Source: Michael Caulfield Archive / Getty
Common has done the work, as Iyanla Vanzant would say, and he’s ready for love again.
He’s already had some great loves, a few we know, including Serena Williams and Erykah Badu. In an interview with PEOPLE, the 47-year-old shared that getting over the end of the latter relationship was rough — especially for his appetite.
“Some of the hardest work I’ve done on myself has been after breakups,” he said. “With Erykah Badu, that was my first love where you’re just open and floating. When we split, I was 27 or 28. I was in a haze, just going through the motions. It was hard to eat.”
The pair reportedly dated for two years before calling it quits in 2002. Looking back on what they had, Common doesn’t have anything bad to say about Badu, or the relationship overall.
“It wasn’t her fault, the relationship just didn’t go forward,” he said.
While the rapper had no trouble being open about what he and the singer had, there was a relationship after Badu that left him at an even lower point emotionally, but he didn’t name names.
“I was in another breakup after that that was heavy,” he told the magazine. “That one honestly is what sent me to therapy.”
Still, there was a silver lining in heartbreak pushing him to seek out professional help.
“Talking about my intimacy avoidance and love addiction was an ‘aha’ moment for me,” he said of his experience in therapy. “The more you talk, the more you see the patterns you created for yourself.”
“I’m open to a relationship now,” he added. “I know how to communicate like an adult now. I want to be the best partner I can be.”
According to reports, he’s presently being the best partner he can be to old flame Angela Rye. She’s joined him on his tour to promote his new book, Let Love Have the Last Word. Hopefully he’s putting all that good work he’s done to use — the second time around.
