Common

Released: July 10, 2005

Songwriter: Common

Producer: Karriem Riggins My Guy Mars DJ Dummy

Y'all know, we be tryin' our best as men to be faithful, you know
We might have our wife or our girlfriend, or the lady we care about in our life
And we really be tryna be strong
But then we go to these basement parties like this, and it be all these beautiful women out here
And we start losing focus, you know what I mean?
And then we be tryin' to do good and stuff, and you know
You start getting tempted and you see these beautiful ladies
Wearing the campers around their neck and stuff, you know
Nice striped dresses, very cultural and beautiful, and you start losing it
And I know it ain't right, we do gotta do better, men
But then again, it's some of y'all ladies that need to get y'all shit together, yeah
I ain't sayin' all of y'all, but it's some of y'all
You know, 'cause I know this one sista
In fact, I know a couple sistas that be like, "Man, I'm in love, man," you know
"That's my man right there, that's my boyfriend"
Then I see them out with the next brother
Where is the love? Where is the respect? What happened?
And I know this one sista, man, she did one of my guys real wrong, man
She was really bogus
She was like, she was ugly bogus, she was like super bogus
I'm talkin' 'bout she bogus, man, for real, she straight up bogus
I'ma tell y'all about her

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. (born March 13, 1972), better known by his stage name Common (previously Common Sense), is a Grammy and Oscar-winning rapper and actor from Chicago, Illinois. Common’s inspired mix of poetic flow and hip-hop soul has helped him earn his status as one of the most respected rappers in the game.

After being a ball boy for his hometown Chicago Bulls as a teen and attending Florida A&M University for business administration, Common Sense kicked in and he left school to become a rapper. He gained national attention after being featured in the Unsigned Hype column of The Source magazine in 1991. He released his debut album Can I Borrow a Dollar? through Relativity Records in 1992, followed by his breakthrough second album Resurrection in 1994, which features his hip-hop classic single “I Used To Love H.E.R.”

As his career began to take off, he was sued by the music group Common Sense over the name, leading Common to drop the “Sense” and allude to the change in the title of his third album, One Day It’ll All Make Sense (1997). He has released several critically acclaimed albums, including Like Water For Chocolate (2000), which features his J Dilla-produced hit single “The Light”, and Be (2005), which was released under fellow Chicago musician Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint. He also joined musicians Karriem Riggins and Robert Glasper to form the group August Greene, and the trio released their self-titled album in 2018.

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Bogus Women InterludeCommon

Common

Live at the Jazz Room