Common: Field Recordings x Aspen Ideas Festival

07:47

Shout Out Louds Perform "Impossible" at SXSW 2008

02:54

Shakira, Rauw Alejandro - Te Felicito (Alternate Video)

15:55

Son Little: Field Recordings x Aspen Ideas Festival

03:48

Mirah Performs "Education" at SXSW 2009

03:01

GAYLE - don’t call me pretty (diy music video)

18:42

Chris Thile: Field Recordings x Aspen Ideas Festival

280,454 views

Common: Field Recordings x Aspen Ideas Festival with tags npr, npr music, national public radio, live, performance, tiny desk, tiny desk concert, tony desk, tiny concert

Suraya Mohamed | October 14, 2024

The Aspen Music School students arrived early at the Zen Garden, a peaceful plot on the campus of the Aspen Ideas Festival. They had never performed with a rapper before, so there was a nervous excitement in the air. The revered rapper, actor and activist Common arrived soon after. He, too, was excited to try something new.

“We’re gonna loop,” Common said before getting started. “This is hip-hop. Y'all cool with loopin’?” After some experimentation, they settled on two repeated measures from Toto’s 1982 soft-rock hit “Africa” while Common’s percussionist Mark Colenburg laid down a beat that supported the syncopated string parts. Common ascended a rock in the middle of the garden and freestyled a take that sounded pretty good, to everyone’s delight. Then everyone reset, played the tune one more time, and that second take is what you’ll see in this Field Recording.

Watch how Common, a master of his craft, and these young talented students, imagine in the moment something spontaneous, yet memorable. This impromptu performance is a fun reminder that music needn’t be rehearsed or refined to strike a chord.

This was recorded on June 28, 2024 on the campus of the Aspen Ideas Festival.

SET LIST

“Africa Freestyle”

MUSICIANS

Common: vocals

Valerie Xu-Friedman: violin

Amelia Posner-Hess: violin

Owne Xayboury: viola

Jooahn Yoo: cello

Mark Colenburg: djembe

NPR TEAM

Director: Mito Habe-Evans