Ladies love eye candy as much as men do, and this year Chi-town rapper and actor Common, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, alongside former pro-wrestler turned actor Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson, made People Magazine’s annual hottest bachelor’s list.
Despite his heartthrob status, Common recalls a time when Cupid had him head over heels for one neo soulstress. “One of the most extreme things I’ve done is be extremely in love,” the-37-year-old single dad told People. “It was just the whole lifestyle I chose; I sat down and helped plant a garden with her! That went a little too far for me. But I was trying to be in a balanced relationship and do some of the things that she would enjoy, too. Then afterward you think, Dang–did I do all that?'”
In February 2003, Common graced the cover of ESSENCE with his then-girlfriend, Erykah Badu, a self-professed vegetarian who grows her food organically. Along with the writer, Common got on his hands and knees to plant in Badu’s vegetable garden at her Texas home.
“Got to feel the earth, get your hands all up in it,” Badu instructs in ESSENCE. “Don’t never be afraid of it.”
Even then Common expressed the butterflies he had about Badu. “I feel a little nervous about doing this interview,” he told ESSENCE. “This relationship is so sacred to me.”
Common costars in “Terminator Salvation,” in theaters now, and has been romantically linked to tennis pro Serena Williams.—KNB