Common, the Award-Winning Rapper-Actor, Performs Rap Retrospective Show in Harlem NYC on May 6

NEW YORK - May 5, 2015 - PRLog -- Acclaimed recording artist and actor Common, fresh from his milestone Selma Oscar and Golden Globe music wins, will hit Harlem with two exclusive performances of UP CLOSE & PERSONAL WITH COMMON, a hot Hip Hop retrospective,  at Madiba Harlem at MIST, 46 West 116th Street, on May 6 with shows at 7:00pm and 9:00pm. Tickets are $75.00 and $125.00.

UP CLOSE & PERSONAL WITH COMMON is a showcase of the multi-talented performer through a spoken word and music performance accompanied by a live band and singers. The show will have a retrospective of Common’s career. His current album is Grammy-nominated Nobody’s Smiling.

“I like my performances to be like theater,” said Common.

A portion of the proceeds from UP CLOSE & PERSONAL WITH COMMON will be donated to the Common Ground Foundation, founded by Common, which works with urban Chicago youth through mentoring, education, careers and physical activity programs. He co-founded the organization with his mother, educator Dr. Mahalia Ann Hines, a former principal in Chicago Public Schools, who now serves on the Chicago Board of Education. The nonprofit Common Ground Foundation has been recognized by CNN Heroes and the BET Hip Hop Awards.

“I always believed that if we started with the youth then we would be planting the seeds for our future to blossom,” states Common on the Common Ground website. “Give the children a sense of hope, self-esteem, and love that will better the world. I think making a difference in the lives of others is life’s greatest purpose.”

Common won the 2015 Academy Award for Best Original Song, the 2015 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the 2015 Critics’ Choice Movie Awards for his song Glory with John Legend from the 2014 film Selma. His outstanding portrayal as 1960s Civil Rights Movement leader James Bevel in Selma earned him the 2015 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.

Common’s acting career is red hot.  Currently, he’s filming Barbershop 3, co-starring  Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer.  He’s just signed-up to act in DC Comics super hero movie Suicide Squad starring Will Smith. Common's acting career also includes starring significant roles in the films, American Gangster, Terminator Salvation, Date Night, Just Wright, Happy Feet Two and New Year's Eve. He also narrated the award-winning documentary Bouncing Cats, about one man's efforts to improve the lives of children in Uganda through hip-hop. Currently, he stars as Elam Ferguson on the AMC western television series Hell on Wheels.

UP CLOSE & PERSONAL WITH COMMON is presented by Madiba Harlem at MIST and Stealth Entertainment. Tickets are $75.00 and  $125.00.  There are exclusive Meet & Greet Packages that include VIP seating.  For tickets and information, please phone 212.828.MIST or www.madibaharlem.com.