Common was born in Chicago, where he was raised, the son of educator Ann Hines and former ABA basketball player turned youth counselor Lonnie Lynn. Common's parents divorced when he was six years old, resulting in his father moving to Denver, Colorado. This left Common to be raised by his mother, but his father remained active in his life and even landed Common a job with the Chicago Bulls during his teen years. While a student at Luther High School South in Chicago, Common also formed C.D.R., a rap trio that opened for acts such as N.W.A. and Big Daddy Kane. Common later left this group when he attended Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, LA to study business administration.Common has a daughter, Omoye Assata Lynn (born 1997). Since childhood, he was a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago led by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Following the controversy over one of Wright's sermons, Common criticized the American news media's coverage of the incident as having "an agenda". He dated Erykah Badu from 2000 - around 2003. Common has found himself in many dating rumors. Aside from Alicia Keys he has also been linked to Serena Williams and actress Taraji P. Henson who played alongside Common and Alicia Keys in Smokin' Aces. Common played the role of Alicia Keys's boyfriend in the music video "Like You'll Never See Me Again" and his own music video "I Want You", making speculations even stronger.
With both artists hailing from the Great Lakes region of the United States (Chicago and Detroit, respectively), Common and J Dilla established their chemistry early on. Both became members of the Soulquarians collective, and collaborated on numerous projects together, even placing one song, "Thelonius", on both the Slum Village album Fantastic, Vol. 2, and Common's Like Water for Chocolate. As Dilla's health began to decline from the effects of Lupus Nephritis, he relocated to Los Angeles for treatment, and asked Common to make the move with him as a roommate. Dilla would lose his battle with the rare disease, but his asking of Common to move in with him during his darkest hour is testament of a friendship between the two that transcended rap music, or the music industry. As a result, Common is a friend of the Yancey Family, particularly with J Dilla's mother, Maureen Yancey.
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