Elijah Blake drops the video for his emotionally driven single “X.O.X.” featuring Common. The track is one of eight on his Bijoux 22 EP – a breakout project that follows his deal with RocNation, inked this past summer. The singer/songwriter who has written for Keyshia Cole, Usher and Rihanna steps out on his own with this project. This track touts a catchy hook and familiar sample courtesy of the O’Jays‘ “Backstabbers.” Common takes the wheel for a verse that matches the sentiment without sacrificing his true school aesthetic. Check the video for Elijah Blake’s “X.O.X.” featuring Common below. Download the track via iTunes.

The post Elijah Blake x Common – “X.O.X.” [Official Video] appeared first on Okayplayer.

Common features on an unreleased Estelle joint entitled “Victorious.” Produced by No I.D.  the track was originally intended for Estelle’s 2011 album All Of Me. The driving song is pretty dope thanks to some hot rhymes courtesy of Com; bummer that this collaboration was left off of the record’s final track list. Stream the unreleased track below.

The post Common features on Unreleased Estelle Track, “Victorious” appeared first on Okayplayer.

Common has gone on a tear lately. Taking a page from the book of Andre 3000, he’s been dropping his take on some of the hottest tracks. Following his remix of Jay-Z‘s “Open Letter”, Com puts his own special touch on Chris Brown‘s “Fine China” with a little help from 9th Wonder and DJ Dummy. Com jumps in a couple of verses after Breezy lays the foundation and waxes poetic about the special woman in his life. 9th Wonder and DJ Dummy handle the mix for him, injecting a bit of “Billie Jean” into the backbone of track – a pretty clever nod to Michael Jackson, considering the amount of career inspiration Chris Brown has pulled from the King of Pop. Keep your ears open for Com’s next remix. Check the track below.

Spotted at RU

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In case you are wondering why Common‘s “Song For Assata” is our Throwback for this particular Thursday, the FBI announced today that it has put the black activist icon who gave the song its name–Assata Shakur, AKA Joanne Deborah Chesimard–on its Most Wanted List and is offering a $2 Million reward for information leading to her capture. Shakur, the step-aunt of deceased rap icon Tupac Shakur and a former member of the Black Panther party and the Black Liberation Army, has been classified as a “domestic terrorist” since 2005 and is presumed to be living in Cuba, where she received political asylum beginning in 1984.

A Song For Assata (Album Version)

Assata’s story–she was incarcerated after a shootout with NJ state troopers resulted in the death of both her BLA comrade Zayd Malik Shakur and trooper Werner Foerster, and subsequently her conviction on first degree murder charges–will be well familiar to many Okayplayers. But it is painted vividly in Com’s verbal narrative (Com also shouted out Assata in his recent “Open Letter Pt. 2″ freestyle) for those that need a refresher. Find below the FBI announcement in text and video form–and to all that we’ll just add the words of OKP friend dream hampton (via twitter):

Assata is also a mother and a Cancer and a painter and a poet who trains in martial arts

Frustrating that blk people are generally “post-movement” while the FBI will not only never forget, but they stay upping the ante.

#HandsOffAssata

On the 40th anniversary of the cold-blooded murder of a New Jersey state trooper, the fugitive convicted of the killing, Joanne Chesimard, has been named a Most Wanted Terrorist by the FBI—the first woman ever and only the second domestic terrorist to make the list.

Officials from the FBI and the New Jersey State Police made the announcement this morning during a press conference, noting that the FBI is offering a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the apprehension of Chesimard, who is believed to be living in Cuba under political asylum. Additionally, the state of New Jersey is offering an independent reward of up to $1 million, bringing the total maximum reward to $2 million.

The post Throwback Thursday: Common – “Song For Assata” appeared first on Okayplayer.

Ever since Jay-Z went to Cuba and then got everybody excited from the White House on down excited with his “Open Letter” track, fools have been dropping piggyback freestyles and penning their own “open letters” to sound off about Cuba. But when Common steps up to the podium, the room goes quiet–our man J. Period just shot us this exclusive track of Com going in on the “dagnabbit!” beat for “Open Letter, Part II” with this data attached:

“Common hit me literally this morning to mix this so his team could release this afternoon…”

We all know Com is nice on a freestyle or a battle verse but he’s also one of a very select few MCs who could match Jay toe for toe when it comes to namechecking Presidents and El Patrons. And when Com talks Cuba he ain’t talking Marco Rubio, he’s talking Assata Shakur. Listen:

The post Common x Jay-Z – “Open Letter Pt. II” [J. Period Exclusive] appeared first on Okayplayer.

