Common Using His “Art to Change Things”

December 28, 2016 Stephen Iervolino

ABC/Fred Watkins(NEW YORK) — Two weeks ago, Common premiered the visual to his song “Letter to the Free.” He tells ABC Radio how the track came to fruition and how he convinced Ava DuVernay to use it in her Netflix documentary 13th.

“I really have been passionate about using my art to change things and shift things. So when I found out Ava was doing 13th, I approached her,” says Common.

“I was like, ‘Ava, what’s up? Can I do a song for it?’ And she was like, ‘Well you could submit a song, because I got all these different people wanna submit a song.'”

“So I started writing just the song and I just started thinking of these thoughts, from everything from the song ‘Strange Fruit,’ to just what was going on, what I read from The New Jim Crow,” the rapper continued.

“I came up with some stuff and I saw Ava at the president’s birthday at the White House and I approached her and I started rapping in her ear the first verse of the song ‘Letter to the Free’ and she was like, ‘Wow, I like it.'”

Ava was still hesitant to include Common’s track in 13th, but he eventually convinced her.

“She actually was still a little bit conflicted in a way, like, ‘Should we do this again? We just did Selma. Is it gonna be too soon for us to be doing this?’ I’m like, ‘No. Do you know how many times actors and directors work together? Or she works with David Oyelowo all the time? Or Martin Scorsese worked with Robert DeNiro and worked with Leonardo DiCaprio?'” Common told DuVernay.

“So I won the argument and now ‘Letter to the Free’ is in the film and I’m so grateful, too.”