“When I first heard conscious rapper, it was kind of annoying” – Common
Forbes Magazine, Zack O’Malley Greenburg recently sat-down with Common during the initial promo run for his Nobody’s Smiling album over the summer. One topic that was brought to the forefront of the conversation was the labeling of himself as a “conscious rapper.” After initially being skeptical and not wanting to have the title on his resume, he looked at previously conscious influences being Bob Marley, KRS-One and even newer musicians like Kendrick Lamar being conscious (or more aware) artists.
Throughout the interview, he spoke on not wanting to label himself or limit his career with the title, citing the classic Jay-Z line from the Black Album that drew attention to his career. Watch the rest of the interview with Common Sense above, where he also discusses not letting the label limit his creativity and embracing it years later.
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