COMMON IS NUMBER ONE

Common’s ‘Finding Forever’ is his first Number One album….

It’s been fifteen years since Common released his debut album, Can I Borrow A Dollar?, in 1992. At the time, the rapper went by Common Sense and was highly regarded on the underground scene. He’s since dropped the Sense from his name and for the first time in his career he has a Number One record. His latest album, Finding Forever, entered the Billboard 200 at Number One this week after selling more than 155,000 copies its first week in stores. The rapper’s last album, Be, sold 184,000 copies its first week in 2005 but that was only enough to land at Number Two.

Common explained how he felt no pressure while recording this album because of his budding acting career. The rapper said,

“I feel freer with this album, maybe because I’m doing so many other things. It kind of takes all the pressure away from rap being my only source of income, only way to like make a living, the only way to continue to express myself because now, okay, I can go out and you know God willing be a part of like many great films. It’s like that allows me to open myself up when I’m writing and be like alright…It ain’t as much pressure.”

Finding Forever features collaborations with D’Angelo, Kanye West, the late J Dilla, Will.I.Am, Bilal, Dwele, and Lily Allen.

In related news, Common is one of the stars of the new movie, American Gangster, which opens nationwide on November 2nd. The film also stars Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, T.I., and RZA.