This past weekend, Common liberated his latest body of work A Beautiful Revolution (Pt 1), which sees nine tracks and features from Black Thought, Lenny Kravitz, and PJ, the last of whom appears on half of the release. The album is said to be “movement music” for the current fight against systematic oppression and racism. One top-tier example of this is the song “A Place in This World,” which is produced by Burniss Earl Travis II and Karriem Riggins and sees the Chicago veteran rapping about the Black community’s place in this very divided country that we all currently reside in:
“American ain’t legible, my rights are being left behind, in questing times they say invest in us, trying to rest my mind, the press be pressed to find stories by my kind, I suggest the climb/
Though many, many holler about justice reform, but won’t put dollars wherе the hustle is born, you know our politicians, they likе to perform, acting and singing that government song, how they love America when you lovin’ it wrong…/”
In addition to the music, Common has been very active on the front lines as well. In fact, he was spotted spending Election Day Eve in Tampa, Florida, speaking to voters in support of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and performing for volunteers and supporters alike. Today, he’s in Philadelphia continuing to push the need to make our voices heard at the polls.
A Beautiful Revolution (Pt 1) follows last year’s Let Love, which boasted 11 cuts and assists from Daniel Caesar, Swizz Beatz, Leikeli47, BJ The Chicago Kid, A-Trak, Jill Scott, Leon Bridges, and more. More recently, Common also joined the likes of Jermaine Dupri, Ne-Yo, Johntá Austin, Bryan Michael Cox, and more to create the uplifting track “Change.”
Press play on A Beautiful Revolution (Pt 1) below.