Let Love also addresses Common’s relationship with hip hop, referring to the genre as a woman – as he’s
done in the past – like on “HER Love”. But his views today are markedly different from that of fellow elder
statesmen Cypress Hill, who recently claimed that most modern hip hop was “mindless bullshit” – and to
the views he once held himself. The new songs nod to Common’s 1994 track “I Used to Love HER” (HER
standing for “hip hop in its essence is real”), which ignited a feud with Ice Cube’s rap collective Westside
Connection after it was interpreted to direct blame towards west coast gangsta rap for the path hip hop was
taking. It also provided the tipping point for the notorious east coast/west coast rap feud that followed.
“I don’t feel I have any authority over anybody else taking part in it,” he says. “This thing is all of ours. I’ll
speak up about it because I care, but I had to learn not to be possessive. I love that hip hop is continuing to
grow and evolve. The new artists, the new voices, they’re developing their own thing and that’s dope.
That’s what’s always been the most attractive thing to me about hip hop. That’s what made me first
participate, and that’s what makes me continue and have reverence for it.”
What does he make of “Old Town Road”?
“Lil Nas X... the country joint, right?” he asks, smiling. “Yeah, that’s got a little vibe to it. I like that, it’s
innovative.”
“Sometimes people want things to stay the way they were,” he says. “I’ve experienced that before, when I
didn’t feel the soul of it. But when I see people coming from a truthful place, I respect that. What I don’t
care for is people who don’t hold to any new thoughts,” he adds.
“The world progresses when you take the good things that were passed on and allow the younger
generation to bring what is new and advanced. This album is rooted in soul music – it’s a traditional hip-hop
project. But it’s also present. I’m watching, and listening, and paying attention. Originality is something I’m
always going to aspire to.”
‘Let Love’ is out on 30 August. Common performs live at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 10 September