On this day, March 13th, in hip-hop history...

Common-Birthday
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1972 - Veteran Chicago emcee Common was born. Named after his father Lonnie "Pops" Lynn - a former ABA basketball player - Common made his hip-hop debut in 1992 with Can I Borrow A Dollar? on Relativity Records. Although the album was overlooked by many listeners, it is credited as establishing Chicago as a force in hip-hop.

In the following years, Common would go on to release a number of critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums, including 1994's Resurrection and 1997's One Day It All Make Sense. In 2004, the emcee signed with fellow Windy City native Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music imprint and released the Grammy-nominated Be the following year.

In recent years, Common has delved into the world of acting, landing roles in films like Smokin' Aces and AMC's television program "Hell on Wheels." He is also currently working on his 10th solo album, due out September 2013.

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