Hip Hop Artist @Common Sits Down with @kingsthings & First Ever Co-host NBA Vet @Baron

For the first time ever, Larry welcomes a co-host to his Emmy nominated web-series “Larry King Now”: NBA vet and style icon Baron Davis. The pair chat with Hip Hop artist Common about the importance of his tenth album ‘Nobody’s Smiling’, how his daughter influences his music, and his friendship with the late Maya Angelou.

Common opened up about his relationship with the late Maya Angelou and how she inspired him as a child: “She was incredible, she actually did a poem on my last my last album called The Dreamer/The Believer. I met her doing a benefit together. We had a conversation about Paul Robeson, Tupac, and life, and we just became great friends.” Baron followed up by asking if her work inspired Common and his memoirs- “She was one of the writers I remember as a kid that made me want to write- Still I Rise, and Phenomenal Woman, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She influenced me.”

At the end of the interview, Common answered social media questions from some of his biggest fans, including the biggest disappointments about hip-hop in the last decade: “I think the biggest disappointment for me is that hip hop and music in general doesn’t sell as many records as it used to. The Internet has had a big effect upon that and I think also just the quality of music at a certain point went down.” Plus, where the best place is for him to write his hit songs and his music recommendations for the rap novice.

The episode is now LIVE on Ora.tv and Hulu.com (episodes premiere daily 5pm EST)

Quotes:

COMMON: “The album [Nobody’s Smiling] is more of a motivational piece.”

COMMON: “I always want my music to make somebody want to do better in life.”

COMMON: “When I write songs, I like to be in my vehicle. In my car."

COMMON: “I’m just as passionate about acting as I am about music.”

COMMON: “It was a moment where as a musician, I felt like I hit a ceiling. It was around 2000… I wanted to do something else creatively and I tried playing the piano and I wasn’t too good at that. And then I just was, like, why not try acting.”

COMMON: “[My mother] was the main reason [why I got out], and my belief in god, and just having my eyes on the prize. Seeing people like Michael Jackson and Magic Johnson, Muhammad Ali -- they were black and they came from where I come from and they were successful, and that inspired me too.”

COMMON: “She’s feeling this album. She’s real honest, because like when I’m working on music, I’ll play beats and sometimes she’ll be like, ‘Man, you can rap better than that.” -- on his daughters influence

COMMON: “That’s one thing that Dr. Angelou and I would discuss, because she was like ‘don’t use that word. But you’ve got to speak in the language of the people.”

BARON: “To me, it’s a part of our culture.” -- On use of the N- word

About “Larry King Now”:

The series by the legendary talk show host launched in 2012 and marked King’s first move to the Internet. His groundbreaking show, produced by Ora.TV, gained tremendous attention, delivering compelling interviews with such luminaries as Oprah Winfrey, Ashton Kutcher, Bill Maher, Seth MacFarlane, the Dalai Lama, Matthew McConaughey, Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford, Melissa McCarthy, and Steve Carell, among many others.

Now in its third season, Larry King Now has more than 4 million monthly views. Larry King Now is one of the top viewed original programming on Hulu.com and continues to be each month. The masthead on Hulu.com receives 15 million impressions with Hulu.com itself receiving over 30 million views a month.Larry King Now has over 11 million views to-date on YouTube.

Larry King Now was just nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy Award in the Outstanding News Discussion and Analysis category.

Episodes of Larry King Now are seen both in the U.S. and internationally around the world as well on several airlines: Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways.

Larry King Now has a mass appeal, reaching the broad 18 – 49 demographic, with its core viewer being 25 – 34. Larry King has over 2.5 million twitter followers.