Rapper Common to headline hip-hop fest

Common, the rapper and actor who has been outspoken in his calls for racial justice, was announced on Friday as the headliner for the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. One of the premier annual events in hip-hop, the festival takes place July 8-11 in the New York borough. Hip-hop was born in New York, although in The Bronx.

Wes Jackson, the executive director of the festival, said that Common may not be talked about in the same breath as the best-known hip-hop stars but that “pound for pound Common is one of the greatest MCs of all time.”

“What I admire the most is when he is in the limelight he does not shy away from the real issues of the day. He has unapologetically stood up for his community time and again. He is what hip-hop is and can be,” Jackson said.

Common, who turned 43 on Friday, won an Oscar this year with John Legend for Best Original Song with Glory from the civil rights drama Selma, in which the rapper also acted.

Common has been active on causes such as ending police brutality and empowering youth. He dedicated his Oscar to “the kid from the South Side of Chicago, to those in France standing up for freedom of expression, to those in Hong Kong protesting for democracy.”

Common’s career — in music, acting and writing — has taken off since his major-label breakthrough Like Water for Chocolate in 2000.

His latest album, Nobody’s Smiling, is a frank exploration of street violence in his hometown Chicago and gave a platform to several up-and-coming rappers from the Midwestern metropolis.