Common with Nelson George

Tribeca Talks

In 2017, Tribeca premiered the extended music video for Common’s “Letter to the Free,” directed by Bradford Young. After the screening, Academy Award®, Golden Globe®, and three time GRAMMY® winner Common sat down with author and filmmaker Nelson George to discuss “Letter to the Free,” Common’s work on Selma and 13th, and the power of music.

Common is an artist, actor, activist and, most recently, a New York Times best-selling author with the release of his latest memoir Let Love Have The Last Word. With a storied career spanning three decades, his work has been recognized with numerous GRAMMY Awards®, as well as an Emmy® and an Academy Award® for the song "Glory" which he co-wrote and performed with John Legend. In Summer 2019, he released his new album Let Love, inspired by his work and experiences that came from writing his second memoir of the same name.

Nelson George is an author and filmmaker who celebrates black culture in America. He was a producer and writer on the Netflix series The Get Down and directed the Lifetime movie The Real MVP. George's other directing credits include the theatrical documentary A Ballerina's Tale about Misty Copeland as well as docs for ESPN and VH1. He is serving as executive producer on Outlaws, a documentary series on Afeni and Tupac Shakur for the FX Network. He has written many non-fiction books on African-American life including Hip Hop America, The Death of Rhythm & Blues, and the current The Nelson George Mixtape on Pacific Books. He has a blog on Substack also titled The Nelson George Mixtape. His next novel, The Darkest Hearts, will be published by Akashic Books in August. George was born in Brooklyn, New York.