Gold record-selling rapper Common will bring his socially conscious alternative hip hop to the Hill for this year's Spring Fling, Concert Board has confirmed.
Concert Board has also signed a rock band to headline the concert, but Board representatives and booking agents have refused to confirm the name of the band because of contractual restrictions.
Concert Board Co-Chair Alan Munkacsy, a sophomore, said he thought the Tufts community would be excited to have Common at Spring Fling. "I've only heard good things about him, and we've gotten probably about 100 e-mails requesting Common ... over the past two years," he said.
Common is most famous for his albums "Like Water for Chocolate" (2000), his breakthrough LP and first gold record, and the Kanye West-produced "Be" (2005).
Munkacsy and fellow Concert Board Co-Chair Janette Hoffman, a junior, finalized the university's contract with Common yesterday. The headlining rock band has also signed a contract with Tufts, but this document includes a stipulation preventing sources from releasing the band's name to the press until later this month.
A third band, which will perform before Common, has yet to be signed. Whichever Tufts group wins Saturday's Battle of the Bands will open the April 26 show with a noon performance.
Common, a Chicago native, began to make a name for himself in the underground hip-hop scene in the early 1990s after dropping out of Florida A&M University. He soon earned acclaim for his blend of socially conscious lyrics and laid-back beats, which often draw on jazz samples.
After releasing his critically lauded third album, "One Day It'll All Make Sense" (1997), Common signed onto the major record label MCA and joined the Soulquarians, a loose affiliation of well-known rappers from across the country. The group's eleven members share a propensity for experimental urban rap and a new-age, neo-soul instrumental ambience. The collective includes R&B singer D'Angelo, the Roots drummer ?uestlove and former A Tribe Called Quest leader Q-Tip.
In 2000, Common released "Like Water for Chocolate," in which he confronted issues related to race in America. For instance, Common opens "A Song for Assata" with the following: "In the Spirit of God/ In the Spirit of the ancestors/ In the spirit of the Black Panthers/ In the spirit of Assata Shakur/ We make this movement towards freedom/ For all those who have been oppressed/ And all those in the struggle."
The album's cover features the photograph "1956 Alabama" by Civil Rights activist Gordon Parks. This picture captures a black woman drinking from a water fountain marked "Colored Only."
"Electric Circus" (2002), Common's follow-up to "Like Water," exhibited musical innovations and a further departure from traditional hip hop. With rock- and electronica-influenced beats, the album received mixed reviews. While some critics praised it for its ambition, popular reactions were more lukewarm. It peaked at number 47 on the Billboard 200, 31 spots lower than its predecessor.
Common signed onto Kanye West's record label "G.O.O.D." in 2004, when he began working closely with the fellow Chicago native. Common contributed rapping on "Get 'Em High," a track from West's debut album, "The College Dropout" (2004). West, meanwhile, produced much of Common's next album, "Be."
West also contributed production to "Finding Forever" (2007), Common's latest studio album, which went gold.
Common has since released a greatest hits collection, "Thisisme Then: The Best of Common" (2007). He is in the process of recording an album, tentatively titled "The Believer," which is due for release in November.
