On his latest album, Black America Again, Chicago emcee Common rhymes in depth about Black Lives Matter, the industrial prison complex and the dog-whistle politics of Donald Trump, among many other topics. In a recent Q&A with Esquire, Common confirmed it’s no coincidence the latter is addressed on an album that was released a mere four days before the presidential election.
“I mean, initially when I was writing it, it was originally going to be an EP and we were going to release it in the summer,” Common said. “But as the project started to develop and became what it became, it was like, ‘Man, this is an election year. This music needs to be out and heard at that time.’ And these times are creating music like this.”
Common referenced Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, Kehinde Wiley’s artwork, and Ava DuVernay’s 13th as similar works and mentioned various other artists he felt were “speaking up” with their art in the current, politically-charged climate. DuVernay produced a short film, which accompanies Common’s eleventh full-length studio album. Common returned the favor, as he and Bilal’s “Letter To The Free” also appear in DuVernay’s recent documentary, 13th.
Common addressed the issue of potentially performing the material in front of primarily white crowds. While he addressed the topic on The Roots 1999 track “Act Too (The Love Of My Life)” by rhyming, “When we perform / It's just coffee shop chicks and White dudes,” he stated the topics on Black America Again were direct enough to appeal to all audiences. Common also spoke on the link between hip-hop and protest music by the likes of Nina Simone and Marvin Gaye, calling it “soul music speaking to the times.”
The video for the title track off Black America Again premiered on Complex in September. You can read Esquire’s full Q&A with Common here.
