• Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn, better known by his stage name Common, is an American rapper, actor, writer, philanthropist, and activist , he is also a doctor
• Common’s “Letter To The Free” was written for the Ava DuVernay-directed film,13th. Its lyrics reflect with the film’s theme discussing the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.
• The song speaks specifically about mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex, and more generally about institutionalized systems that disproportionally target black and brown Americans
• Common first premiered “Letter To The Free” on October 4th 2016 during a live performance at The White House hosted by NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert .
• common was signed to labels such as Loma Vista, Think Common, ARTium, DEF JAM, Warner Bros, Geffen, GOOD, Universal, MCA and Relativity
• Best RnB song grammy in 2003
• net worth of 45$ million

• Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn (born March 13, 1972), better known by his stage name Common
• Common is an American rapper from Illinois, Chicago
• He won a grammy for the best R&B singer
• Debuted in 1992 with the album ‘Can I Borrow A Dollar?’
• Net worth $45m
• The song featured in his album in 2016 ‘Black America Again’

• Black and white, the setting is quite dark as it’s filmed in a prison
• Letter to the Free was made soundtrack to The 13th – a documentary by Ava DuVernay named after the American 13th amendment (the abolition of slavery)
• The singers are very passionate as it’s something they felt strongly about, how black people were mistreated in slavery

[Verse 1: Common]
Southern leaves, southern trees we hung from
Barren souls, heroic songs unsung
Forgive them Father they know this knot is undone
Tied with the rope that my grandmother died
Pride of the pilgrims affect lives of millions
Since slave days separating, fathers from children
Institution ain’t just a building
But a method, of having black and brown bodies fill them
We ain’t seen as human beings with feelings
Will the U.S. ever be us? Lord willing!
For now we know, the new Jim Crow
They stop, search and arrest our souls
Police and policies patrol philosophies of control
A cruel hand taking hold
We let go to free them so we can free us
America’s moment to come to Jesus

[Chorus: Bilal]
Freedom (Freedom)
Freedom come (Freedom come)
Hold on (Hold on)
Won’t be long (Won’t be long)
Freedom (Freedom)
Freedom come (Freedom come)
Hold on (Hold on)
Won’t be long (Won’t be long)

[Verse 2: Common]
The caged birds sings for freedom to ring
Black bodies being lost in the American dream
Blood of black being, a pastoral scene
Slavery’s still alive, check Amendment 13
Now whips and chains are subliminal
Instead of ‘nigga’ they use the word ‘criminal’
Sweet land of liberty, incarcerated country
Shot me with your ray-gun
And now you want to trump me
Prison is a business, America’s the company
Investing in injustice, fear and long suffering
We staring in the face of hate again
The same hate they say will make America great again
No consolation prize for the dehumanized
For America to rise it’s a matter of Black Lives
And we gonna free them, so we can free us
America’s moment to come to Jesus

[Chorus: Bilal]
Freedom (Freedom)
Freedom come (Freedom come)
Hold on (Hold on)
Won’t be long (Won’t be long)
Freedom (Freedom)
Freedom come (Freedom come)
Hold on (Hold on)
Won’t be long (Won’t be long)
Freedom (Freedom)
Freedom come (Freedom come)
Hold on (Hold on)
Won’t be long (Won’t be long)
Freedom (Freedom)
Freedom come (Freedom come)
Hold on (Hold on)
Won’t be long (Won’t be long)
Freedom (Freedom)
Freedom come (Freedom come)
Hold on (Hold on)
Won’t be long (Won’t be long)
Freedom (Freedom)
Freedom come (Freedom come)
Hold on (Hold on)
Won’t be long (Won’t be long)
Freedom (Freedom)
Freedom come (Freedom come)
Hold on (Hold on)
Won’t be long (Won’t be long)
Freedom (Freedom)
Freedom come (Freedom come)
Hold on (Hold on)
Won’t be long (Won’t be long)
Freedom (Freedom)
Freedom come (Freedom come)
Hold on (Hold on)
Won’t be long (Won’t be long)

• Common is an American Rapper and was the first Rapper to win a Grammy, Emmy and an Oscar.
• Net worth 45million.
• He has 12 Albums released.
• He was born in 1972.
• He is 47 years old.

