|
|
|
|
|
|
HOME | ABOUT | BIOS | EMAIL |
|
 |
| |
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
THE PEOPLE
Common
Finding Forever
GOOD Music/Geffen : 2007
[leak]
THE LIGHT
Common feat. Erykah Badu & Bilal
Dave Chappelle's Block Party
Geffen : 2007
[Buy It]
HIP HOP IS DEAD
Nas
Hip Hop is Dead
Def Jam : 2006
[Buy It]
Last December, I traveled to Chicago to have lunch with Common for an article in Paste Magazine. To celebrate the impending release of Common's new album, Finding Forever (the first single from which is available above), I'm posting the entire interview transcript, including all the parts that I didn't use in the article, below.
You have a new album coming out, Finding Forever.
It should come out in the spring, I would say late April. (Note: Album is currently slated for July release.)
Can you tell me about the title?
It's just really talking about making timeless music and timeless art, and how we exist through this music forever if we just find this place where it's pure.
What happens if you don't find that place?
Then it becomes the moment's hit and they play it on the radio and it's like a hundred million audience, but it just passes away. There's certain songs you can hear that were big hits in 2004, where you hear it now you don't have a feeling about it. It doesn't even take you back to that time. Where as I can hear Michael Jackson's Off the Wall and it takes me to a place in my life, an emotional place, because the music has that emotion. When you find forever music and you make timeless art, it's got to have an emotion to it. NWA takes me to a certain emotion and place in my life, and I feel that music should do that. Art should do that.
So timelessness is very important to you.
I want my music to be able to last, man. I was riding with my daughter the other day and playing some old soul music, and her and her friends covered up their ears like no, we don't like this. I was like, this is good music, soulful music. She don't want to hear anything made before she was born. She's nine. But the point is that these Isley Brothers, James Brown, and John Coltrane songs that I listen to, my daughter is going to hear them, because it's timeless music. There's movies I check out like Taxi Driver or Raging Bull or On the Waterfront that I wasn't aware of up until three years ago. I watch them now and I'm still like, damn, that's an incredible movie. That's one of the ways I'm going to leave a mark on the earth. I feel like we all have a purpose in life, and through music and art I want to be able to have people become enlightened and enjoy and be entertained and encouraged, because I feel like I want people from all walks of life to get that energy from the work that I do. And that's how you do it, you gotta put your heart and soul into it. But it also takes you having certain experiences in life to be able to offer that, and you being in tune with what's going on, like Marvin Gaye - he was in tune with the people. One thing I always emphasize is that when you're doing music, you want people to enjoy it at the end of the day, whether they're learning something or not. It's enjoyment, too, and it's an escape. You gotta make it pleasurable. When we order this meal, I definitely want to get something that's good, but I want something that's healthy too. I got friends that wont get tofu, they're like, it don't taste good. You got to make it taste good.
Are you a vegetarian?
I just eat seafood. I was vegan for about three years. It's hard, but it's worth it. It takes a certain amount of discipline.
Back to what you were saying a moment ago - do you think it's important for people to be aware of themselves, of their own bodies and their place in the world, in order to do good in the world?
You just said it, man. You made me think of what it's all about. When you take care of your body, you pay more attention to the world and take care of others too.
If you aren't taking your own life seriously…
Then how you going to take anyone else's life seriously?
One exciting rumor I've heard about the new album is that you'll be working some with Dre.
Aw, man, I would love that but that's not… I'm not going to say that's not happening, because you never know what could happen, but right now this album is largely produced by Kanye West. J Dilla, who passed, has a track with D'angelo and I. I love it. Also, will.i.am and I are creating some music together. But Kanye and me is like the foundation. I met him here (in Chicago), through No I.D., who produced my first three albums. Kanye was younger, but friends with No I.D., and he would come around while we were making music. He was always hungry, always confident, always shit talking. He had potential, but potential with a purpose is what made him who he is today.
Do you have some good guests on the album?
Yeah, but at this point, for me, it's about making albums that sound good and let people know who I am. The guests who I have most of the time are vocalists singing something I cant sing, but as an MC, unless it's a song where I hear somebody on it… that's how I make music, if I get a beat and it makes me think of someone else, then I'll go get them.
So you don't go in for the cameo loading?
Even that's dying down, they know now that it don't sell records.
Is the album almost done?
We're in the third quarter. It's definitely different from Be, but you can also hear a continuity, meaning a certain boom-bap element. Me and Kanye got a certain chemistry that's going to feel familiar, but you still hear new sounds like, man, something's new about this, Common is talking about everyday life, but it's something new.
Do you approach your albums on a song-by-song basis or as concepts?
I do it on the song-by-song and then let the album have a theme. Certain songs stick together and give it a contrast, another color. I don't necessarily say, okay, Finding Forever, so all these songs need to sound like this, even though I do have a direction, something that's progressive. But I want all my songs to be wide open, so I might say, something progressive but with the boom-bap in it. I can figure out something like that as a choice and it ends up coming to a whole greater level than I thought.
