For hip-hop fans, Common‘s intelligence, lyricism and artistic skill speak for themselves. With hip hop classics like “I Used To Love Her” and movies like “Just Wright,” Common has cemented himself as a hip hop legend. But when the MC, actor, writer and philanthropist agreed to speak at Florida A&M University’s commencement, he had no idea what he was in store for.

“Once I started to pursue my entertainment and my music career, I never thought about the fact that ‘Man, I can get a doctorate,’” said Common.

The rapper was there to speak to students from the College of Science and Technology, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities and School of Environment.

Common says that his activism started in undergrad.

“It was things that I experienced here that I didn’t experience in my hometown of Chicago,” Common explained to ABC 27 WTXL. “Meeting people from other parts of the country. I was able to keep an open mind. I learned a lot.”

In all, more than 12,000 students graduated from the university this Spring.

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) is a public, historically black university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, it is located on the highest geographic hill in Tallahassee. It is the 5th largest historically black university (HBCU) in the United States by enrollment and the only public historically black university in Florida. It is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, as well as one of the state’s land grant universities, and is accredited to award baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

The 2019 edition of the U.S. News & World Report college rankings placed the university 9th among all HBCUs and 2nd among all public HBCUs. The university is classified as an R2 Doctoral Research University under the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, which denotes higher research activity. For 2017, the National Science Foundation ranked Florida A&M University 216th nationally and 2nd among HBCU for total research and development expenditures.

Congrats to Common and all of the graduates!

Original post was published here.