In the July 2008 edition of "Elle" magazine, Lonnie Rashid Lynn (better known as Common) opened up about the lesson learned after his relationship with Erykah Badu ended.

That no matter how much you love somebody, you’ve got to love yourself first. If you’re truly loving yourself, you won’t allow some things to go down, and you’ll have boundaries. I was so in love that I gave up certain things about me, and that showed a lack of love for myself. It turned out to be such a big blessing that we broke up, because I got that lesson. I actually wrote a children’s book about it called I like You But I Love Me.

Common also talked about his mother and grandmother's opinions on the women he dated:

My mother will never say, “I don’t like her.” She’ll tell me later. But my 80‘year‘old grandmother will say it the first moment she meets a woman. ELLE: What’s the harshest thing your grandmother has said about a woman you’ve brought home?
COMMON: She’ll say, “She ain’t cute,” or, “She don’t seem like she going to do no good for you, Rashid.” When people get to a certain age, they can tell the truth more.
ELLE: What’s the worst thing a woman ever said to you?
COMMON: “I don’t want to be with you anymore and I’m really liking this other dude.” [CONTINUE READING...]

If you go by the rumor rill, Common has been linked to Taraji P. Henson, Kerry Washington, Alicia Keys, and Erykah Badu. Unforunately, Common steered clear of any questions about his current girlfriend, Serena Williams who talked about their relationship to "Ebony" magazine.

Labels: Common, Newsstand Snapshots