After reciting a poem on “The Dreamer,” the opening track from Common’s new album “The Dreamer/The Believer,” with Harlem’s Dr. Maya Angelou reportedly expressed disappointment over the rapper’s use of the con the track. On Monday (Dec. 19), however, the legendary poet called in to BET’s “106 & Park” to speak with Common and clear up the disagreement.
“I don’t think the word ‘disappointment’ quite makes it. I was surprised,” says Angelou about Common’s language on the track. “I know that Common is brilliant — he may, in fact, be close enough to be called a genius, I’m not sure. I know we’re all in process, and young artists are in process.”
Angelou continued that, despite the disagreement, she will not be “divided” from Common, and that, “Next week, he might not use the n-word!” Common responded by saying that Angelou is “Like a mother to me in many ways, through artistry, through just love and her spirit.”
Common previously caused a mini-controversy last spring when he was invited to read a poem at a White House event, causing conservative pundits to label him as a “thug.” “The Dreamer/The Believer,” Common’s follow-up to 2008′s “Universal Mind Control,” hits stores today.
Editor’s note: Is everything okay to say, is there no moral high ground?
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