We all should know what to expect from Common, something moving, powerful, and positive. The Chicago rapper does not deviate from this mission with his single, "Kingdom," which features Long Beach rapper Vince Staples. The song served as the first single of his 10th album, Nobody's Smiling.
Common raps about Chicago's high crime rate as he awaits its deliverance. He raps, "I got a son/ And I don’t want my waves following him, the streets swallowing him / And I don’t want no hollows in him." No I.D., the song's producer, delivers a gospel-influenced, militant beat which gels with Common and Vince's powerful lyrics.
Unlike the album version of the song, a spoken word piece from Malik Yusef opens up the music video. The video does not feature either rapper, or anyone else's face for that matter, while depicting the life of a drug dealer in Chicago.
Purchase Nobody's Smiling on Amazon (Vinyl, CD, MP3) and iTunes.
For more music, news, videos, and tour dates from Common, visit his Zumic artist page.
Source: CommonVEVO