The uncommon Common

Rapper tells audience: Believe in yourself

When people find what they are passionate about, they find their purpose in life, Common told a crowd of more than 200 gathered in person and via livestream Tuesday night for the Distinguished Speaker Series lecture. 

The actor, activist and rap artist, who shared an Academy Award and Golden Globe in 2015 with John Legend for Best Original Song, “Glory,” is the second guest of the 2021-2022 Distinguished Speaker Series. 

Common said he came to UTRGV “to talk about greatness.” 

“When I was a kid, I wanted to be great,” he said during the lecture in the UTRGV Performing Arts Complex in Edinburg. “I wanted the world to know I was here.”

Common said when he wrote his first rap, he discovered what he loved and something he could be good at.

“When I wrote my first rap, I found a confidence in myself that I had never expressed in my life at all,” he said. “I found something that I felt was a part of something that I wanted to express to the world.

“But the beautiful thing I can speak [about] my path in my journey is even when it’s hard, I love it. I wake up in the morning, thinking about music, thinking about creating, thinking about scenes in acting, thinking about ‘how can I help the people.’ I wake up in the morning, and it’s not always easy.”

He spoke about his first album, 1992’s “Can I Borrow a Dollar.”

“I made a record, my first album, definitely excited,” he said. “I released my album, and it came out [and] it wasn’t a success”.

Common said he was afraid that what he was passionate about might not be for him, but his desire for music and art made him stay.

“It’s very important that we know in our purpose, in our journey, that we stay present, because it’s ever evolving,” he said. “You are going to be tested, no matter what, you will be tested, believe you will be tested.”

Common also spoke about how important it is to have faith in ourselves.

“I ordered things from Amazon [and] I have faith, they are gonna be delivered,” he said. “But why don’t I have that faith in myself? If I ask for something and say something, why won’t I have that faith in myself?”

Common said it is important when things are going wrong to make sure you are in the right environment and surrounded by great people.

In 2015, he was awarded the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his work in “Selma.” He also received Daytime and Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program for “The View” and Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for “13th.”

In 2018, he started Imagine Justice, a nonprofit organization that focuses on criminal justice reform, coalition/community building and mental health and wellness, according to its website. He and his mother, Mahalia Hines, an educator, also began the Common Ground Foundation, “which empowers and uplifts youth from high potential communities to become future leaders,” according to its website. 

“I remember I was afraid to say I was an activist for a while,” he said. “But then, at a certain point, I said, ‘Man, I’ve been working hard at this, I have to claim this.’”

The rapper, who has been nominated 20 times for a Grammy and won three, said the best day of his life was when he was nominated for multiple Grammys.

“The first time my mother has ever come into an award show, Kanye is there with his mom, John Legend is there with his mom,” he said. “They announced two of my awards [and] I didn’t get those two.”

Common said that while they were naming the awards for which he was nominated, he was preparing his speech, but in the end he did not get any awards.

“That night at the Grammy party… John Legend walking in with, like, four Grammys, [and] all I had was my mama,” he said. “And I believed I would get those Grammys, I believed in myself, but it didn’t happen.”

Common explained the most important thing is the environment in which we surround ourselves.

“My greatest takeaway from that was that things happen in divine time,” he said. “I knew that this would come. And we surely do surround ourselves with other believers, other people who support that belief that we’re going in the right direction.”

After the lecture, Common was asked for his opinion about people being afraid to express their concerns.

“I’m learning this more and more and I’m working to practice it,” he said. “We weren’t created in fear. We weren’t born in fear. In our truest moments of who we are, we are not fearful people.”

Common ended by speaking about the importance of believing in yourself.

“I believe if you find your purpose, and find something you love, if you work on your belief and practice that belief, and if you lead that gift to service, to serve yourself, your family, your community, I believe someday, someone will call you the greatest because we all have that greatness in us,” he said.

The next Distinguished Speaker Series guest will be Lana Condor, an actress known from the Netflix movie trilogy “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.” The event will be held virtually March 2. The series is sponsored by the Office of Student Activities. For more information, visit the Distinguished Speaker Series website.