Common and Maya Angelou at Happier Times

Legendary poet Maya Angelou has publicly chastised rapper Common over his track “The Dreamer,” from his album The Dreamer, The Believer. Maya Angelou, who wrote the poem contained on “The Dreamer,” was offended by Common’s lyrics on the track.She was especially offended at Common’s usage of the “N-word.” “I had no idea that Common was using the piece we had done together on [a track] in which he also used the ‘N’ word numerous times,” Maya Angelou told The New York Post. Maya Angelou said that she was “surprised and disappointed” and that she had never heard Common use the word.“I don’t know why he chose to do that. I had never heard him use that [word] before. I admired him so because he wasn’t singing the line of least resistance,” Maya Angelou said.Common told The Post that the N word was “a part” of him, but he admitted that he never warned Maya Angelou about his lyrical content.“I told her what ‘The Dreamer’ was about and what I wanted to get across to people,” Common said. “I wanted young people to hear this and feel like they could really accomplish their dreams.”

                                                                                                   by Mike Winslow