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CHAPTER 1
It was the summer after seventh grade. I was in Cincinnati at my cousin Ajile's house. Usually we'd have been out back playing ball, but we were in his room working on something we had been talking about doing for a while: Write a rap. Mine went:
"Well let me tell you 'bout a trip a time ago. / I was going there to run a cold-blooded show. / When I was there I saw some people jamming too. / They called themselves the Bond Hill Crew..."
I remember feeling liberated as I wrote these lines--like I was accomplishing something that I had dreamed of but didn't think I could do. As simple as it was, writing it was like a birth for me. The Bond Hill Crew was like the Run-DMC of Cincinnati. They had the flair and personalities to lead a city...or at least the neighborhood. They lived around the corner from my cousin and Aunt Mattie and ended up becoming my big brothers. Just being around them and seeing how they did it made me think I could do it, too. What really did it for me though was when all of our friends knew my rap by heart and would sing it walking down the block. From that point on I believed. I would take this confidence back to Chicago and try to figure out where hip-hop fit into my life. I loved the culture. It was an art form but you could do it and still be cool and get respect in the neighborhood. I grew up on the South Side of Chicago around 87th and Stony Island where soul music, gang-bangin,' basketball and little league baseball were the dominant aspects of our culture. But there was still room to break dance, watch Beat Street and listen to Run-DMC. I remember going up to Stony Island Park and watching some of the most 'hood cats dancing to "Sucka M.C.'s" and that's when I knew it was on! As a child I always knew I wanted to be a star and do something that would allow me to shine on the world. Hip-hop was my chance to be heard and respected. I would rap out loud in science class, irritating some of my classmates and entertaining the rest. Throughout high school, I spent my summer job money on Adidas sweatsuits and whatever the new rap album was at Metro Music Record Store. I would play the new albums in my yard while I was shooting hoops with my friends. Once I accepted that I wasn't NBA bound, I really started getting serious about rapping. I made tapes in a friend's basement, and eventually my friends and I formed a group called CDR (Corey, Dion, Rashid). Though we didn't do a lot of talent shows, we did get our demo played on the college station, WHPK 88.5 FM, and we opened up for Big Daddy Kane, N.W.A and Too $hort. Doing these shows and getting our tapes played gave me a taste of what it would be like to be a musical hero. I loved it! By senior year of high school, I had become a decent songwriter, developed my own style and started to work with Twilite Tone and No I.D., the artist formerly known as Dion from CDR. Our sound developed into something original and very Chicago-like. It was a blend of soul, house, Chicago street lingo and the whole Chicago mentality. Of course we were fans of BDP, Eric B. and Rakim, EPMD, N.W.A, and De La Soul, but now we had our own way to interpret the music. Due to the fact that I hadn't got a record deal and my mother was on my ass about being a good student and succeeding in life, I enrolled in Florida A&M University. I majored in business, but I really didn't know what I wanted to do. Still, I had a wonderful time going to school down South. I was introduced to everything that southern comfort was about... During my breaks, Tone and No I.D. (then known as Two Piece Dark) and I would continue to make moves toward getting signed. I chose the name Common Sense to describe my everyday-people type of rap. By the time school started again, I had a dope demo tape. I also had the honor of being selected as The Source magazine's Unsigned Hype artist for the October 1991 issue. Pretty soon I got the call from Relativity Records. They'd heard my tape through Unsigned Hype and they were thinking about signing me. Three propeller planes and eight hours later (in what should have been one flight in two hours), I was meeting with an Asian A&R named Peter Kang and signing my record deal. On the way back to the airport, in the hatchback of Peter's car, I was thinking that this was the beginning of the ride in my life...
CHAPTER 2
I was no longer in school, but I stayed in Tallahassee from January to June of 1992 to work on my first LP,
Can I Borrow A Dollar
. I stayed in Tallahassee because my mother still believed that I was enrolled in school. I chose this title because I was known for going around campus asking other students for money to support my broke rapper habits a la eating, drinking and playing Nintendo. More important, this title represented Chicago's hunger for a piece of the hip-hop industry action. Besides Twista (then known as Tung Twista), MCs from my city weren't getting major label deals. The East and West Coasts were getting theirs;
Can I Borrow A Dollar