Do you rhyme differently with different producers?
I respond to what they do. One thing I notice about producers with me is that they cook beats up with me mostly live, or they may have something in mind for me and let me hear it. They know I like a certain soul in my music, that's the stuff they usually give me, whether its seventies- or eighties-sounding or just straight hard.
You were close with J Dilla. Can you talk about his legacy to hip hop?
Dilla to me is like one of the greatest producers ever, not just in hip hop, but producers, period. That's my brother, man. He's a good, good person, he meant a lot to me as a homey. We were roommates in L.A. I think we're still discovering new things about what he meant to hip hop. I was on the set of Smokin' Aces and the director was playing Welcome to Detroit, and he didn't even know that I knew JD. So his music is going to reach certain people that we have yet to even know. But when I was at his funeral, I felt like, seeing the other artists there, this dude is like a Charlie Parker or Coltrane or Miles, one of our greats.
Do you ever consider your and Kanye's mediatory position in pop music, being neither gangsters nor underground ideologues?
It's hard for you to totally see what you are in the world and the music business, the way you serve, but you just kind of know your purpose and what you want and create the music you feel is pure and sincere, and you let the people decide who you are at that point. If you're like, I'm going to be this voice for this, and you just live your life knowing you want to create stuff you know people are going to rock to, knowing that you want to rock shows and for little kids to be able to sing something that's positive, have sexy girls dancing to it…I always felt like I wanted to be important in hip hop, to have a mark and have my voice be heard and be able to help people. But within the industry, you don't stop and look too much. You have your purpose and go for it. You don't stop and celebrate like, yo, this is who I am in this game, you gotta know who you are as a person.
You've been in hip hop long enough to weather it through several sea changes. How has the industry changed?
The whole business itself has changed. There's no more Tower Records. That used to be the place where, when I released albums, we would do the in-store performance. It was not long ago when I could go up to a radio station and if the DJ liked my song, he could play it. But it's at the point where it's has to be on the playlist, and the record label has to approve it, and now what's revealing itself to me is that radio doesn't control people's success as much any more. There are people whose records get played a lot, people singing it, but that don't mean they're going to go buy your album.
A good time to get into acting, then!
Even that, you got to do it with passion, man. You gotta do it from the heart, because you love it. Anything that has to do with art, you got to approach it from a place of love. All the other things that come along with it, yeah, they can be on the agenda, but the initial thing has to be the love for what you doing. Whether it's journalism or whatever that has to do with creativity and art. Even if you're working a job, man, you gotta love your job. Society is rough as far as having jobs for folks, but if you can find something you like to do, I say you should do it.
You have roles in two upcoming films, Smokin' Aces and American Gangster. Tell me about the making the transition from music to film.
I've been told that any character you play has some quality of you in him, whether you have that quality within yourself or not. What I do is try to bring a person to the character. I'm a person, you're a person, that lady that just walked by is a person - certain differences we going to have, certain things we going to connect on. We people. So I just try to bring the human elements of a person to each character. They gotta be different, they're not going to be me, that's the fun part about it. I get to be someone else, explore sides of me that I don't express.
Like gangster roles?
That was such a fun experience, and encouraging and enlightening too. I was discovering all these things about myself and learning about the process of making a movie, things I never knew. It's just good to be part of a project that's quality and innovative, in and of itself.
So you like the movies, you'd see them even if you weren't in them?
Yeah, I'd definitely go see Smokin' Aces and American Gangster. I am a moviegoer, man. I've seen The Departed like five times. It's incredible. I went to acting classes before I started auditioning for roles, to see if I wanted to make that transition, how I felt about it. I had to feel like it was something that I could do and be good at, and also I wanted to feel like it was something I would love to do, so that I could get in there and want to work and do it. Acting class is so fun for me, I look forward to acting class when I go. It's something I plan other things around.
What attracted you to these two roles?
Sir Ivy in Smokin' Aces, I love that he's a dark character that's sensitive. He is one of the sharpest killers in the movie, but he's very intelligent and warrior-like. By the same token, he has a heart. You see the heart come through.
And your American Gangster character?
