Common
In this special bonus episode we chat with rapper, actor, activist and author Common about his new memoir, Let Love Have the Last Word. As a celebrated and Grammy winning hiphop artist, Common's musical career has woven together his message-driven lyrics with a wide-ranging musical palette. His work onscreen has brought him into memorable roles in films including Selma, American Gangster, The Hate U Give and Jennifer Fox's The Tale. Common's lyrics — as well as his previous memoir, the bestseller One Day It'll All Make Sense — have always taken on self-examination as a key subject matter, and Let Love Have the Last Word takes this theme even further, writing in a spirit of vulnerability and directness about the challenges of being the parent and partner he wants to be, his responsibilities to others around him, and what it means to be a working artist while also living a life guided by love. He also opens up about a painful episode of childhood abuse — an episode he only recent came to confront in his own memory. He spoke to us this week via phone, as his new book hit the bookstores.