That’s one reason he is looking forward to being in Dallas.
“I love Dallas, especially on the musical tip,” he says. “And when I go someplace, you know I’m digging real deep. That’s how we stay versatile with things we like. I’m in different cities finding different records and finding different ideas.”
His friend and collaborator Common commends Rock’s ability to find “jewels” everywhere he goes, but for him, the biggest inspiration will always be the crowd.
“I started rapping to say something real dope that my friends would respond to,” Common recently told a radio station in LA, and on the road to Dallas, he echoes that thought.
“I want to see what type of things rock the crowd,” he says. “There’s nothing like being able to connect to the audience directly. It’s not the internet. You can see what connects with people.”
Fresh on the heels of their album The Auditorium Vol. 1, Pete Rock and Common are in the early days of a brief tour that takes them through more than a dozen cities, including a stop at Dallas' The Echo Lounge and Music Hall on Sept. 6. Both artists have been around for decades, and after more than 30 years of friendship — and plenty of collaborations — their album-length project has been well-received by critics. (In a near-perfect review, Rolling Stone thanked the duo for “upholding rap’s classic traditions.”) They’re not thinking too much about acclaim, though — at least not on this bus ride from Tucson.
Instead, huddled around a laptop and via Zoom, they talk about what brought them together. Technically, it was a beef with Ice Cube.
In the late '90s, Common and Cube traded musical barbs in a back-and-forth that Common recently said could’ve gotten “ugly.” (Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan ultimately stepped in, and the beef was squashed.)
But before Farrakhan, the New York-born Rock — already a revered artist — produced Common’s diss track “The Bitch in Yoo.” Common and Rock had known each other for several years, but this was their first collaboration.
“From there, we built something special: a musical relationship,” Rock says, citing Common’s appearance on his 1998 album Soul Survivor. “Our paths went different directions, but we found our way back to each other, remembering what the mission was, and here we are today.”
The mission was to make great music, and while The Auditorium Vol. 1 is a far cry from the tone of a diss track (it’s far too mellow, even relaxing at times) it still harkens back to that ‘90s era that Common describes as “soulful.”
“We want to carry that spirit of the ‘90s; that music had a purity and a joy,” he says. “But we also know we’re in 2024 now, so we still gotta present something new.”
In this case, Common says the dialogue is what’s new. The album is a showcase for his storytelling talents, and it mostly homes in on wholesome messages that never feel trite. In one song (“So Many People”), Common addresses faith, hope and destiny, verse by verse, as if all three concepts are corporeal beings. Another song is called “Fortunate,” and the MC describes the simple process behind it like this: “When [Pete] sent me the beat, it made me feel grateful. So I wrote about what gratitude means to me.”
As it turns out, this was largely the approach for all 14 tracks: Rock would assemble a beat, share it with Common, make any tweaks they wanted to make, then let Common write. It’s the kind of free-flowing collaboration that’s only possible with kindred spirits or lifelong friends, and Common and Pete Rock are both.
“We’re exploring people’s stories; they’re dialogues, in a way,” Common says. “But we’re rocking the show, and it has the fun we want in shows and in hip-hop, with stories like what theater can be.”
Fortunate Souls
To showcase the record, the pair are putting on a show that, in Common’s words, “gets back to the essence of raw talents” like Run-DMC and Big Daddy Kane, artists who didn’t need anything other than a turntable to enthrall a crowd. He’s quick to add that the album contains plenty of shades of Dallas, too: Erykah Badu, The D.O.C. and Norah Jones remain among his favorite artists.Common is full of Dallas stories: He first performed in the city in ‘95, and while he was rooting for Kyrie and Luka to beat the Celtics in this year’s Finals (“So was I,” adds Pete Rock), Common also jokes that he deserved the MVP trophy when he played in the 2010 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game. (His West team, which included Mark Cuban and Chris Mullin, beat the East, but actor Michael Rapaport was named MVP at what was then called the Dallas Convention Center.)
That said, don’t bring up the Cowboys: Pete Rock is a Giants fan, and Common, laughing, says, “I’m stopping with Kyrie and the Mavericks.”
The pair share chuckles while swapping stories about the places they’ve been and the songs they’ve made, showcasing what Common calls “a natural brotherhood.” But the mood grows a bit more serious when they’re asked what the project has given them on a personal level.
They both believe, wholeheartedly, that God brought them together to create a record. And they hope that record means something for those who listen.
“In this day and age right now, where we are in the world, people are yearning and desiring authenticity,” Common says. “So I think Pete and I connecting at this time ...”
He stops, takes a beat, then continues.
“If we had connected years ago, it still would’ve been quality music, but I don’t know if people would’ve been as receptive to it. Maybe. But I know right now it was divine timing when we connected. It brought the joy of what I’ve always loved about music back in my life again. So I thank God for it happening right now.”
