COMMON Gives Festival-Goers Impromptu Freestyle During Essence Fest
Grammy Award-winning rapper Commom stepped to the mic for an impromptu street freestyle cypher during this year's 2019 Essence Festival in New Orleans, LA.
COMMON can be seen first shaking hands with fans and then enjoying the sounds of a street performer before taking the mic himself.
About the freestyle, Common says, "I was riding down the street a few years ago in New Orleans an ran across this dope street musician named Ray Wimley. What caught my attention was that he was really and truly freestyling! And he was GOOD! So this year at Essence Fest our paths crossed again but this time I joined in. I’m telling y’all right now, he’s special!
Watch the magic below:
The impromptu session comes after the announcement of his Let Love Tour, which starts in Denver, Colorado at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, on July 11, and continues through marquee venues in the US and Canada before touring Europe for the first time since 2014. Special guests include Nicole Bus, July 11 –July 26, and Maimouna Youssef aka Mumu Fresh, August 7 – August 29. Each pair of tickets on the second leg of tour dates will come with new music; to be emailed to ticket holders.
Let Love First Leg Tour Dates:
7/11 - Denver, CO – Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom
7/12 - Salt Lake City, UT – The Gallivan Center
7/14 - Seattle, WA – The Moore
7/16 - Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
7/17 - Troutdale, OR – McMenamins Edgefield
7/18 - Saratoga, CA – The Mountain Winery
7/20 - Las Vegas, NV – Reynolds Hall at the Smith Center
7/21 - Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
7/24 - Los Angeles, CA – The Theatre at Ace Hotel
7/26 - Newport Beach, CA – The Hyatt Regency Newport Beach
Let Love Second Leg Tour Dates:
8/7 - Toronto, ON – Queen Elizabeth Theatre
8/8 - Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
8/9 - Cleveland, OH – Agora Theatre
8/10 - Covington, KY – Madison Theater*
8/11 - McKees Rocks, PA – Roxian Theater
8/14 - Washington, DC – Warner Theatre
8/15 - Mashantucket, CT – Fox Theatre
8/16 - Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore Philadelphia
8/20 - Wilmington, NC – Greenfield Lake Amphitheater
8/21 - Columbia, SC – Township Auditorium
8/22 - Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
8/23 - Charlotte, NC – Belk Theater
8/27 - Austin, TX – ACL Live at the Moody Theater*
8/28 - Dallas, TX – Bomb Factory
8/29 - Kansas City, MO – Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
*No Maimouna Youssef aka Fresh
9/7 - Oslo Norway – Sentrum Scene
9/8 - Copenhagen, Denmark – VEGA
9/10 - London, England – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
9/12 - Manchester, England – O2 Ritz
9/14 - Paris, France – Elysée Montmartre
9/15 - Cologne, Germany – Carlswerk
9/16 - Berlin, Germany – Astra
9/18 - Utrecht, Holland – Ronda
9/19 - Belgium, Gent – Vooriut