Common Kicks Freestyle Over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” Beat
Common kicked a freestyle over Kendrick Lamar‘s “Not Like Us” instrumental as he prepares for the release of his upcoming collaborative album with Pete Rock.
On Tuesday (July 9), the rapper and producer stopped by Los Angeles radio station REAL 92.3 LA to promote their forthcoming release, The Auditorium Vol. 1, during which Common dropped a few bars over the Mustard-produced beat.
Quickly getting into his groove, Common gets into a stream of consciousness, touching on the passage of life while asserting his mic supremacy over rival emcees.
Common attends The Drop: Common & Pete Rock at GRAMMY Museum L.A. Live on July 01, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
“When I return to dust, it will be a sand storm/ Tell the people the masters got plans for ’em/ Pour a little liquor when I know my mans gone/ Over bars, I never tender/ With love, I Force M.D.s to surrender,” the Chicago native rhymes atop the track, eliciting impressed reactions from the station’s radio hosts.
Common then chides underwhelming lyricists, adding, “The people’s agenda in my heart/ Serve rappers a la carte/ You’re playing yourself, you should’ve never got the part/ This is Hip-Hop theater/ In Broadways, I direct over meters of/ Music, I’m the man and the media.”
A renowned wordsmith, the 52-year-old then slips in a few heady similies and metaphors, resulting in some of the more memorable couplets of his rhyme spill.
Common performs onstage during Hip Hop 50 Live at Yankee Stadium on August 11, 2023 in New York City.
Theo Wargo/Getty Images
“We keep sh*t fluid like it’s enbalm/ 88, set ’em straight like I’m Lynn Swan, it’s penatonic the way that I be bending phonics/ It was written, like I’m living in a sonnet/ They Marvel at me like I’m in a comic/ Iron sharpens Iron Man, it’s ironic”
The first half of Common’s freestyle appears to have been pre-written, as his precise delivery and the hypeman ad-libbing certain lyrics seem to attest. However, he clearly transitions into an impromptu performance, inserting the names of various radio show employees into his rhymes.
Common and Pete Rock’s new album, The Auditorium Vol. 1, is set to release on July 12. The 15-track album is said to be influenced by the ’90s era of Hip-Hop. “I always feel like I got something to prove but its just fun to me to make music,” Pete Rock wrote in reference to the forthcoming project.
“Competing to make good music with all the different personalities involved today just gotten dry. We love hip hop and you will know just how much.”
See Common’s “Not Like Us” freestyle below.