Common’s new album “Black America Again,” featuring the recently released title track about race issues in the United States, will be released on Nov. 4 – four days before the presidential election.
The album, which follows 2014’s “Nobody’s Smiling,” features guest appearances from John Legend (“Rain”), Bilal (“Joy and Peace,” “Home,” “Letter to the Free”) and BJ the Chicago Kid (“The Day Women Took Over”) as well as Stevie Wonder and Marsha Ambrosius.
Grammy-winning gospel artist Tasha Cobbs appears on “Little Chicago Boy,” the initial title for Common’s album before he renamed it to the timely “Black America Again.”
“Letter to the Free,” the album’s second single, is featured in Ava DuVernay’s Netflix documentary “13th,” which highlights the racial inequalities within America’s criminal justice system.
In keeping with the “Black America Again” theme, Common will speak on various racial issues addressed on the album during a discussion at Morehouse College on Oct. 24.
The rapper says he penned the title track for the album in March, but recognized that it could have been just as relevant in the 1960s or even 1800s.