Common

Common spent most of the '90s as hip-hop's favorite critical darling, praised by everyone and bought by almost nobody. I Used to Love H.E.R. (1994) made waves as an extended metaphor for hip-hop losing its soul to commercialism. The mainstream didn't find him until Like Water for Chocolate went gold in 2000. Signing to Kanye West's GOOD Music and releasing Be in 2005, almost entirely produced by West, turned him from underground fixture into a name civilians recognized. In hindsight, hip-hop's most principled underground artist needed a superproducer to get anyone outside the rap press to pay attention.

The Oscar for Glory with John Legend, from Selma, put him on a different tier. He played civil rights leader James Bevel in that film while co-writing the song that became its anthem. A 2017 Emmy for 'Letter to the Free' from the documentary 13th completed it, making him the first rapper to hold a Grammy, an Oscar, and an Emmy. His film career after hasn't matched that moment. He's shifted toward producing and activism, and the crossover credibility from that Selma moment has held up better than the records ever did.

His birth name is Lonnie Rashid Lynn. He started as Common Sense until a California reggae band forced the name change. His father's Chicago Bulls connections landed him a ballboy job courtside at age 11, during Jordan's early years there. He founded Common Ground Foundation with his mother in 2000. He attended Florida A&M University on a business scholarship but left without graduating. He's advocated for plant-based eating and got so thoroughly branded as hip-hop's 'conscious rapper' that the label became both his calling card and a running joke.