Common Ground Through Hip Hop at Cal-Poly Pomona

By Tim Anderegg
A&F Associate

A good show gets the audience going. At his recent concert, Chicago hip hop artist Common delivered, and then some. You cannot go wrong with a concert that is close to school, out in a field on a warm California evening and filled with people who are really into the music. The best part of all, though, was that it was free, courtesy of Cal Poly Pomona.

The concert was thrown by an organization called Associated Students, Inc., to welcome the first year students, and it was actually an all-day festival. Two fellow Pomona students and I only attended the Common show, though, because we heard about it from a friend from Claremont at the last minute. It was definitely worth the trip.

We arrived after the show had already started, but it took no time at all to get into the music. There were kids of all types at the show, which didn’t go unnoticed by Common when he commented that “hip hop brings people of all types together: blacks, whites, Asians, Latinos, Philippinos, everybody.”

Common’s command of the audience was impressive. Even more than his talent and the beats of DJ Dummy, he got students up onstage to participate. He invited one girl (from UC Irvine) onstage and serenaded her with a love song, sitting her down on a chair and rapping directly to her. Another girl was invited up on stage to free style with Common, and she actually did a good job.

While some of his songs were a little too R&B for me, the majority were hard-hitting and extremely danceable. He helped get the energy up by chatting with the audience between songs, giving shout-outs to the likes of Taleb Kwali, Erykah Badu, and other hip hop originals.

Common stopped at one point to tell an anecdote of an encounter with a student. He said this “geeky-looking girl” came up to him while he was waiting for his slot to start, and she wanted to talk to him. At first, he said, he was a little unsure, not knowing what she wanted or what she was all about. She wanted him to get a little closer, and he was “a little cautious, not sure what to expect.” But then, he said, she whispered in his ear “The revolution will not be televised!” Common then broke into a passionate “Resurrection” to the cheers of the audience.

DJ Dummy, from the Bronx, put on an awesome set of beats for Common to rap to. At one point, Common took a break to let DJ Dummy demonstrate his own skills. He had almost perfect control over the turn tables, making crazy beats by precise mixing and scratching. When a girl from backstage came up and covered his eyes, he didn’t miss a beat. Even after she started moving around him, putting herself between Dummy and the turntables, his hands (the only part of him we could see) kept going.

It’s a shame there aren’t more free concerts like this to go to (hint, hint, Pomona administration), and since Cal Poly is so close it barely took time out of my day. The concert may have been somewhat short, but that just made it all the more convenient.

While I am no expert on hip hop by any means, I know a good show when I hear one. Common was into his music, into the audience, and we were into him. He’s an artist that I would definitely be willing to pay money to see again, and you just can’t argue with free. Check Cal Poly Pomona’s website for upcoming events, and you might find another freebie as good as this one.