COMMON

WHO IS "COMMON"?

• Lonnie Lynn, Jr.
• March 13, 1972 (age 42)
• Born on the South Side of Chicago, IL
• Rapper, Actor, Writer

"COMMON"SENSE

• Divorced family at 6 years old (raised by mother)
• Attended Florida A&M with a scholarship
• Collabed significantly with Detroit record producer J Dilla
• Signed to Kanye West's new record label "GOOD Music" in 2004
• ( Chicagoan, Kanye West, works with Common in many songs)

COMMON- IT'S YOUR WORLD (LYRICS)

NIGHT BLOWS, STOVES DON'T WORK, HOES AT WORK ... MY MOTHER GAVE BIRTH BUT SHE REALLY NEVER HAD ME LEFT TO THE HOOD TO PLAY DADDY...

Same n****, same block, same s*** they own ... Now I stand in the same spot, as my old man My life I planned not to be on this corner I still wanna see California But this is my world... "It's your world"...

TAKE AWAY/WORLDVIEW
this song is targeting the youth in the US from difficult areas and basically telling them to "believe in themselves and aspire to be great" in the world in front of them. "You can do anything you set your mind to" if you work at it.

TAKE AWAY (to a child)
Don't let anyone tell you can't. Do let history define you. They cycle can end with you. Just because everyone else around you may fail doesn't mean you have to fail. ALWAYS follow your dreams.

TAKE AWAY (ME)
this is a very positive message and I agree because I think it's great to have a positive perspective about things that may have everything else against it. It encourages me to work hard and keep on pushing in a world of trials.

IF SOCIETY...
If society as a whole took theses messages into account, there would be more kids aspiring to be great and continuing in there pursuits. As a result there would be less crime, drugs, and violence because more people would grow up with string ambitions instead of just doing nothing.

IT'S YOUR WORLD

• I love hip hop and this song has a nice beat
• Our world can be a place of corruption and pain
• You can be a positive influence in a corrupt world with positive ambitions
• Me liking this song, says that I like good beats and positive messages in songs.

COMMON
Common has a history having very conscious lyrics in his songs that generally have a positive message in them. More old school beats and less talk about rap stereotypes like violence, women, and money which might be common topics for people from areas like the South Side of Chicago.