Commons Father Lonnie Lynn Dead At 71
Common‘s father, Lonnie Lynn, has died.
The Chicago rapper’s fans know Lynn for his soulful spoken-word poems on Common’s albums.
The AP is reporting that Lynn died on Friday according to  Common  in an interview Monday in Los Angeles. He gave no further details. Lynn was 71
“Lynn was a star high school basketball player in Chicago and played in the 1969-1970 season in the American Basketball Association. He struggled with drug addiction and with being a father to six children, topics he addressed in poignant, sometimes regretful poems that concluded many of Common’s albums,” the AP reported.
“He was truly a natural poet and master of words. His personality and soul shined through his work,” Common shared in the interview.
“The way he said things made me look at life and the world in a new way, in a different way. They always sparked a thought in my head. His words would always make me strive to achieve higher, to write better, to be more truthful with my words.”
Lynn, known as “Pops” on Common’s albums, recorded his last poem for the rapper’s 2011 release, “The Dreamer/The Believer.”