A Grammy-award winning rap artist, poet, lyricist, and actor, Common is also a dedicated community activist who supports animal rights and HIV/AIDS awareness, among many other causes. He is the founder of the Common Ground Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to empower underprivileged urban youth to become strong and productive citizens. The foundation offers programs that foster the development of leadership skills, creative expression, and a commitment to education. Common engages audiences with stories of his childhood on the South Side of Chicago and the obstacles he overcame. Drawing upon his own hard work and path to success, he helps audiences understand how to strive for and achieve greatness by making a commitment to a greater cause.
Common went above and beyond with his keynote and with the meet and greet afterwards. He exceeded our expectations, and we’re so happy he was able to join us for the event.
University of Rochester
- Oct 05 2023
He got his start in the era of gangsta rap and admits to a ‘bros before hoes’ attitude early in his career. So how did the Chicagoan become one of conscious rap’s strongest voices?
It was early October of 2014, and Microsoft was working hard to finish producing its first-ever Super Bowl commercial. The advertising team had strung together audio clips from CEO Satya Nadella’s recent speeches about empowerment, and overlaid video of kids using Microsoft technology to help improve their lives. Ultimately, it was rapper Common whose voice was heard by millions around the world during those Super Bowl commercials and in several follow-up spots thereafter.
At 48, he’s considered rap’s ambassador outside its borders. That doesn’t mean he wants to be seen as “safe.” Survey most hip-hop heads and they’d agree Common hit legend status more than a decade ago. He’s an icon of “conscious hip-hop” — the long misunderstood, often oversimplified subgenre that’s become shorthand for a willingness to lyrically speak to Black people’s fight for basic human rights, even the right to self-love.
Meditation time! Find a comfy spot to stretch out, close your eyes, and breathe deeply, in and out. Good. Now imagine a beam of energy. Peaceful, right? And are you hearing that celestial music yet? What type of music is it? Is it . . . rap? Perhaps it is not. And perhaps that is why Lonnie Rashid Lynn, the rapper, actor, writer, and activist known as Common, based his new album, “Let Love,” on concepts of healing, therapy, and meditation.
Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman and Common climb aboard an arctic submarine in the first trailer for 'Hunter Killer,' released Thursday.
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