![]() So to hear somebody who’s a hero of mine say, “A vegetarian, no goat or ham or chicken or turkey or hamburger, cuz to me that’s suicide, self-murder” was big. Growing up in Chicago, I just ate whatever I wanted and didn’t think about removing foods from my diet. I can go directly to KRS-One’s song “My Philosophy,” which is one of the most influential songs on me as far as health. How have you seen the culture’s discussion on health evolve over the years?Ĭommon: Early on, hip-hop influenced and discussed health in a clever way. Men’s Health: Hip-hop is turning 50 this year. Months before the SAG strike and in celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, the C-O double-M O-N reflected on the culture’s health journey, how unionizing can help save lives, and why he’s comfortable shouldering the weight of Black America, even if it means baring his darkest secrets. “That would be something in the next 50 years that I would really advocate for and fight for.” He wants hip-hop to form a union to ensure that anyone who’s contributed to the culture is cared for by it. While he loves the genre’s growth, he’s seen far too many hip-hop legends die without proper medical attention. “I don’t think we as a community in hip-hop, at the time, was as open to that type of vulnerability because the machismo was a lot of what hip-hop was about.” Not only did he hear about Black men opening up about similar experiences due to his honesty, but the hip-hop community also embraced his vulnerability in ways he doubted it would’ve back in the ’90s. In his 2019 memoir, Let Love Have the Last Word, and his Let Love EP, he bravely opened up about being molested by a family friend when he was a child. Since then, Common's felt duty-bound to carry the weight of Black truths, even if it means unloading his secrets. That was a turning point for me in understanding how valuable just being truthful, telling my experiences, and also being really open about it can be.” “He said, ‘My lady and I were going back and forth about this, and then we listened to that song and just cried and said we were going to do this,’” Common remembers. After a performance one night, he remembers a fan letting him know it wasn’t just his story he was telling. The transparency was captivating, and sharing his decision-making process was instructive. His thought process was laid bare-the financial and emotional insecurity, the guilt in taking a life, the pledge to “use self-control instead of birth control.” Common turned his revelatory conversations with Kim into a tender Lauryn Hill–assisted track, “Retrospect for Life,” from his 1997 album One Day It’ll All Make Sense. He remembers when he and his partner, Kim Jones, were on the way to the abortion clinic to undergo their second abortion, but then the pair decided to have a child and try to figure out parenting. (Which he chronicled on the track “Book of Life”: “My liver I burn it up…the cup I gotta give it up.”) He contends it played a central role in his music because “hip-hop is reflective of our communities, and one of the things that we have been dealing with in our communities-and I dealt with it, too-is alcoholism.” Initially, Common simply reflected the Black experience in his music he didn’t influence behavior as KRS-One did for a young Lonnie.Ī canceled trip to the abortion clinic changed all that and the course of his 30-plus-year career. “To hear somebody who’s a hero of mine say, ‘No goat or ham or chicken or turkey or hamburger, cuz to me that’s suicide, self-murder’ was big.”Īlthough Common gave up pork and beef by 1996, he still struggled with alcoholism. He couldn’t dream past the options given to him until 1988 when pioneering rapper KRS-One changed his life with one song, "My Philosophy." He doesn’t remember anyone coming to the inner cities to give dietary insights. Read the rest of the stories here.īEFORE 51-YEAR-OLD Common became a vegan and an Oscar- and Grammy Award–winning vessel for Black stories, he was just Lonnie Rashid Lynn growing up in Chicago without any guidance on how to eat healthy. This cover story is part of Hip-Hop Is Life, a series of profiles and features that revisit key moments in the intersection of hip-hop and Black men’s health over the last 50 years.
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