"In conjunction with the GRAMMY Museum's exhibit, Hip-Hop America: The Mixtape Exhibit, the GRAMMY Museum was thrilled to host an exclusive album listening of The Auditorium, Vol. 1 ahead of its release, with a conversation featuring Common and Pete Rock discussing their collaboration that followed.

An artist’s creative peak isn’t always located in the heat of their first years. Most true masters’ skills and vision actually strengthen with time. But hip-hop doesn’t often get a chance to witness this evolution, in part because established artists don’t always get support in a genre obsessed with the new, and sadly because too many don’t live long enough to even have a chance to receive it. Then there are the few, joyous cases where we get to see our heroes grow into their full superhero powers. That is the experience of listening to Common and Pete Rock—the legendary MC and pioneering producer—on their first full-length collaboration, The Auditorium, Vol. 1 (Loma Vista Recordings).

Check the stats: Pete Rock’s production has propelled million-selling, chart-topping, award-winning hits from Nas, Public Enemy, The Notorious B.I.G., and Kanye West to Mick Jagger, Mary J. Blige, Madonna, and Lady Gaga; and his signature style—collage compositions imbued with complex harmony and melody—makes him one of the most influential and innovative figures in the history of popular music. Multi-hyphenate rapper-actor-producer-author-activist Common has created an unparalleled body of work: 15 landmark albums, standout performances in films from “American Gangster” and “Just Wright” to “Selma” and “The Hate U Give,” and most recently on Broadway performing in “Between Riverside and Crazy” and coproducing the revival of “The Wiz.” His Primetime Emmy, three Grammys, and Oscar for Best Original Song mean that Common has now transcended his EGO and is already shopping for a T that fits.

Yet this producer and MC, though they traveled in the same creative circles and soul group for three decades, collaborated only two times—on a notable song they made together in 1994 and another in 1998. Given their independent, interstellar trajectories, there was no reason their paths should cross, until Common’s course was altered by the gravity of a big event: the Hip-Hop 50th Anniversary concert at Yankee Stadium in August 2023. Common was a featured performer, but his epiphany came as a fan: “I stood out in that crowd and watched for five-and-a-half hours. I've never done that in my life. Just to see EPMD, to see Lil Kim, to see Mobb Deep, Snoop, Ice Cube, Run DMC, Nas, Lauryn Hill, and Fat Joe. It just made me realize how much I love the art form. It made me want to rap.”"