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Rapper/actor Common has had a great week. Not only is he starring in the movie Selma, playing historical figure James Bevel, he just picked up a Golden Globe, with John Legend, for the movie’s theme song “Glory.”

I think what people are getting from the movie is inspiration,” Common told Roland Martin. “People are getting reenergized about what they can do in life. It did that for me, being an actor and an artist making a song for it. When I watched it, I felt the same way. I’ve had people tell me they at in the theater until the end of the credits and think about what they can do to help people. It brings out that in people.”

The song “Glory” came together very quickly. John Legend had one day to complete it. Common says that they were already in editing when he called John and told him they had to make it happen….fast. There were three titles considered but “Glory” turned out to be the one.

“He said Glory was the one that touched him. He started in the church so it took him to his roots and he wanted to channel that sound that we got from the movie and from our ancestors. And I felt like I wanted it to be present day – take the tradition of the ancestors and the civil rights movement and bring it up to date.”

Common says that he was talking to his manager and he told him that the Selma filmmakers would be contacting them about the song. He called John, who was in Europe at the time,  right away and they came together on the only day John had free. Common said that although they had so little time to make the record, he didn’t even have the lyrics until he got into the studio with Legend.

Check out the whole interview and Common’s ‘Selma’ freestyle above!

[LISTEN] Common Drops Freestyle, Talks Golden Globe Win & Teaming Up With John Legend  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com