Chicago, IL · hip-hop

Common

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Chicago's elder statesman of conscious rap — an Oscar, a Grammy shelf, and 'The Light' still glowing.

Common, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn on Chicago's South Side, signed to Relativity Records at age 20 and released his debut, Can I Borrow a Dollar?, in 1992, followed by Resurrection two years later. The jazz-inflected Resurrection, built around the single 'I Used to Love H.E.R.,' established him as a central figure in conscious and alternative hip-hop while he kept an underground following into the late 1990s.

He then joined the Soulquarians circle for Like Water for Chocolate and Electric Circus, and his guest verse on Erykah Badu's 'Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)' became his first major crossover hit, reaching number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and winning a Grammy for Best R&B Song. 'The Light,' produced by J Dilla, remains his most widely heard song.

Signing with Kanye West's GOOD Music, Common released Be in 2005 and Finding Forever in 2007, the latter his first album to top the Billboard 200; its track 'Southside,' featuring West, won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Universal Mind Control, his final album for the label, met a cooler critical reception in 2008.

Common founded his own label, Think Common Entertainment, in 2011, and has kept releasing albums since, including Nobody's Smiling, Black America Again and, more recently, collaborative records with the supergroup August Greene and with producer Pete Rock. He has also built a substantial acting career, appearing in film and television including Hell on Wheels and Silo, and won an Academy Award and a Grammy for 'Glory,' written with John Legend for the film Selma.

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