Common and Pete Rock on How Their Grammy-Nominated ‘The Auditorium Vol. 1’ Is a ‘Love Letter to Hip-Hop’

variety.com:

Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer On “This Man,” a sunset-evoking song on “The Auditorium Vol. 1,” Common raps, “Whether Grammy or Oscar, I keep the same posture.” He’s referring to the awards he’s amassed over his decades-long career, and how they’re merely accolades that acknowledge his talents but don’t define them.

But after the album, produced entirely by hip-hop legend Pete Rock, got nominated for a pair of 2025 Grammys, his stance has shifted — if only a bit. “This is an incredible feeling.

I’m overwhelmed,” says Common, who’s currently shooting Season 3 of the Apple TV+ show “Silo” in London. “I feel like it’s one of those things where you’re like, man, we really are Grammy-nominated for this album in categories with Kendrick Lamar and Eminem and J.

Cole. My posture is even stronger now.” Common and Rock have stood tall in the hip-hop community since they debuted in the 1990s, the former as an intellect whose raps interrogated heady subjects like romance and faith, and the latter as an architect of New York City’s gritty-meets-soulful sound.