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Common, who’s in New York City promoting his 10th solo LP, Nobody’s Smiling, had much to say while speaking with Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning show crew.

For one, the veteran MC delved into the inspiration behind his latest body of work — the socioeconomic conditions in his native Chicago. From there, the conversation took an interesting turn, as Common and Ebro discussed the implications of an underground rapper crossing over into the mainstream.

“At a certain point, I did kind of try to live up to that,” the Chicagoan said of staying true to his underground Hip-Hop roots. “Not even that I wanted to stay underground, but it was like, ‘OK, I’m doing this music.’ I wanted to win, but I still gotta make sure that I’m proven to the underground and I’m true to the Hip-Hop. But at a certain point, man, you just recognize that if you making music that you love, that’s just what it is.”

Common’s Nobody’s Smiling album released today. Find it via iTunes. Hear him speak in the footage below.

Photo: YouTube