With his 10th album Nobody’s Smiling in stores, Common sat down with Rap-Up TV for part two of our exclusive interview. A 20-year veteran himself, the Chi-town MC weighed in on the current state of hip-hop.
“I love hip-hop. I love where hip-hop is. There’s future in hip-hop,” he said. “You always have dark, light, quality, non-quality, but there’s some quality hip-hop out there.”
He singled out the TDE camp in particular. “I can appreciate the aspects of the quality hip-hop and the freedom that I get out of artists, whether it’s Ab-Soul or Kendrick Lamar,” he said. “Their whole team does unique things.”
So can we expect a collaboration between him and the Compton MC? “Man, I would love to do a record with Kendrick,” said Common. “That album [good kid, m.A.A.d city] to me is like one of the most complete albums we’ve heard in hip-hop in a long time. It was the album that set a milestone […] from the new era of rap artists.”
He also praised Nicki Minaj’s Chicago-inspired record “Chi-Raq.” “I love that joint. I was rockin’ it as soon as I heard it,” he said. “I think Nicki Minaj is a dope MC. She can really rhyme to me. From what she did on ‘Monster’ to now, she still is snappin’. When you hear her rap, you’re like, damn, this woman is cold. I mess with Nicki Minaj.”
