(AllHipHop News) A running joke in Hip Hop circles is that Erykah Badu has some unexplainable power to radically transform any emcee by just being involved with her. Common, one of Ms. Badu’s former boyfriends, addressed the mystery surrounding why men seem to emerge from a relationship with the singer-songwriter a changed man.
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During an interview on the Combat Jack show, Common was asked about the “Badu Box” and the Chicago emcee gave credit to Erykah’s whole aura as a woman.
“Yeah, the ‘Badu Box’ is real,” said Common. “It can take you to another universe. But seriously that’s when you meet somebody that’s real special and you’re like, ‘Man, this woman got… she got something else man.’ It ain’t just the sex. It ain’t just the looks. It’s like something that’s kind of like spirit-wise where you’re like, ‘This woman got something else.'”
Despite what many observers may think Common adds that Badu was not fully responsible for his change in clothing style during the Like Water for Chocolate/Electric Circus era.
“She definitely was not like, ‘wear this,'” said Common. “Moving to New York I had the aspirations to do something new, to change, to grow, just try new things. She definitely was an influence… She introduced me to certain people that were creative artists, but as far as my choice – it was my choice to say, ‘I want to do this. I want to do that.'”
Common is set to drop his tenth studio album Nobody’s Smiling. The project is scheduled for release on July 22.
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Listen to Common’s interview where he also talks about his new album, Chicago rappers, and more below.