On October 6, 1992, Common released his debut album Can I Borrow a Dollar, a street-savvy yet poetic collection that launched the career of one of hip hop's most enduring and critically acclaimed rappers. Reflecting on the moment 20 years later, Common spoke to XXL about how it all came together.
"That was just a time where I didn’t know anything about being in the music industry. I just wanted to be an artist and be a dope MC and be heard and represent Chicago, and [for] KRS-[One] and De La Soul and N.W.A and A Tribe Called Quest and all them to know who I was," he said. "I was just a young artist, just hungry."
Common recalled what it was like hearing his first single, "Take it EZ," on the radio as a naive kid in Chicago.
"I was at the Best Western just chilling out. Man, I just got geeked. I was like, ‘I’m gonna be a star.’ That’s what I felt," he said. "You just don’t know what it takes to even get — you never know from that point what it really take to be recognized as an artist on a greater level. It ain’t just being played on the radio one time. It’s a consistent thing of being heard and getting exposure and going out there, performing, getting your video played. There was so much more to it than you know when you first come into the music industry."
Read the full interview with Common over at XXL.

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(Photo: John Ricard / BET)