Common talks getting ‘vulnerable’ during making of project also featuring Jennifer Hudson

Common and Pete Rock are still basking in the glow of the success of their collaborative album The Auditorium Vol. 1, which was released back in July.

The hip-hop record was produced completely by Pete, 54, and represented a new career high for the rapper, 52. The album received two nominations for the upcoming Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album.

The duo appeared on the latest iteration of The Kelly Clarkson Show to discuss their project and all the feelings and processes that went into it, including their evolved relationship.

Kelly asked how their bond as creative partners and friends had changed over the years, having known each other since the ’90s, and Common responded that they’ve been able to be more vulnerable and open with each other, while Pete mentioned that they’d gotten more “mature” over time.

“I think too, one thing I’ve noticed, as soon as we started working,” he explained. “Our conversations are real life talk, we’d talk about life and being fathers, even what therapy means to us, sports, too.”

“We were open to being vulnerable human beings. And being vulnerable was something that… when we were younger, the way we were raised, we had to stay cool…to survive in a way, just to make it.”

He continued: “As grown men, Pete and I are just like, ‘Hey man, I’ve been through some stuff, you’ve been through some stuff. We love each other, let’s create man!'”

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Common also spoke about the joy of seeing their project get recognized with Grammy nominations, gushing: “You put your heart and soul into things, and your joy, too. It is a joy just to be mentioned in this, it’s a blessing.”

The project also turned out to be a special one for Common, as it allowed him to collaborate with his girlfriend Jennifer Hudson on the track “A God (There Is).” The actor also joined the talk show host on the track “Almost Christmas” from her own newly-released holiday album, The Gift of Love.

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He told People previously that it was the EGOT winner’s role playing the legendary Aretha Franklin in her 2021 biopic Respect that earned her the part.

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“I loved it, because when I played it to musician friends, they were like, ‘Who is that singing?'” he recalled. “I’m like, ‘That’s Jennifer!’ It doesn’t sound like things you’ve heard from her before. I love that we were able to utilize her gifts in a new space. She brought it, man.”

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He remembered the song coming about from a beat sample that he’d always believed belonged to Aretha, but was actually from Ashford and Simpson’s Valerie Simpson. “I told [Jennifer] who it was and then we was discussing.”

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“I was like, you know how the light bulb goes off? The light bulb went off. ‘Wait, that song makes me feel like Aretha. Jennifer played Aretha. Jennifer, why don’t you sing on this?’ She’s like, ‘Oh man, I would love to sing on it.’ She was vibing to it.”