PLUS: The Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy winner shares the lyric that inspired him most.
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00:00More than 17 million school-aged children in the U.S. still lack reliable Internet access,
00:06making connectivity more urgent than ever.
00:09T-Mobile's Project 10 Million has already provided affordable Internet to over 6 million
00:15learners.
00:16One megastar has partnered with Project 10 Million and is committed to ensuring every
00:21child has the tools to succeed.
00:24None other than Oscar, Grammy and Emmy award-winning artist and activist Common.
00:29And welcome to Cheddar.
00:30Peace.
00:31It's great to see you.
00:32How are you?
00:33It's great to be with you.
00:35I'm doing well.
00:36All right.
00:37Let's start out with just your passion for children.
00:38You've always been passionate about helping children, especially when it comes to the
00:42arts.
00:43So how do programs like this help or inspire you or how did they help and inspire you growing
00:49up?
00:50Well, growing up, my mother was a teacher.
00:53So that automatically like set a tone for me.
00:56What I noticed was most of the kids around me who had access to education, to programs,
01:06they ended up like being pretty productive and really happy.
01:10The children are more fulfilling in their dreams and purposes.
01:15For me, that access meant, OK, either I'm a go and be a person that's just hanging out
01:23and doing things that, you know, because I grew up on the south side of Chicago.
01:28So or having access created a thing where I was like, wow, I can actually achieve this.
01:35I can do this.
01:36I started seeing possibilities and dreams.
01:39So it's always been ingrained in me.
01:41It's been the seed of who I am.
01:43So I always wanted to pass those seeds on to other people, to younger people.
01:49And, you know, with Project 10 Million, it's been important because I have a school in
01:54Chicago. It's called Art in Motion.
01:57And a lot, some of our kids actually don't have Internet access.
02:03And that makes it more difficult for them to participate in some of the programs we
02:08have, obviously, with their work, creative programs.
02:12So that's why I'm on this mission.
02:14And I'm very grateful to T-Mobile and Project 10 Million is happening.
02:18That's that's such a significant hurdle when you think about the present day times.
02:24I mean, children really need access and earlier now than ever in terms of just the
02:30technology needed to complete homework.
02:32So how did you get involved with Project 10 Million?
02:36Well, I started my relationship with T-Mobile doing some partnerships and commercials,
02:43which was a lot of fun.
02:44You know, I had a lot of we actually had a Super Bowl ad.
02:47And after getting to know a lot of the T-Mobile team, including some of the top people
02:57over there who work at T-Mobile, it was like they started talking to me about Project 10
03:02Million. And they told me exactly what they were doing.
03:06And I was shocked, to be honest, that it was that amount of people who don't have
03:13Internet access, don't, you know, that connectivity is like it's super important.
03:20And when he and when Mike Siever, who's the CEO, really started breaking it down to me,
03:26I was like, man, I got to be a part of this.
03:28And he was like, we want you to be a part of this.
03:29So T-Mobile is we we connected with that on Project 10 Million.
03:35It's been cool because they also supported a tour that I'm on right now that Pete Rock
03:40and I are doing a tour for our new album.
03:42So now when we go to these cities, we've been going to the Boys and Girls Club and and
03:47being able to participate with Project 10 Million and creating the access.
03:52And then so, yeah, you mentioned you went to you've been attending these Boys and Girls
03:56Club event to get kids signed up for this free Internet connectivity.
04:01Tell us about that and what the reaction of the children is like.
04:05Well, first, I will say I love when I get around the kids that just makes me just get
04:13like excited, I get excited and I go in there usually thinking like, OK, well, I don't
04:20know if these kids will know who I am, you know, just to be honest, like, you know, it's
04:23like and, you know, for whatever reason, whether, you know, the teachers there or the
04:32instructors there have just told them or they just know I'm a celebrity, they just go
04:36crazy. The kids go crazy and to feel that love from the kids.
04:40And and I always want to connect with them and want to like beyond any program, just
04:46be able to speak to their hearts and souls about how valuable they are and what how
04:51important they are to changing the world and fulfilling their dreams.
04:55So the reaction has been amazing because the kids see this guy.
05:00Some do some most don't know me, but they still just know the energy that I'm that I'm
05:05bringing in and they know that I'm some dude on TV or something.
05:09So that being said, they react and they're very receptive and they feel cared for when
05:17they know that we are trying to create access for those who don't have it.
05:21I love that, you know, you have the humility, I mean, because obviously we all know who
05:28you are and, you know, certain ages up, millennials up, et cetera.
05:33No, but you're right when you make the point about some kids just don't know.
05:37I mean, it happens, you know, and I'm and I'm humble and grateful that if someone knows
05:44who I am, great. But even if they don't know, I'm still coming with the love.
05:47And and it's hard to get that the eight year olds and seven year old and 12 year olds
05:53like get them engaged.
05:54But, you know, a lot of the times when we've been at the Boys and Girls Club, our
05:58freestyle form and, you know, we are taking pictures and they just want some love and,
06:03you know, and to be heard and respected and and honored.
06:07And that's what we do. So it's cool.
06:09What's the number one question they ask you?
06:11I mean, because they know you're a celebrity.
06:13They might not because, you know, they're young eight year olds, et cetera.
06:16Like you said, they may not know who you are, but they know you're a celebrity.
06:19What's the one thing they want to know?
06:22Do I know Beyonce, do I know Drake, you know, can I, you know, do I really know
06:32Queen Latifah? You know, some of the kids have seen that movie just right.
06:36I did have a kid yesterday in New York and Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club.
06:42Like, man, can you really play basketball?
06:44I've seen a movie with you and Queen Latifah.
06:46I'm like, yeah, yeah, I can hoop, man, I can hoop.
06:50I like that. All right.
06:51So let's talk more a little bit about the increasing Internet accessibility.
06:57How can reliable Internet access help these type of students from diverse
07:02backgrounds connect to global opportunities and explore academic and creative potential?
07:09I'm so glad you said that, Diane, because it's like creative potential
07:12is is one of the things I'm so adamant about.
07:16And obviously, having Internet access allows you to dig into information,
07:22allows you to like work on your creativity by using the programs that are available
07:27through Internet access, through connectivity.
07:31One of the things I want to say about creativity is it's been life changing for me
07:36is that it allowed me to to discover things about myself and not only, first of all,
07:43allow me to express myself.
07:45And that was very important for me as a young person
07:47because some things I couldn't express in my own traumas
07:51and situations that I've been through, I didn't know how to express.
07:55But through art, I was able to express myself in many ways
08:00and learn more things about me because it's something about creativity
08:04that's very divine in its own way.
08:07And when you express it yourself, you kind of just say what's
08:11on your mind or like in your subconscious.
08:13Anyway, I think it's just so important that our kids have that creative access
08:18and that connectivity that we're talking about with Team Over
08:21and Project 10 Million is creating that.
08:23And of course, any kid working in school wants to feel like
08:28they have the same opportunities as the other kids.
08:30You know, they don't want to feel like, oh, man, I'm behind.
08:33But so if you don't have Internet access and your teachers are saying,
08:37look, I'm going to send you this, you know, this homework
08:41through email or get this done, you just you just could be behind.
08:46And one of the things like when we talk about equality
08:49and we talk about inclusion, I think it's very important
08:53to think about empowering our young people.
08:55And this connectivity is one of the one of the ways that we can empower them
08:59so that they can do for themselves, too.
09:02That's a great point, especially when you talk about I mean, nowadays
09:05I have I have a young child and when they send home homework,
09:09it's check Google Classroom every day.
09:11So the kids need access at a minimum to check Google.
09:16And if you don't have a laptop at home or computer at home,
09:20how can you even do your homework?
09:22I mean, I know that, you know, you can go to the library, but,
09:25you know, you make a great point about just nowadays, especially
09:28I think there was an acceleration during the pandemic of needing Internet access.
09:34What are you hoping will be the legacy of Project 10 million?
09:39I'm hoping that.
09:41At some point in time.
09:45Us creating that access project, 10 million creating that access,
09:49we will see people like from all backgrounds
09:54and walks of life, some of the most overlooked communities
09:59over the most, I call them high potential people say underserved.
10:03Some of the most high potential communities that are normally overlooked
10:07will have like sprouted up some of the most fruitful
10:12and most intelligent and most like
10:16vital human beings that are contributing to society
10:20and in so many different ways.
10:22And and that they'll be able to say, hey, one of the reasons
10:26I've been able to do what I've been able to do is because I gained access
10:31and I had the same chances that the other kid had this from this
10:36environment in this neighborhood.
10:37Because the same way I'm telling you that one of the reason
10:41I've been able to to pursue my dreams is because I had access.
10:45And that's just true.
10:47Yeah, no, you make an excellent point.
10:49You know, I come from a background of, you know, I grew up in the hood as well.
10:55So I understand how important that kind of access is.
10:58I was a regular attendee at the library, if you will, to just,
11:02you know, have to be able to just expand my brain and, you know, gain access
11:06to the things that I may not have naturally had access to.
