Common Leaves CAA for UTA

UTA has signed Common in all areas worldwide, The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard have exclusively learned. He was previously with CAA.

This fall the hip-hop artist, activist, actor and producer will be in both Fox’s highly anticipated YA Black Lives Matter adaptation The Hate U Give and Warner Bros.’ animated feature Smallfoot, and early next year he’ll be seen in indie crime drama Three Seconds. He also recurs on Showtime’s critically acclaimed drama The Chi, which he executive produces via Freedom Road Productions, the banner he co-founded with longtime manager Derek Dudley.

One of the most well-known stars of the “conscious hip-hop genre” to emerge from the late ’90s scene, Common earned the Oscar, Grammy, Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice awards for his and John Legend’s original song “Glory” from Selma. (His portrayal of civil rights leader James Bevel in the 2014 film also earned him the NAACP Image Award for supporting actor.) He again received Academy Award, Grammy and Critics’ Choice nominations earlier this year for co-writing with Diane Warren the anthem “Stand Up for Something” from Marshall.

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As an artist, Common has a total of 20 Grammy nominations and three wins — his first was 2002 Best R&B song for “Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip Hop),” featuring Erykah Badu, followed by 2007’s Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for “Southside,” with Kanye West. Other accolades include the Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics Emmy for 13th‘s “Letter to the Free,” written with producers Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins as part of the trio’s hip-hop supergroup August Greene. The win left him one Tony away from an EGOT.

In total, Common has 12 television and film projects either completed, in the works or in preproduction in 2018 and 2019. His previous acting credits include John Wick: Chapter 2, Suicide Squad and Barbershop: The Next Cut, as well as The Mindy Project and The Simpsons.

Common is also the creator of Common Ground Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to empower underprivileged youth to be strong citizens of the world. He performed “Stand Up for Something” with Andra Day at the anti-gun violence March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C., in March. Common also is part of the Recording Academy’s newly formed 16-person diversity task force, led by Tina Tchen, created in the wake of complaints about the lack of female inclusion at the 2018 Grammys.

Common continues to be represented by Dudley and attorney David Fox of Myman Greenspan.