Common Says Hip Hop Needs A Balance

Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times chatted with Common and asked if he sensed there is a sea change in hip-hop, away from the third-generation gangstas and towards something a lot more powerful. “God willing, definitely we will,” Common said. “I feel like hip-hop just needs this balance. If gangstas are saying it’s all about the benjamins, and that’s what they express, then I can’t knock them for that. But I feel like there also need to be cats talking about different things in life, like being a parent, or social issues, or other subjects. Hip-hop deserves that balance.”