News-Letter

Despite a very rainy two-hour delay, Common fans stuck it out to welcome the Chicago-based hip-hop artist last Saturday night at the Ralph S. O'Connor Recreation Center.

Common, whose real name is Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr., has been a prominent figure in both the underground and mainstream hip-hop scenes since the release of his first album, Can I Borrow a Dollar?, in 1992.

His discography includes five successive albums, over a dozen top-100 singles, and various collaborations with other artists. Hip-hop fans compare him to the likes of Mos Def and Talib Kweli as a performer of what is popularly called "conscious" hip hop -- a brand of hip hop fueled by social, political and spiritual issues.

Common brought these issues home in a performance of songs from the full spectrum of his musical career. He repeatedly advocated a cross-cultural unity of religion free from bias and encouraged his audience to political action with his latest single, "The People", from the album Finding Forever (to be released in July 2007, with tracks produced by Kanye West). "This is your world," he said, expressing the need for greater political involvement on the part of today's youth. (Off stage, Common is a celebrity advocate for both PETA and AIDS Awareness campaigns.)

He continued in the spirit of audience participation throughout the show, inviting one lucky Hopkins lady onstage to dance, and eliciting audience-wide choruses of "fellas" and "ladies" during numerous songs. He seemed acutely attuned to the mood of his listeners, slowly crescendoing from mellow love song to bass-frenzied ballad.

Common's overall stage dynamic was nothing short of explosive: he danced, waved his arms, jumped and raced around the stage without pause for over an hour. At one point he "joined" his drummer, beating the cymbal so wildly that his free arm started involuntarily flailing, likewise electrifying the drummer to the point of breaking a stick from drumming so fast.

Which is not to say that the performance was all adrenaline and no contemplation. In one of the night's most poignant moments, Common dedicated a song to the recently deceased hip-hop producer J Dilla with whom he had collaborated on several musical projects. Outside the studio, the two were good friends: when J Dilla fell ill with lupus and TTP in 2005, he asked Common to move in with him as his roommate. Common created Finding Forever in memory of J Dilla and implored the audience to "throw their lights up" as he sang a tribute to his late friend.

Other highlights of Common's performance included a spontaneous bout of free-styling, in which he gave props to both Hopkins for hosting him and Baltimoreans for supporting him. Later in the show he asked the audience, "Where did hip-hop start?" and subsequently stepped aside to let his Brooklyn-based DJ Dummy spin solo. (Dummy was phenomenal both technically and stylistically and will be featured on Finding Forever.) Common's keyboardist and drummer each had similar chances to perform without the accompaniment of the artist, effectively showcasing the enormous and multifarious talents behind Common's powerhouse style.

Common considers himself as part of a musical lineage and paid homage at the beginning of his performance to the accomplishments of such predecessors as Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley. With his passionate on-stage energy, provocative discourse with the audience and altruistic brand of showmanship, Common proves himself more than worthy of his pedigree.

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