Common and Jada Pinkett-Smith were amongst the celebrities, activists and industry professionals on hand for the screening of Free Angela & All Political Prisoners – the documentary from filmmaker Shola Lynch honoring the life and continued work of Angela Davis. Lynch also directed the 2005 documentary Chisholm 72: Unbought and Unbossed. The film screened at the Schomburg Center in Harlem, where Pepsi Pulse caught up with the actors for a bit of red carpet commentary. The documentary dissects the socio-political struggle which catapulted Davis to national prominence as equal parts folk-hero and public pariah for her role as a very visible and vocal associate of the Black Panther Party. Davis has since become a celebrated political activist and speaker whose tale features one of the more fortunate outcomes of those afforded people involved in promoting and organizing the black nationalist efforts of the 60s and 70s – many of the movement’s most visible figures met untimely deaths at the behest of those who disagreed with their presence. Lynch’s documentary celebrates the life and work of Davis and others from that era whose stories are eerily similar and often left untold.

Spotted at FSD

The post Pass The Popcorn: Common + Jada Pinkett-Smith Attend Screening Of Angela Davis Doc appeared first on Okayplayer.

No I.D. has uploaded a new song onto his Soundcloud entitled “Congratulations” featuring Common and Cocaine 80s. The track sees Com telling a story about his buddy getting married. It’s truly captivating and soulful hip-hop at it’s best. Speaking about the track on Twitter, Common said, “As we approach wedding season, here’s sum new music from me w/ a twist.” Stream “Congratulations” below.

The post Common x Cocaine 80s – “Congratulations” [New Track] appeared first on Okayplayer.

So we had all these Roots TV episodes lying around in a shoebox (dunks, natch) full of VHS tapes. If you were born in this millenium Roots TV was a documentary series that followed The Legendary Roots Crew on their globetrotting grind; rocking stages from Japan to Glastonbury, signing autographs and bringing the funk to pre-Gryffindor tour busses. Today we bring you episodes 1 through 4, originally released as a single VHS tape in 1998. Look for cameos from Common, Planet Asia, various guests at the infamous Black Lily jam sessions at Wetlands and the cowbell that will be played on “Double Trouble.” A special heads up: Episode 3 features studio sessions for the immortal “Step Into The Realm” jawn from Things Fall Apart. Watch below to enjoy all that and more…Happy Throwback Thursday, y’all!

The post Throwback Thursday: Roots TV, Episodes 1-4 [Ca. 1998] appeared first on Okayplayer.

Big Sean teams with Common for his latest single “Switch Up.” The Detroit/Chicago connect finds the two MCs spitting over a track co-produced by Million $ Mano, No I.D. and Rob Kinelski. Undeniably a joint for the trunks and the clubs this track drops just in time for folks to start riding low with the top down. “Switch Up” – the second single from Big Sean’s forthcoming Hall Of Fame LP – drops at midnight on iTunes. Stay woke.

The post Big Sean x Common – “Switch Up” appeared first on Okayplayer.

Our colleagues over at Complex reached out to us recently and subsequently sat down with ?uestlove, Shawn Gee and OKP president Dan Dantana Petruzzi (not to mention foundational OKP artists Common and Talib Kweli) recently to record an “Oral History of Okayplayer.” It’s always a little surreal to go from covering the news to being the news and its always weird to read about yourself, like hearing your voice on tape for the first time. But flattering, too, of course and since the origins of Okayplayer stretch all the way back to those first true notes played in 1987 it felt like the story was ready to be told–and certainly of interest to OKP readers! It’s also of course a chance to address some of the issues that are closest to our hearts; the potential of digital tech to empower (or divide) along racial lines, the transformative effect of artists connecting and communicating directly to their fans and the essential dopeness of Philadelphia, USA. Without further ado, read below an excerpt of ?uesto revealing the misty origins of the term ‘okayplayer’–way back at the dawn of time, before the internet. Then click through to read the complete history–from the bedroom to the boardroom, so to speak–via Complex.

?uestlove: [The name came from] Tramp. He was an art director. Back in the days of The Source, he did a cartoon called “A View From The Underground,” back in like ’91, ’92. And he designed some of our first few album covers. He did our EP From the Ground Up, he did Do You Want More?!!!??! and he also did Illadelph Halflife.

For The Ground Up, Tramp didn’t have the logo. So he just made up the first thing that came to his head until he got the proper fonts and logos from Geffen. When he showed me the first draft of the design, he just wrote “Okayplayer” in a box. And I thought OK, that’s the most Blue Note–looking artwork font-wise and everything. So then when he turns in the proper artwork with the label stuff and everything, I didn’t like it. It lost its Blue Note appeal. I told him, put that “Okayplayer” back on and just stick the logo on the back of the record. It didn’t make sense at the time, but it just felt like it needed to be there. It wasn’t like it was a label or anything, I just wanted Okayplayer to be there. And then it literally just stuck and somehow it’s found itself onto all 15 of our records.

>>>Read More (via Complex)

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