On the surface, being a famous artist sounds amazing. The idea that you could make a living off of your own art is a blessing. You could perform and share it with people who love your creations. However, what doesn’t get discussed very often is that it’s not like your normal 9-5 job. There’s no retirement, there’s no set vacation days no safe sense of stability. Most importantly, though, there’s no health benefits at all. If you needed to go to the hospital or the dentist, it’s completely on your own tab. A rapper like Common could only ever receive it due to the Screen Actors Guild union.
But why couldn’t music ever unionize? Why would hip-hop receive the short end of the stick for such an impactful and influential art form? If you sign with a label, why can’t they offer something like health insurance through your deal?
These are questions Common had mulled over when speaking with Men’s Health amidst hip-hop’s 50-year anniversary in 2023. Ultimately, he argued that the culture and genre have been arguing for better health practices for years. Admittedly, he lagged on it himself early in his life. As a result, the Chicago MC argued that hip-hop needs to create a union like what actors in Hollywood have.
Common Says Hip-Hop Should Unionize So Artists Can Take Better Care of Their Health
“Early on, hip-hop influenced and discussed health in a clever way. I can go directly to KRS-One’s song ‘My Philosophy,’ which is one of the most influential songs on me as far as health. Growing up in Chicago, I just ate whatever I wanted and didn’t think about removing foods from my diet. So to hear somebody who’s a hero of mine say, ‘A vegetarian, no goat or ham or chicken or turkey or hamburger, cuz to me that’s suicide, self-murder’ was big. Then he started doing songs about beef. I would also hear Rakim talk about eating fish a lot, and it was a health awareness that was really natural,” Common recalled.
Given the racial and socioeconomic conditions of inner-city neighborhoods, some of the only people advocating for better health were rappers and the Five-Percent Nation of Islam. But rather than rely on rappers advocating for better eating practices in their music, Common argued that we ought to see an institutional change to address these things.
“As far as hip-hop, I do think one big gap that I wish I was smart enough—and we were more aware enough—to create was a union for people in hip-hop culture and musicians that could have established a way for us to have health care. Artists that participated and put out music and their careers may have gone a different way, but they’d still have health care. One of my great comrades and friends, J Dilla, was dealing with health issues,” Common explained. “For me, to be a part of the [Screen Actors Guild] union and having health-care benefits and seeing what unions do for people’s health-care benefits makes me wish we would’ve done that for hip-hop. Maybe it can still be done.”
The post Common Explains How Hip-Hop Helped Inform His Health Journey and Why It Needs To Start a Union After 50+ Years appeared first on VICE.
