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Common

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. (born March 13, 1972), better known by his stage name Common, is an American hip hop artist. Common debuted in 1992 with the album Can I Borrow A Dollar?, and maintained a significant underground following into the late 90s, after which he gained notable mainstream success through his work with the Soulquarians. His first major label album, Like Water for Chocolate, received widespread critical acclaim and moderate commercial success. Its popularity was matched by 2005's Be, which was nominated in the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album. Common has also started a burgeoning film career, starting with a role in the action thriller, Smokin' Aces, followed by a part in American Gangster

Aside from touring, Common was quiet for much of 2003. Many critics believed his career to be winding down due to his association with the neo-soul sub-genre, which had begun to lose its commercial steam. However, later that year, he hit the headlines when prominent mainstream rap artist Jay-Z paid him a compliment during the second verse of the song "Moment of Clarity", from his supposed swan song album The Black Album. Prefacing the confession with:
I dumbed down for my audience and doubled my dollars
They criticize me for it yet they all yell "Holla"
Jay-Z went on to say
Truthfully, I wanna rhyme like Common Sense (But i did five Mil)
I ain't been rhymin' like Common since

In early 2004, Common made an appearance on fellow Chicagoan Kanye West's multi-platinum debut album, The College Dropout (on the song "Get Em High"), and announced his signing to West's then-newfound label GOOD Music. West had been a longtime fan of Common's and the two even participated in a friendly on-air MC battle, where West took jabs at his lyrical idol for "going soft" and wearing crochet pants (as he does for his appearance in the video for the Mary J. Blige song "Dance for Me"). The pair worked together on Common's next album, Be, almost entirely produced by Kanye West, with some help from Common's longtime collaborator the late James Yancey (J Dilla) - also a favorite of West's. The album was released in May 2005, and performed very well, boosted by Kanye's involvement and the singles "The Corner", and "Go". Be earned Common the second gold record of his career, with sales topping out at around 800,000.
Hip-hop magazines hailed Be as one of the best albums to come out in a long time. The Source magazine gave it a near perfect 4.5 mic rating, XXL magazine gave it their highest rating of "XXL", and AllHipHop gave the album 5 stars. The album was also nominated for four Grammy Awards in 2006, including:

• Best Rap Album, Be
• Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, "The Corner" (featuring The Last Poets)
• Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, "They Say" (featuring Kanye West & John Legend)
• Best Rap Song, "Testify"

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