Common previews new album with 2 verses of "Black America"

Common appeared on today's Sway in the Morning show to talk about the upcoming American Black Film Festival, but the star of "Selma" and "Barbershop: The Next Cut" also used the opportunity to remind the world that he can still rhyme.

The Oscar and Grammy award winning artist recently announced that he has been working on his eleventh solo LP, and this morning he gave the world a preview of "Black America," which is rumored to be the first track off of the upcoming album.

Common isn't letting the mainstream recognition he's received through his acting work get in the way of his trademark political activism and socially conscious music. In the two verses of "Black America" that Common previewed today, he evokes the names of Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, and the Black Lives Matter movement, directly tackling issues like police brutality, racism, media representation and the continuing fragmentation of the black community. "Think of Sandra Bland as I’m staring in the wind," Common rapped. "The color of my skin they comparin’ it to sin.The darker it gets the less fairer it has been."

Check out a preview of Common's "Black America" on Sway in the Morning here.

By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation