Common has been a legend in the game for over three decades. But even with all his success in hip-hop and on the big and small screens, there's always that nagging “what if?” question about the doors you didn't open as well as the ones you did open.
Sitting at 19:00 in Brooklyn podcast with Carmelo Anthony and Kid Mero this week, the 52-year-old Chicago native MC weighed in on the NBA playoffs and his favorite ballers — as well as Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan — but he shared also some untold stories about working with Ye, including Kanye West's early-career beats.
“It's at least 10 Ye beats out there that I went through,” he said of the tracks he didn't pull from fellow Windy City native West. “Even on one of those albums, he was like, 'Common passed the beat, I turned it into a jam,'” he added, citing the chorus from Ye's 2007's “Everything I Am.” Graduation album.
It wasn't that either. Common said he also took a pass on future Ye tracks like “I Wonder” and “Heard 'Em Say.”
“It's crazy because I didn't get any Ye beats, like that '96-'97 time when I met him. But after 2003, I was like, 'Yeah, let's get some beats, like come on!'” Common said. “I felt like at that time No ID was on such a high level that I was like, 'Yeah, these beats just don't do it for me yet. You're getting there, but you're not there yet… I have more memories of joints that I delivered, beats that he made for me, that ended up being, like… a lot of his Late Enrollment album.”
For example, Common said Ye made the beat for 'Heard 'Em Say' just for him, writing the song in front of him in 10 minutes. “I was like, 'This one hit dope.' He was like, “You want it?” and I said “Man I mustta…” because I didn't feel like it fit my album [Be]… So I said, 'Nah, you're good.' He said, “Are you sure?” I was like, “Nah, I'm good.” Looking back now, he told the hosts, yes, of course “that beat was dope.”
The pair have worked on several other songs, including the 2004 single “The Food” and 2005's “The Corner,” as well as Ye appearing alongside Common and John Legend on “They Say” from 2006 Common. Is album, which West produced, how he also had a heavy hand in writing the entire LP.
The deep-dive roundball debate also found the audience saying that if they had to pick one player to represent them as a rapper, they'd be torn between retired three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade or the power forward-turned-broadcaster station and in the round rebound Charles. Barkley. “I say that because D Wade has had a lot of success as well… but I think sometimes D Wade doesn't get all the love [he deserves],” Common said, praising both men for turning to other careers after hanging up their jerseys.
For the record, when asked how he felt about the recent Drake-Kendrick Lamar lyrical battle, Common said that now that the war is over, he's sure to call it “a good heavyweight fight…I respected what everybody gave.”
Watch Common at 19:00 in Brooklyn below (Discussion begins around 51 minutes).
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/common-talks-rejected-kanye-west-beats-1235686222/