First, the script was really good, and Denzel Washington Russell Crowe were in it. Denzel himself. I was like, oh man, I got to be a part of this. He's one of my favorites. Working with Denzel was an overwhelming experience, like being among royalty and people who are masters of what they do. He's a master. I was able to learn, also, about being a responsible man and a good leader. I play Turner Lucas. The story is based on Frank Lucas, this guy from Greensboro, NC. He moves to Harlem and works for this big-time hustler, this kingpin named Bumpy Johnson. Bumpy dies (Frank was his driver, very enterprising and intelligent), and during the late sixties, instead of being the middleman he decided to go over to Vietnam. He had a cousin who was over there, and they started bringing in heroin from Vietnam in government planes, in the caskets of troops. The story deals with him becoming one of the biggest hustlers at the time, but also a family man, a loving guy, and the conflict between him and Russell Crowe's character, a detective who's trying to put him away. He has his own personal problems, but as a policeman he's working hard to bring down the guys he feels are doing wrong. It's just kind of contrasting these two people - one guy bringing in heroin in caskets, but he's going to church and taking care of his family. Then the other guy's family life is fucked up, he has problems with womanizing, but he's doing right by the system. I play one of Frank Lucas's five brothers. We come up from NC and set up shop with him, bring our families up. Frank Lucas was there while we were shooting, it was crazy - kind of strange, sometimes.
How does the film world differ from the music world?
It's definitely run a little more by the book, more organized, schedules are different. You have less power in being an actor. I kind of like that, I feel good about being in a group, like everything's not on my shoulders, every interview not coming personally to me. I like being part of a team, I played sports. When you're making music, the producers are your team, but everything falls on your shoulders.
Did you catch any flack for being in those Gap ads? Do you think being known as a “socially conscious” artist creates extra responsibilities for you?
It definitely creates a responsibility. Any individual in the public eye has a responsibility to say something, mean something, do something that's helping the world, helping your people. So yeah, being a conscious artist I feel that I definitely have a certain responsibility. I think people are growing out of that, oh, he does conscious music so he can't be seen among this crowd thing. He can't be seen doing commercials. People are maturing, they're like, do what you do. You're not doing anything out of your character as an artist… most people are very happy for me, like, that's a blessing. I almost feel like it put me in another stratosphere. People will come up to me like, that's the dude from the Gap ads.
My mom knows about you now.
That's a blessing, man. I had a fight with myself one time about whether I would do a Coca Cola commercial. At that time, I made a decision that unless it was something I'm totally against, I'm going to use that platform to get out my message.
Are there film roles you would reject on principle?
That's a different thing, it's creating a character. When I do an advertisement for a company, I'm saying I, Common, endorse this. It's who I am. When I'm a character, I'm another person. You're telling that person's story for whatever reasons you find it purposeful. Like in Smokin' Aces, I'm killing people in the movie. I don't get to do that in real life. You get that feeling of wanting to release some anger, it's better to do it in a movie.
Or on some cargo pants?
That wasn't even releasing anger, that was just celebrating.
Nas's new album is called Hip Hop is Dead - what do you think he means by that?
First of all, Nas is one of the greatest ever, so what he's trying to say is the form of hip hop we grew up with doesn't exist as much any more. There's still some artists that have it, but as a whole, if you look at hip hop, you don't feel that love for art, that purity in the music, and I think that's what he's saying is dead. It definitely has become the new dope game. Drugs became not as profitable, I guess. Because most cats don't even want to be selling drugs, some people figure, this is my way to survive, but most people I know don't want to sell drugs. Rap has become people's outlet to make money, which is one reason why it doesn't have the impact that it had before.
How do you draw the line between paying heed to disenfranchised voices and blocking out socially toxic ones?
Anybody who has a voice, you got to let them tell their story. That doesn't mean I'm going to sit and listen to every story. I like John Coltrane, D'angelo, Lauryn Hill, Prince, Nas, Kanye, Mos, Jay-Z sometimes. I listen to other stuff, but you're going to like what you like. We come to the restaurant, you're going to order what you like I'm going to order what I like. I like Nas's music. I like Kanye's music. It's no knock to anybody else, but you got a certain preference. I said what I had to say about the industry in “I Used to Love H.E.R”. I do feel like an artist should allow themselves to be a voice, but they should also recognize that there's certain individual characteristics that they have, that they gotta give out. Meaning, if you aren't really looking at your voice and truly being you… I think the only problem with a lot of the things you hear, drug rap or party songs, is that you don't get to hear the other side of black culture, or just people. Black people are diverse people like a lot of other nationalities or races, we do have a set of people that deal with the pain and struggles of being in a drug-infested, gang-infested world, but at the same time there's black people that work hard every day, and take care of their families, working for the CTA, or doing construction work, or picking up trays, creating new inventions for Apple, black people that paint, black people that are artists. We have a diverse culture, but hip hop is pretty much just showing one side of it, which is why someone like Nas would say hip hop is dead. We know at one point that hip hop was NWA and KRS-One…this culture is obviously strong, affecting the way people dress and talk. This is a powerful voice, a young black voice of America. I would never be one to say you can't express that you sold drugs, but a lot of drug dealers I know aren't proud of it. It ain't the life they want to live. I think that side should be told too. That's the one thing that people aren't expressing, that we're human. You feel hurt sometimes, you cry sometimes, sometimes you lie, sometimes you want to punch people, sometimes, you feel pleasure, you feel cocky. We're people.Labels: brian, hip-hop, interview
posted by Brian
LINK |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
