Common Signs HBO Television Deal

Common signed a two-year first-look contract with HBO, Deadline Hollywood reports.

The cable network will receive the rights to the projects that Common is developing with his Freedom Road Productions company. The Chicago rapper will work with his manager/partner Derek Dudley and head of development and production Nicole Dow.

Common is also working on a drama for Showtime. The show, which has yet to be titled, is set in Chicago and is preparing to shoot a pilot episode.

“We’re showing the world what it is to be a young person growing up in Chicago,” he said of the program, “the good and the tough parts. The humanity.”