• Common had a viral music video called ‘Letter to the Free’ which currently has 880K views with 16K likes on YouTube. It was released on 21st December 2016. The song featured the artist Bilal.

Common is the stage name of Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn, an American Rapper.

He won a grammy for best R&B singer in 2003.

His net worth is $45 million.

He was born March 13, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois.

“Letter to the free” was made for “The 13th” a documentary by Ava DuVernay named after the American 13th amendment (The abolition of slavery).

The documentary centers around the mass incarceration of African-Americans as a form of modern-day slavery, and is named after the 13th Amendment, which made slavery illegal except as “punishment of crime”.

1)Common is an American rapper, actor, writer, philanthropist, and activist. 

2)Began rapping in the late 1980s

3)In 2003, he won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song

4)Net worth – 45 million

LETTER TO THE FREE – MUSIC VIDEO

1)Released – 2016

2)Genre – hiphop

• Common is an american rapper, actor, writer, philanthropist and activist
• Singing about rights and wanting to be free
• He is the founder of The Common Ground foundation a non-profit charity that seeks to empower underprivileged youth to be strong citizens and citizens of the world.
• He has won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a duo or group in 2003.
• He is worth 45 million
• Signed to labels like Warner Bros, Universal.

Letter to the Free

• Its lyrics reflect with the film’s theme discussing the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.
• Written by = Robert Glasper, Karriem Riggins and Common
• Release date = October 14 2016
• Common won an Emmy for the song
•  After clinching his award for outstanding original music and lyrics (from Ava DuVernay’s 13th documentary), Common became the first rapper to ever win an Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar. 
• The video has 880,000 views online

Common

• Common is an American hip-hop rap artist who is a grammy and oscar award winner.
• Lonnie Corant Jaman Shuka Rashid Lynn (real name)
• Debued his first album ‘Can i borrow a dollar?’ in 1992 at the age of 20
• Net worth = $45 million
• Has been signed with warner bros

Video

• Released in 2016 on the album Black American again
• Contains cultural and social significance
• Common wrote the song ‘Letter to the free’ for the documentary of the 13th, named after the American 13th amendment to abolish slavery
• Bilal is an American singer songwriter and record producer
• 880 thousand views
• Filmed in a prison
• look lost at beginning looking up at ceiling, black n white, no shoes, isolated not grand piano, small drum, jazz origins, black square – metaphor, prison, 13th amendment (slavery), repetition of ‘freedom’ ‘freedom of come”hold on’, camera always moving away from people,only one person playing instrument at a time, (last line freedom won’t be long), ‘effecting millions’ ‘slave days separating fathers from children’ ‘buildings are a method black and brown bodies to fill them‘, ‘not seen as humans with feelings’ ‘ dehumanised’ (objects), ‘will the us ever be US’, ‘the stop search and arrest of our souls (trinkets show, woman suspicious of black girl in shop just looking around), all in black clothing, ‘slavery’s still alive look at the amendment 13′, ‘instead of nigga they use the word criminal’, ‘prison is a business america’s the company’, Conservative movement (staying in one spot), suggesting restriction/staying in the norm

• Background of Common:
• Common is a rapper who made his debut in 1992
• He maintained success into the late 1990’s
• After 1990 he gained mainstream success
• He won a Grammy award for best R&B song in 2003
• His net-worth is $45 million
• 880,000 Views on his music video
• The Music Video:
• Filmed in a prison
• Black and White Music Video
• Talking about freedom a lot
• Different Scenes had different people singing in it
• The Instruments were shown in the music video
• Showing the significance of diversification

• He is an activist
• He has won an emmy
• He has won multiple grammy’s
• He writes poetry
• He has 12 albums