Common Admits He Sounded ‘Snotty As Hell’ During ‘Sense’ Album Period – Then He Quit Dairy

Common and “Queen of Greens” chef Lauren Von Der Pool recently sat down with Ebro Darden for the Apple Music show The Message to discuss the benefits of a healthy diet and healthy living.

During the conversation, the tenured MC — who identifies as a pescatarian — talked about his decision to stop eating dairy and how that affected his voice. He claims as soon as he stopped consuming cheese, milk and other dairy products, his voice immediately improved.

“I literally could hear myself in the studio sounding better when I stopped eating dairy,” he told Darden. “I can listen to myself on records that I had back in early mid ’90s and be like damn, I sound snotty as hell. Dude, I can feel the clarity. I could feel my thinking clearer.”

Common’s storied career has yielded over a dozen studio albums, including the often celebrated Resurrection (1994) and Like Water For Chocolate (2000). But aside from music and films, the Chicago native is heavily involved in activism, including animal rights. In 2003, he appeared in the documentary Holistic Wellness for the Hip-Hop Generation where he promoted vegetarianism and was later featured in a print advertisement for PETA titled “Think Before You Eat.” 

Meeting Von Der Pool has further cemented his commitment to healthy living.

“I first met Lauren through Dr. Sebi,” he added. “His daughter introduced me to her and she was chefing. I was working on a film and she came through. Then we started connecting and I was like, wow, this food, it has something special to it, and her energy was right. Then everybody on the movie set wanted to start coming to my trailer, eating because I had Lauren cooking.”

The Message is a series that aims to further the dialogue about the unrest and inequalities around the world via intimate conversations with some of the most prominent Black voices, who also create exclusive playlists of the songs inspiring them to keep pushing forward.

Watch the clip above.