11:10I mean, luckily, both my parents were educated, so that helped.
11:13But speaking of education and you earlier, you talked about this collaboration
11:17you've done recently with Pete Rock.
11:18You recently spoke at Howard University with him about your latest collab,
11:22the auditorium volume one in your panel.
11:25You talked about how childhood memories shape this particular album.
11:29Can you share a core memory that you were influenced by?
11:35Um, I think one of my core memories is like to if I really wanted,
11:43like my when I wrote my first rap.
11:46I was 10 years old and I wrote it, I was in a room with my cousin.
11:53His name is Adelaide, he passed, God bless his soul.
11:56But he and I, both good students, and we were on summer vacation
12:03and I was with him in Cincinnati visiting him.
12:06And I wrote my rap and I remember starting to say my rap to our friends
12:12and their response and their reaction to my rap
12:16like made me feel like I was somebody like I could do something.
12:21And it gave me that fuel and that understanding of and a joy.
12:26The joy it brought me.
12:28But I also saw the joy it brought them because they learned my rap.
12:31They they were saying it and it meant something.
12:34And that that memory of just that feeling and that experience
12:40made me want to pursue music at some point
12:43and want to be a hip hop artist and be a writer.
12:47And much like you, my mother is an educator.
12:49So I was always into books and reading and like I wanted to learn and grow.
12:56But then I found an outlet for what this learning could be,
13:01because I got a theory that like most of the greatest emcees,
13:07like they are very, very like educated.
13:10Yeah. Yeah.
13:11They come from the hood.
13:12You can you know, you still they the people that the women and men
13:16who really were reading or studying or just
13:20I'm sure patient. Yes. Yeah. Agreed.
13:23OK, so you just said that you were 10 years old.
13:26That is amazing.
13:28What was it that inspired you, like the first song or lyric
13:32that you heard that inspired you?
13:35Well, one of the first songs that inspired me was a song by Run DMC.
13:40It was called Sucker Emcees.
13:42And it was like it was, you know, it was definitive
13:47of what hip hop was then, bragging, boasting.
13:51But it was really clever and fun.
13:54And, you know, that's what run.
13:56It became a famous song and line that people say.
14:00Two years ago, a friend of mine asked me to say some emcee rhymes.
14:05Watch this rhyme I'm about to say.
14:08The rhyme was deaf, but then it went this way.
14:11So like that, that that that energy made me be like, oh, man,
14:17I really want to be like like I related to that energy.
14:22And I needed some of that confidence as a young person.
14:27And I think seeing them do it, seeing Muhammad Ali do it,
14:32seeing Dr. Maya Angelou and reading her work,
14:36reading Nikki Giovanni, James Baldwin,
14:41all those things contributed.
14:42But it was the song Sucker Emcees that got me into writing and hip hop.
14:48I love that. That definitely gave me nostalgia.
14:50I was like, I'm gonna let you have that because I can't.
14:52I can't. You know, you can ride with that.
14:55You know, you can get into that.
14:57Maybe a little bit, a little bit.
14:59All right. All right. I got one more question for you.
15:01All right. So you revealed on Instagram
15:04you're going to be at Webster Hall this Friday.
15:06So what can we expect and how can we go?
15:11OK, so we are at Webster Hall, New York City, wherever,
15:15wherever you're from, if you want to come to Webster Hall this Friday,
15:19it's going to be an amazing show.
15:22Pete Rock and I are basically completing our tours, the auditorium tour.
15:27And what we're given is a journey
15:31through all this music that we've created, new and old,
15:35like the classic Pete Rock joints, beats that he produced,
15:40woven with the music that I've created throughout the years.
15:43And we have a theatrical aspect to it because our set
15:47is basically set in this basement.
15:49And we like get into the process of really how a lot of the music is created.
15:54So Pete Rock is creating music up there live on the stage.
15:59We have our DJ rocking and you just get the essence of what hip hop is,
16:03what soul music is, what live performance mixed with a little theater.
16:08I think people really have been enjoying the tour.
16:11We've been enjoying it so far.
16:12And and the tickets at Webster Hall, this is for the people.
16:16The tickets are only $20.
16:18Oh, that's a good price right there.
16:19That's a nice price. All right.
16:21All right. We've got both that coming up and also the partnership
16:25with C-Mobile with Project 10 Million working to close the digital divide.
16:30Thank you so much, Common.
16:32Award winning artists and activists are thanks to you.
16:36God bless. God bless you.