Common Says He Didn’t Think ‘Selma’ Would Win an Oscar

Common stopped by Hot 97's Ebro in the Morning on Wednesday (March 11) to chat with the radio host, Peter Rosenberg and Laura Stylez.

At the 2015 Academy Awards, Common and John Legend delivered a powerful performance of their song "Glory." Touching the hearts of everyone present and viewers at home, the Chi-town spitta and R&B singer made everyone reflect on the message of the song. While speaking with Rosenberg, Common dished on what it was like to take the Oscar stage and have people react the way that they did.

"We wanted this to be our greatest performance of the song. We felt the spirit of what we were doing. We were grateful to be representing Selma and be up on the Oscar stage doing "Glory." [We] never knew people would be crying. Man, that's another level. I told the people that [were] singing when we were about to march across the bridge, 'The ancestors gon' be with us.' It just felt like a spirit was there when we were performing. I'm glad that people can say that was a moment in the Oscars."

The Nobody's Smiling MC also mentioned that he knew Selma was not going to win Best Picture this year, although he and Legend took home an Oscar for Best Original Song. "We kind of knew that it was a long shot," he admitted. "The people in the movie studios kind of know what's in the competition so they kind of let you know beforehand," he explained, getting a little emotional as he reflected on the film.

In addition to chatting about his award-winning year so far, Common said he has no intentions of giving up the rap game. "I love hip-hop man. I love rhyming. I wanna do this for as long as I can. I feel like I got something to say and something to offer to culture and music."

Check out the 25-minute interview above, where the Universal signee also talks about a possible upcoming Broadway show, not changing his name and his past relationships with Erykah Badu and Serena Williams.

Common also appeared on The Daily Show last night (March 12) to speak with Jon Stewart about the recent race headlines in the country and his opinion on how we should resolve the matter.

"Hey, we all know there’s been some bad history in our country. We know that racism exists. I’m extending a hand like, 'Hey, we want to get past this. We’ve been bullied, we’ve been beat down, but we don’t want it anymore.' We’re not extending a fist. We’re not saying, “you did us wrong!” It’s more like, “Hey, I’m extending my hand in love. Let’s forget about the past as much as we can, and let’s move from where we are now. How can we help each other? Can you try to help us, because we’re going to help ourselves."

Check out the clip below and catch Common's new movie Run All Night in theaters today.

Related: Common Says He Called Oprah the Day After Snubbing Her at the Oscars
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