Common

Lonnie Rashid Lynn (born March 13, 1972), known by his stage name Common (formerly known as Common Sense), is an American rapper, actor, and activist. He has received three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He debuted in 1992 with the album Can I Borrow a Dollar?, and gained wider critical acclaim with its follow-ups, Resurrection (1994) and One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997). He maintained an underground following into the late 1990s, and achieved his first mainstream success through his work with the black music collective, Soulquarians.After attaining his first major label record deal, he released his fourth and fifth albums, Like Water for Chocolate (2000) and Electric Circus (2002) to continued acclaim despite modest commercial response. In 2003, he won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for his feature on Erykah Badu's single "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)". His sixth album, Be (2005) was released through Kanye West's GOOD Music label and reached both commercial success and critical acclaim, also receiving a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album. His seventh album, Finding Forever (2007) became his first project to peak the Billboard 200 upon release, while a song from the album, "Southside" (featuring Kanye West) won Lynn's second Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. He released his eighth album, Universal Mind Control (2008) to mixed reception before departing GOOD and launching his own label imprint, Think Common Entertainment in 2011.