was my way of saying, Can we get ours? In June, me and about 10 of my friends from Chicago rolled to New York to record my album, which included songs from my demo, my time at Florida A&M and 3 months I'd spent back home waiting to get into Calliope Studios. I chose Calliope because De La Soul, the Jungle Brothers and A Tribe Called Quest had recorded their albums there. I just kept looking at the mixing board thinking man "Bonita Applebum" was recorded on this. After two weeks of staying in the Embassy Suites and about thirty cases of beer later, my first album was done. Recording my first album I felt a lot of pressure though it also was a lot of fun. Being that my homies were there I had a good support system and somebody to show out for. After
Can I Borrow A Dollar
? dropped that October, and I saw the video for my single, "
Take it Easy
," on The Box, I felt like, Man, I made it now! Little did I know I had a long way to go. Chapter 3 coming soon... December 9, 2008
Universal Mind Control
01. Universal Mind Control 02. Punch Drunk Love (Feat. Kanye West) 03. Make My Day (Feat. Cee-Lo Green) 04. Sex 4 Sugar 05. Announcement (Feat. Pharrell Williams) 06. Gladiator 07. Changes 08. Inhale 09. What a World 10. Everywhere Nov 27 2007
ThisIsMe Then: The Best of Common
1. Take It EZ 2. I Used To Love H.E.R. 3. Retrospect For Life (featuring Lauryn Hill) 4. Invocation 5. Heidi Hoe 6. I Used To Love H.E.R. 7. Book Of Life 8. Resurrection 9. thisisme 10. Retrospect For Life (featuring Lauryn Hill) 11. Reminding Me (Of Sef) 12. All Night Long (featuring Erykah Badu) 13. G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition) (featuring Cee-Lo) 14. Stolen Moments Pt. III (Intro/Outro: Q-Tip) 15. High Expectations CD Extras Includes: 4 classic videos and more! Format: Album Released: 11/27/2007 Label: Geffen Edition(s): Explicit Lyrics Jul 31 2007
Finding Forever
1. Intro 2. Start the Show 3. The People 4. Drivin' Me Wild 5. I Want You 6. Southside 7. The Game 8. U, Black Maybe 9. So Far To Go 10. Break My Heart 11. Misunderstood 12. Forever Begins Format: Album Released: 7/31/2007 Label: Geffen Edition(s): Album Length Compact Disc May 24 2005
Be
1. Be (Intro) 2:24 2. The Corner 3:46 3. Go! 3:44 4. Faithful 3:33 5. Testify 2:36 6. Love Is... 4:10 7. Chi-City 3:27 8. The Food 3:36 9. Real People 2:48 10. They Say 3:57 11. It's Your World 8:34 Deluxe Edition CD includes a DVD with over 40 minutes of exclusive bonus material! (Interviews with Common & Kanye West and live & behind the scenes footage) 1. Fashion Sense 3:37 2. Common Selects The Album Cover 4:11 3. Sway's In Depth Interview with Common and Kanye West 23:31 4. Live Stage Performance of The Corner 4:07 5. Back To School With The Last Poets and Common 3:56 6. "Knowing Is Beautiful" AIDS Awareness Campaign 3:06 Format: Album Released: 5/24/2005 Label: Geffen Edition(s): Album Length Compact Disc Dec 10 2002
Electric Circus
1. Ferris Wheel 02:47 2. Soul Power 04:12 3. Aquarius 04:53 4. Electric Wire Hustle Flower 05:28 5. The Hustle 04:20 6. Come Close 04:35 7. New Wave 05:08 8. Star * 69 (PS With Love) 05:30 9. I Got A Right Ta 04:54 10. Between Me, You & Liberation 06:23 11. I Am Music 05:12 12. Jimi Was A Rock Star 08:31 13. Heaven Somewhere 10:24 Format: Album Released: 12/10/2002 Label: Geffen Edition(s): LP Vinyl, Album Length Compact Disc Mar 28 2000
Like Water For Chocolate
1. Time Travelin' (A Tribute To Fela) 05:56 2. Heat 03:41 3. Cold Blooded 04:53 4. Dooinit 03:37 5. The Light 04:02 6. Funky For You 05:55 7. The Questions 04:09 8. Time Travelin' Reprise 01:33 9. The 6th Sense 04:01 10. A Film Called (PIMP) 05:33 11. Nag Champa (Afrodisiac For The World) 05:10 12. Thelonius 04:21 13. Payback Is A Grandmother 04:30 14. Geto Heaven Part Two 05:03 15. A Song For Assata 06:48 16. Pops Rap III....All My Children 05:09 Format: Album Released: 3/28/2000 Label: Geffen Edition(s): Explicit, Edited, Cassette Sep 30 1997
One Day It'll All Make Sense
1. Introspective 2. Invocation 3. Real Nigga Quotes 4. Retrospect for Life 5. Gettin' Down at the Amphitheater 6. Food for Funk 7. G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition) - C-Lo 8. My City 9. Hungry 10. All Night Long - Erykah Badu 11. Stolen Moments, Pt. 1 12. Stolen Moments, Pt. 2 - Black Thought 13. 1 2 Many... 14. Stolen Moments, Pt. 3 - Black Thought 15. Making a Name for Ourselves - Canibus 16. Reminding Me (Of Sef) 17. Pop's Rap, Pt. 2/Fatherhood Format: Album Released: 9/30/1997 Label: Geffen Edition(s): CD Oct 25 1994
Resurrection
1. Resurrection 2. I Used to Love H.E.R. 3. Watermelon 4. Book of Life 5. In My Own Worl (Check the Method) 6. Another Wasted Nite With... 7. Nuthin' to Do 8. Communism 9. WMOE 10. This Is Me 11. Orange Pineapple Juice 12. Chapter 13 (Rich Man Vs. Poor Man) 13. Maintaining 14. Sum Shit I Wrote 15. Pop's Rap Format: Album Released: 10/25/1994 Label: Geffen Edition(s): CD Aug 6 1992
Can I Borrow a Dollar?
1. Penny for My Thoughts 2. Charms Alarm 3. Take It Ez 4. Heidi Hoe 5. Breaker 1/9 6. Two Scoops of Raisins 7. No Defense 8. Blows to the Temple 9. Just in the Nick of Rhyme 10. Tricks up My Sleeve 11. Puppy Chow 12. Soul by the Pound 13. Pitchin' Pennies Format: Album Released: 10/6/1992 Label: Geffen Edition(s): CD, Jul 1 1991
UnAmerican Caravan: 1991 Demo
1. First Days Of New School 2:09 2. Take It Easy (Demo Version) 4:13 3. 2 The Temple 5:18 4. Who Stole The Clippers 3:08 5. The Caravan Train 4:46 6. Divide & Conquer 4:27 7. A For Effort 4:08
Links
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Common
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