West's debut The College Dropout. West helmed nine of the 11 tracks on 2005's Be and is behind eight of Finding Forever's 12 joints. The two have been friends since the early Nineties, when Common was still Common Sense. A then unknown West would hustle his way into the basement of local bigwig No I.D – the producer responsible for much of Common's early work – and rap for anyone who cared to listen.
Common has come a long way in the decade and half since his first singles "Take It Ez" and the remix to "Soul By The Pound" were big hits on Yo! MTV Raps. "At that time Yo! MTV Raps was the goal," he says. "When I first saw 'Take It Ez' on MTV Raps, it was a dream come true. With 'Soul by the Pound' I was glad to get that remix out 'cos my first album was a collection of songs that I did for my demo. It sounded dated to me so when I got to do the remix it was like, 'Yeah.' We got to shoot the video, I had my homies in it and it was mad fun."
Common has released classic albums in all of the noteworthy eras of hip-hop. His second full-length set, 1994's Resurrection, was a classic of the phat beats era, while 2000's Like Water For Chocolate was a high point of neo-soul. His 2005 album Be was awarded an "XXL" rating by respected American hip-hop magazine XXL, and hailed as a breath of fresh air in an era of one-hit wonders from the dirty South.
Common, like Nas, Busta Rhymes and Redman, has built up a substantial body of work and shows no signs of slowing down. "When I was a kid it was my dream to make classic music so that Krs-One would know who I was, and to make music the lowest common folk could relate to, meaning the lowest economic bracket." The video for his new single, "The People", shows Common doing just that as he goes out on a meet-and-greet across Chi-town. Finding Forever is also being launched, as is customary these days, with a "street" single – "The Game" – a lovely piece of vintage boom bap hip-hop. To make it really authentic, Common and Kanye drafted in the one and only DJ Premier for the razor-sharp scratching that forms the chorus.
Common is one of the lucky few. The record execs don't make him put an R&B singer in the chorus or encourage him to rap about 20in rims or diamond chains. Nor do they gently suggest that he add more guitars in a vain attempt to attract the "alternative" crowd.
"I think the record company know me by now, they know what my music is about and they know that's the only thing that will fly with the audience," he says. "The audience can tell if I'm feeling it and if the music has feeling to it. I got to feel it and I'm grateful that the label knows who they're dealing with. They got their ideas on what's good and what's gonna be viable but they don't try to push me to do something that I'm not. Raw hip-hop is still relevant, it's just got to be put together right."
On the one hand, Finding Forever is so named because Common is trying to create timeless music. It is, however, also inspired by the tragic passing of Detroit's J Dilla. Besides his former group Slum Village and maybe Q-Tip, Common is the MC who worked most closely with the sadly departed production mastermind.
Common first met Dilla when Common was working on his 1997 album One Day It'll All Make Sense. At the time Dilla had produced the hip-hop classics "Runnin'" and "Drop" by The Pharcyde, as well as De La Soul's "Stakes Is High" – but his masterworks were still to come.
The two became so close that Dilla ended up producing all of Like Water For Chocolate, bar the DJ Premier-produced "Sixth Sense", and for a while they shared an apartment in LA. "Dilla, man, he was one of the cleanest dudes you'll ever find," says Common. "He was always dusting this and cleaning that. Man he dusted off everything around the whole house, everything was kept neat.
"It was incredible to be able to wake up and hear J Dee making beats," he adds. "I remember thinking to myself, 'This is an artist's dream.' It was a joy."
Finding Forever features a retouched version of "So Far To Go", the song featuring Common and D'Angelo that first appeared on Dilla's final outing The Shining. This time, the beats are a little phatter and crisper, and Common has re-recorded his vocals. But apart from that it's pretty much the same. Which isn't a bad thing.
"I wanted a J Dee song on my album and I didn't have any beats at the time," he says. "I knew this song was gonna have an impact, plus I felt that some people didn't hear The Shining. And D'Angelo, he's one of the best."
Common speaks wistfully of the album Dilla and D'Angelo were planning together, which was set to be titled Jay D'Angelo. If we're really lucky a few of those songs may show up on D'Angelo's hugely anticipated third album, which is meant to drop before the end of the year.
Another song on the new album that seems to show Common reflecting on days gone by is the Will.i.Am-produced "I Want You". He doesn't make it too obvious, but it seems to be about a singer we all know, but haven't heard from in a while.
Erykah Badu has long been a feature of Common's career. They first collaborated on "All Night Long", from One Day It'll All Make Sense. "Love of My Life", their duet about hip-hop that won a Grammy, was released when their relationship was going from strength, and Badu influenced 2002's Electric Circus in all sorts of ways. This was Common's Marmite record – the left-field soul crowd, and those who only buy two or three hip-hop records a year, loved it. But the hard rocks hated it and took the mickey out of Common's newly eccentric dress sense.
A cynic might opine that "I Want You" is purposefully vague, so that Common can deny all should he feel it necessary. But, for now at least, he doesn't seem sure. "Is it about Erykah Badu? Nah. I think some of the references and things that I think about could relate to us, but it also has other elements of other women that I've dealt with."
The real surprise on the album is the brilliant guest spot from Lily Allen. "Driving Me Wild" must have been recorded on one of her happier days Stateside, because it sounds great. Not only does Allen sing the hook and a nice little bridge, but it sounds like her vocal has been sampled for one of Kanye West's signature chipmunk-soul soundbeds. The pictures that have surfaced of the two working together seem to show a relaxed working environment.
"Kanye created a beat and I was thinking of rhymes. So we came up with a chorus and Kanye started coming up with a melody and he was like, 'Do you think we should get Lily Allen on this?' So I went and dug into her music more, like, 'Yeah I think she would be dope.' I felt that she could really capture that stuff, and she dug into it and sounded good. She came in there free doing her thing. She was uninhibited and just kept going with it until I was, like, 'Yeah that's it.' I appreciated her coming through and I like her style."
Their styles complement each other. Music-wise, Common's done it again. But how long will he have to wait for that Oscar?
'Finding Forever' is out on 30 July on Geffen/Universal
