{"id":79293,"date":"2017-04-24T06:09:07","date_gmt":"2017-04-24T06:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2017\/04\/24\/tribeca-2017-tribeca-talk-common-nelson-george\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T02:28:49","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T02:28:49","slug":"tribeca-2017-tribeca-talk-common-nelson-george","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/tribeca-2017-tribeca-talk-common-nelson-george\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribeca 2017: Tribeca Talk With Common and Nelson George"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tribeca 2017: Tribeca Talks With Common and Nelson George<\/strong>Posted by Wilson Morales<\/p>\n

April 24, 2017<\/p>\n

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Academy Award, Golden Globe, and three time Grammy winner Common<\/strong> joined director\/screenwriter Nelson George<\/strong> on stage Sunday night, April 23, for a Tribeca Talk: Storytellers conversation<\/strong>, in partnership with Citi, as part of the Tribeca Film Festival<\/strong>, presented by AT&T. The Festival runs April 19-30.<\/p>\n

A never-before-seen extended version of\u00a0Letter to the Free<\/i>\u00a0<\/strong>from director Bradford Young<\/strong> debuted prior to the conversation. Common closed out the sold-out event with a live performance, during which the renowned hip-hop artist and actor debuted a new song, \u201cBlack Kennedy,\u201d in front of a standing room only crowd.<\/p>\n

The conversation spanned musical influences of the 80s and 90s, social justice flashpoints, Common\u2019s first acting gig on Tracee Ellis Ross & Mara Brock Akil\u2019s\u00a0Girlfriends<\/i><\/strong>, his respect for director\u00a0Ava DuVernay<\/strong>, and activism in hip-hop today, name-dropping Chance the Rapper<\/strong> and Kendrick Lamar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the topics that were covered during their conversation<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n

Question: Do you believe that when artists, rappers, musicians face some sort of social injustice flashpoint like a Donald Trump or the LA riots to react to, that it drives up the creativity and the timelessness of art, as opposed to when things are going well and the art suffers?\u00a0<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Nelson George<\/b>: Every historical epoch where there\u2019s conflict, it does help certain artists. Some people can be explicitly political but for others, it becomes an internal journey that can also be just as powerful. One of the best eras of hip hop was the crack era, which was terrible time in the country and under Reagan. And some great art came out of that.\u00a0Often artists respond with some of their best work because it touches their friends and their community in a way that’s inspiring. And anger, as much as love, inspires art.<\/p>\n

Common:\u00a0<\/b>Artists, when we have something we\u2019re passionate about, we speak up. It\u2019s the truth that comes out at that time. But you have to be passionate about it. I think this era we\u2019re in now is just as tough as the Reagan era in many instances, but the artists are speaking up. They feel it. They feel it in their spirits. I think the one thing we have in hip hop that you had in that 80s era is a lot of people were kind of educated politically to a certain degree; socially and politically so they knew what to talk about. I was learning about things from Chuck D and from KRS-One and I learned from them. They had something to say. They knew what was going on. I don\u2019t know if it was age or whatever the case, but they knew. And even in this crucial era, I think that the music can be more powerful, the art can be more powerful when people are passionate about it and they really do care.<\/p>\n