Common Market is an American hip hop duo based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, active from 2005 through 2009 and from 2019 to present. Both members, DJ/ Producer Sabzi (Saba Mohajerjasbi) and MC

RA Scion Ryan Abeo better known by his stage name RA Scion, is an American alternative hip hop artist from Louisville, Kentucky. He is currently based in Seattle, Washington. Abeo is a member of the hip hop group Common Market along with DJ/Producer Sa ...

(Ryan Abeo), had been active hip hop artists in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

for three years before they combined their talents in 2005 to form Common Market. Together they have released two albums, three EPs, and have gone on several tours.

Early beginnings

Sabzi started his career as DJ and producer in another hip hop duo,

Blue Scholars Blue Scholars is an American hip hop duo based in Seattle, Washington, created in 2002 while the members, DJ Sabzi (Saba Mohajerjasbi) and MC Geologic (George Quibuyen), were students at University of Washington. The name "Blue Scholars" is ...

, in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

gained musical skill while in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...

, before moving to Seattle. RA Scion and Sabzi's paths crossed through the

Northwest hip hop Northwest hip hop is hip hop or rap music that originates from the Pacific Northwest of North America, encompassing major cities such as Portland (Oregon), Seattle (Washington), and other towns. Northwest hip hop music mixes elements from various ...

scene, where they bonded over their

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

contacts, and their political and spiritual approach to hip-hop music.

Musical career

2005-2007: ''Common Market'', self titled LP and touring

After collaborating on a pair of tracks on RA Scion's 2004 solo project, ''Live and Learn'', the duo began working in an attic-based studio for what would eventually become the 14-track self-titled debut, released in October 2005. An advance copy caught the ear of

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

, who praised the album and RA Scion for "spitting in the tradition of the conscious hiphop movement." KRS-One then drove up to perform at Common Market's album release party in Seattle, then taking the duo on the road with him on the ''Temple of Hiphop'' tour. The album was hailed by fans as a remarkable improvement over any of their previous works. Common Market takes on questions about religion, politics and the state of mainstream hip-hop. At the core of Common Market's music is a critical, unapologetic world view that change is not only necessary, it is inevitable, and can only come about through having love for and serving the people. Shortly after the release of their debut album, Common Market gathered praise as ''Seattle Weeklys 200
Best New Artist
and performing slots on grand stages such as the '' Sasquatch Festival'' and ''The Capitol Hill Block Party''. They have shared the stage with

Zion I Zion I was an American hip hop project founded by MC and producer Baba Zumbi (real name Stephen Gaines) in Oakland, California. K-Genius and Amp Live were also project members. Career Originally formed as a group, Zion I released the debut s ...

Ghostface Killah Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 C ...

The Coup The Coup is an American hip hop band from Oakland, California. Their music is an amalgamation of influences, including funk, punk, hip hop, and soul. Frontman Boots Riley's revolutionarily-charged lyrics rank The Coup as a renowned politica ...

, Guru of Gangstarr, and the

. The album's regional success, along with the wave of Northwest hip-hop, poised the group for a serious push into the national scene, and the Common Market LP has been mixed and mastered by Seattle music engineer Martin Feveyear and repackaged with new album cover art. Their debut album was also the first official new release of Mass Line, a co-op indie record label run by Common Market,

and

Gabriel Teodros Gabriel Teodros (born 1981), is a hip hop artist and a member of the groups Abyssinian Creole and CopperWire. He was raised on Beacon Hill, Seattle, Washington. Teodros' music often features socially conscious themes, and he was a catalyst in t ...

. The now-defunct label's mission statement included the goal of using hip hop as a means of grassroots community organizing and youth outreach.

2007-2009: ''Tobacco Road''

In a 2007 interview on Seattle radio station

107.7 The End KNDD (107.7 FM, "107-7 The End") is a commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and airs an alternative rock radio format. Its studios are located on Fifth Avenue in Downtown Seattle. The station broadcasts wi ...

, the duo stated that their new album would be titled '' Tobacco Road'' and is scheduled for release "on your mom's 50th birthday." In preparation for the album release, Common Market released the EP ''Black Patch War'' on May 20, 2008. ''Tobacco Road'' was released September 9, 2008, followed by a CD release party on September 11, 2008, at Neumo's in Seattle. Later that month, the album climbed to #50 on the U.S.

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Heatseekers chart. In September 2008, Common Market released a music video for the single "Trouble Is." The video was shot by director Zia Mohajerjasbi and was filmed at sites around Monroe, Washington. Common Market were winners in the eighth annual Independent Music Award for Rap/Hip-Hop Album in 2009 for Tobacco Road. A second (and final) EP, ''The Winter's End'', followed in March 2009.

Hiatus

In 2009, RA Scion announced that ''The Winter's End'' would be the final release by the group via

bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

, with both artists going their separate artistic ways.

Reunion

On July 12, 2019, Common Market played again live at West Seattle Summer Fest after a ten-year hiatus. That week they also released a new EP titled ''Triple Crown''. The group has also announced a forthcoming album, titled ''Pegasus Parade'', which will be released in 2020.

Name

RA Scion cites the name's origin from

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally ...

's song ''Communism'' from his 1994 album ''Resurrection''.

Discography

Albums

* ''

Common Market The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lis ...

'' (Pacific Northwest release: SCIONtific, October 24, 2005; National release: Massline, October 17, 2006) * '' Tobacco Road'' (Massline/Hyena, September 9, 2008)

EPs

* ''

Black Patch War The Black Patch Tobacco Wars were a period of civil unrest and violence in the western counties of the U.S. states of Kentucky and Tennessee at the turn of the 20th century, circa 1904-1909. The so-called "Black Patch" consists of about 30 counti ...

'' (Massline, May 13, 2008) * ''The Winter's End'' (Massline/Hyena, March 24, 2009) * ''Triple Crown'' (Self Released, July 19, 2019)

Singles

* ''Connect For'' (Massline, Jul 2006)

Non-album tracks

* ''Spread'' (Jul 2007) * ''Tobacco and Snow Covered Roads'' (Jan 2009; web video release)

Videography

* 2008: "Trouble Is" * 2009: "Tobacco and Snow Covered Roads" * 2009: "Escaping Arkham"

External links

Common Market Myspace page

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Common Market American hip hop groups Musical groups from Seattle Musical groups from Washington (state) American Bahá'ís 20th-century Bahá'ís 21st-century Bahá'ís American musical duos Hip hop duos