Now and forever there will always be music in this world that will move and inspire us. This has been the goal of Hip Hop and R&B, which are two forms of music that bring much needed, beauty and creativity to the world. In a world full of impressionable minds and hearts, these styles are most welcome to both the young and old alike. As these two styles get into the mainstream, which is our communities, more and more stars are produced. Now and then the two forms of music combine to create beautiful music that forms an atmosphere that conveys that music is the beat of the human heart. Such was the work of R&B singer Erykah Badu, an artist for Universal Records and rap artist Common, an artist for MCA records.

The two musical artists combined their talents and ideas and produced the video "For The Light", which is a song from Common¹s fourth album: "Like Water For Chocolate". With Common¹s talent in rhyming and Erykah¹s beautiful singing voice, the two combined to create music that is considered to be very soulful and moving. The video was shot in Harlem on 120th street and Lenox, and it took two days to complete the video. I was on the set with Common and Erykah, and I interviewed Common about his video. While talking with him he shared that he was glad to be working with Erykah on this song and that he hoped people would understand and like the video. His album, Like Water for Chocolate, made a lot of people wonder what the title meant. Common explained that the name made his album sound unique and deep. Water, to him, represented the flow of music, and chocolate represented the soul and talent in his music. Just like his other hit album, the Sixth Sense, The Light should be a big hit as well, especially with all the effort that was put into it.

After this project the two stars began their own separate and important projects for themselves. Common, who is always working on something, is on a tour featuring such talents as De La Soul, Pharoahe , Monch, Biz Markie , and Talib Kweli. The tour started on June 28th and ends on July 31st. The tour is happening all across the United States, and is expected to make a uproar where ever it goes. Erykah has also been very busy at work. Her last album "Baduizm" was a worldwide hit, and now she is just making music on other star¹s tracks, such as Out Kast, The Roots and Rahzel. Erykah, who is also an actress, was in the movie "The Cider House Rules", which received an Oscar nomination for best film, and she is in the new movie "Blues Brothers 2000". A lot of people are waiting to hear her new album that she calls "The New Du". The album is expected to come out soon, but she has been working really hard on it and taking her time to make sure it is perfect. The album is expected to come out on September 19th of this year. So look out for it.