- Greg Bryon
Common may be known as both a musician and an actor, but it looks like he could be taking on yet another job title: motivational speaker.
The conscious rapper kicked off the University of South Florida's Fall Lecture Series on Monday night with a talk would have made Tony Robbins proud, teaching his philosophy of "find the right path, believe it, live it," from his new book One Day It'll All Make Sense.
The huge line to see the lecture stretched out the door of the Marshall Student Center ballroom, down the staircase to the first floor and outside into the amphitheater, where students waited in the rain.
After a crowd-pleasing freestyle that touched on the Andros dorms, Fowler Avenue and the late Leroy Selmon, Common talked about the life experiences that shaped him into the artist he is today.
Behind the mic or in front of the camera, Common's persona is one of extreme confidence, but, he said, it wasn't always that way. He explained that even after scoring a major hit with his now classic track "The Light," he still didn't fully believe in himself or his talent. The end of his relationship with singer Erykah Badu was a low point. [More after the jump.]
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2011.