With a musical output that spans decades and quiet influence that’s helped shape an entire subgenre of emo-backpack rap, Common has one of the most illustrious careers in Hip-Hop. He started out in 1992 as “Common Sense” when he dropped his debut produced mostly by No I.D. Can I Borrow A Dollar?, a quiet album that showed sparks of his talent. But it was his two subsequent releases, also produced by No. I.D., 1994’s Resurrection and 1997’s One Day It’ll All Make Sense that cemented his arrival as one of rap’s top-tier emcees, known for his layered storytelling, emotional honesty, and lyrical charisma. 

Over the next two decades, he’d release a string of albums that established him as a unique talent with an enviable career, including the projects that would grant him the mainstream success that had alluded him early on kickstarted by 2001’s Like Water For Chocolate, helmed by the Soulquarian collective. But it was his Kanye West era that re-established Common as one of rap’s most talented emcees after his lackluster reception to 2002s Electric Circus. His time with Kanye also gave him his most successful run on the charts with 2004’s Be and 2007’s Finding Forever. 

In the 2000s, he expanded beyond Hip-Hop, jump-starting his film and television career, and now he’s only a Tony Award away from reaching EGOT Status, the only rapper to hold that distinction.