Posted by Los Angeles, Ca – With Common on a press tour in promotion of his forthcoming A Beautiful Revolution, Pt. 2 album, which arrives on Friday (September 10), it only made sense for the Chicago rhymer to make his return to the L.A. Leakers on Thursday (September 8) with a bristling eight-minute freestyle puncturing a pair of ’90s classics.
First up, Common shreds DJ Premier’s twitchy “Livin’ Proof” beat courtesy of rap duo Group Home. He mentions several pop culture staples including the likes of tennis star Naomi Osaka, Allen Iverson, Jadakiss and pays tribute to the late Biz Markie.
“They broke in my crib and seen Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, damn he near an EGOT and he’s still Hip Hop/I’m the rap what bird is to bee-bop, what AI is to Reebok, what Jada is to D-Block, the game needs a detox,” he raps.
Just so we're clear, Hip Hop chose me. I will forever be indebted to this artform and culture. Thank you @TheLALeakersOG & @Power106LA for creating a platform for the art to shine and flourish. As Barack once said, "THIS IS WHAT I DO!"https://t.co/aETlYhSLRr
— COMMON (@common) September 9, 2021
The beat then takes a turn midway through to RZA’s sharp production seen on Raekwon’s “Incarcerated Scarfaces” off his classic 1995 Only Built 4 Cuban Linx album.
“Kaepernick of this rap shit, you see I ain’t playing with these goofy ass rappers/I do movies, I know actors/It’s all on your face, you ain’t never been proactive,” Common rhymes.
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the 49-year-old heaped praise for his freestyle bars from some of his Hip Hop compatriots such as Russ. A Beautiful Revolution, Pt. 2 hits streaming services at midnight ET and features Black Thought, PJ, Brittany Howard, Marcus King, Sean Kuti and more. Pt. 1 of the album arrived in 2020.
Watch the freestyle below.