Common’s new album, The Dreamer, The Believer, recently dropped and he spoke to Rolling Stone about the White House controversy and how it affected his most recent album. If you’re not privy to the controversy I’m talking about, once the White House released their intentions to have Common perform Fox News ran what was basically a smear campaign.

Here is Common to Rolling Stone:

“I found out what FOX was saying and it didn’t hit me personally,” he continued. “It was just that I was caught up in this political crossfire, and I looked at it from that perspective.”

He explained how the criticism actually helped him become more aware of his integrity and how he funneled that into his music.

“The irony is, I went even more in tune to what I’m about and thought even more with me knowing that I was blessed to go to the White House and blessed to do my poetry at the White House and I still got invited throughout all the hoopla. I realize that I’m a Hip Hop artist who has to express my freedom to speak and my style and who I am. I didn’t censor my lyrics to say, ‘Man, if I say this, I’m not going to be invited to the White House again. I won’t be accepted by these people.’ I just really tried my best to stay true to who I was, and it really came out on this album.”

Most rapper’s lyrics, when dissected with malice, can be strewn  as offensive but any fan of Common knows he has always been thoughtful and responsible with his music.

via [Hip Hop DX] and [Rolling Stone]

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