Rapper Common Calls Out BLM: ‘I Know Black Lives Matter, Do They Matter to Us?’

Rapper-actor Common called out the Black Lives Matter movement for what he called its lack of accountability during a freestyle rap session on SiriusXM’s Sway in the Morning.

In the impomptu freestyle session earlier this week, the John Wick 2 star rapped a verse that addressed various political issues from the scourge of black-on-black crime to drug and gang violence.

“Now we’re slaves to the blocks, cause on them we spray shots,” Common began. “Leaving our own to lay in a box/Black mother’s stomach stay in a knot. We kill each other more than the cops, I wish the hatin’ would stop.”

“We are at war in a battle with us. I know that Black Lives Matter, do they matter to us?” the multiple Grammy Award-winning rapper rhymed.

“These are the things we gotta discuss,” he continued. “The new plantation, mass incarceration. Instead of educating they rather convict the kids.”

A Chicago native, Common constantly challenges black America to face its self-inflicted wounds.

While doing publicity for his latest film Barbershop: The Next Cut, Common told Chicago Fox affiliate Fox32 that the movie “is really dealing with the violence that’s going on in Chicago.”

“It also deal with fatherhood, and why we need fathers in our communities,” he added. “And it deals with community taking responsibility for itself.”

In an April interview with People, Common got a bit more personal about the suffering he’s experienced due to black-on-black violence.

“I’m from Chicago,” he said. “I lost friends early on in my life, and it’s going on more now. I’ve sat down and spoken to kids, and then eventually found out later that one of them died. It affects me because I care about the people of Chicago and people all over.”

The 44-year-old says he’s doing everything that he can to bring positive change to broken neighborhoods.

“I want to see better days for the people of inner city communities,” he continued. “I have been working with my foundation, Common Ground, doing work to try to improve the situation, connect with people on the ground doing work there. It’s in my heart.”

 

Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson