 Last Saturday, March 25th , ASUOP proudly presented hip hop artist Common along with the slam poetry group Ill Literacy, hip hop group The Earthtones, and a special performance by a local high school slam poet who competed with over 100 of his local peers in the “All City Poetry Slam” competition to win the coveted opening spot for Common.
While approaching the theatre, it seemed as if the audience for the evening was going to be smaller than expected. The line, if it could even be called that, consisted of roughly twenty or so people loitering around waiting for the doors to open at 7pm. However, as the opening of the doors approached, busloads of Pacific students rolled in, hordes of Stockton natives crossed the streets, and within a half hour of admission, the previously empty Bob Hope Theatre was bustling with people trying to find their seats. As the lights dimmed at 8pm, the theatre was almost completely packed to capacity, with even the upper level seats brimming with energy. The first few opening acts were not typical for a music concert. While most headlining artists are preceded by other musical groups to get the crowd hyped up, Common’s openers were predominately thought provoking spoken word poetry pieces. Many Pacific students enjoyed the performances, Anand Manohara, a Business Major at Pacific stated, “I thought it was a good choice considering the type of rapper Common is. It may not have gotten the crowd riled up, but it definitely got us thinking.” 
As the lights dimmed once again, the crowd could hardly contain itself. People were standing on their seats, girls were screaming from the rafters, and many plain out abandoned their seats and rushed to the front in anticipation. Common’s backing band came out one at a time and started to play their respective instruments, building the already anxious excitement to a near frenzy. The crowd then exploded as Common came rushing out onto the stage jumping right into titular song off his new album Be , and then transitioned seamlessly into the bouncy track “Go”. Dressed in a long sleeved white button up shirt and a light green sweater vest, an outfit most would say is not suited for a hip hop artist. But for those who didn’t know who Common was before, I’m sure they know now that he is no ordinary hip hop artist. His truth seeking raps are often times extremely intelligent, touching upon subjects like love and joy. The conscientious rapper had come a long way from his borderline thug roots, rhymes that were once sprinkled with misogyny and homophobia, were now laced with love for everything and everyone.
The rest of the Common show went off wonderfully, there was a segment where he did a medley of sorts with his verses from Blackstar’s “Respiration,” Kanye West’s “Get em High,” and even a rendition of ‘Nuthin but a G Thang.” His performance had a lot of variety, there was a segment where his DJ showed off his versatility on the turntables, a part where Common got on the floor and displayed his old b-boy roots by doing windmills, and there was even a jab at former lover Erykah Badu. All in all, the concert was a huge success, students, Stockton residents, hip hop fans, poetry fans, everyone was all united in jumping and cheering in the packed venue. Thank you again to ASUOP for doing a fantastic job in bringing diverse artists to our school, and giving Pacific a taste of the hip hop community. The students of Pacific thank you.
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