Kanye West, Pusha T, Big Sean, Cyhi Da Prynce & Common Freestyle Cipher!

Common & Rihanna Announce New TV And Movie Roles

Rapper Common and video vixen Rihanna have both landed opportunities to show-off their acting skills in a new television pilot and upcoming movie.

Common has been cast for a lead role in a new AMC show called "Hell on Wheels."

Common will star as a half-black, half-white freed slave in "Hell on Wheels," a show about the building of the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860s. The role of Elam is Common's first leading role on television, according to AMC's press release. The two-time Grammy winner has also had roles in the films "Just Wright," "Date Night," "Terminator Salvation" and "Smokin' Aces." The pilot will be shot in Alberta, Canada, next month.

An AMC executive has confirmed the network's decision to tag the rapper-turned-actor.

AMC's senior vice-president of programming Joel Stillerman said: "Common brings a layered intensity to a very complex role. This part required someone who can transcend the stereotypes of the period and bring the character to life in a truly unique way, and he brings that."

Rihanna will make her move into Hollywood in a blockbuster set to drop in 2012.

The 22-year-old pop star is set to make her film debut in Peter Berg's "Battleship" movie, set for release in May of 2012. Variety reports that Rihanna's deal was closed on Monday, though her role has not yet been confirmed. Filming on the summer tentpole will begin shortly in order to meet its release date. "Battleship" offers a fresh take on the classic board game, where naval forces unite on the high seas to battle an alien armada. Taylor Kitsch ("Friday Night Lights") and Alexander Skarsgard ("True Blood") have already been cast as two sailor brothers who partake in the fight.

Common's last movie, Just Wright, opened in theaters last May.

"Iron Man 2" has fought off all competition at the box office for a second weekend, boasting new earnings of $53 million. Ridley Scott's epic "Robin Hood," starring Russell Crowe as the legendary British outlaw and Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian, settled for second place with $37.1 million on its debut weekend. Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave's romantic comedy "Letters to Juliet" debuted at three with nearly $13.8 million in earnings, while new basketball comedy "Just Wright," starring Queen Latifah and hip-hop star Common, debuted at four with takings of $8.5 million.

No further details have been revealed as of now.

Common Blames Corporations For Music's Downfall, "Hip-Hop Does Not Have The Same Impact Today"

Grammy-winning rapper Common recently said corporations are responsible for the hip-hop's current condition.

From Common's perspective, hip-hop has lost its power to breed leaders.

It's sad, because hip hop does not have the same impact today that it did when I was coming up," Common said in an interview. "I think about my daughter and hip-hop has no real impact on her lifestyle. I remember wearing medallions and finding out about Farrakhan and that movement because Chuck D talked about it. Hip-Hop had a big relevance on life. When the corporations took over music, the music lost its soul. Music used to be artist driven and pure. I always thought hip-hop artists were leaders. Big Daddy Kane would say this is what I'm about. KRS would say this is who I'm about. NWA would do the same. If the music does not feel good to your spirit, you can't make a connection. I listen to old Bran Nubian or Tribe Called Quest or John Coltrane. It's different for the youth today. My daughter is 12 and I don't know if Nicki Minaj is going to have the same impact on her life as KRS had on mine."

Rapper David Banner recently said hip-hop was losing its essence.

"People don't even mix and master records anymore," Banner said in a blog post. "They don't care about the quality of music anymore and it's turning it into sh*t and it's our fault. All these blog sites and magazines are doing the same thing with the bullsh*t politics. The media ain't sh*t, they only care about screwing each other. It ain't about how good you can rap anymore. Dope beats? What happened to that? Now it's all about what features a rapper is going to have or who he's having sex with. But we allowed it to happen and it's our fault. Don't blame it on no regions or anybody. Blame it on yourself for not liking better music, the magazines and blogs need to put out better information."

Earlier this month, Common talked about returning to hip-hop's "roots" on his new LP.

"Well the new album is called The Believer and I'm working on it," Com explained in an interview. "It's really just in the beginning stages but I been cooking up with No ID and Kanye West and my man Y-Not, who produced some of my earlier music. It's really just essential boom bap hip-hop. I think I'm at a place where I wanna do some boom bap, raw sounding hip-hop that's inspiring. I think that's what people wanna hear. It's gonna have some scratches, flows and everything because there aren't too many rules to hip-hop. You think about what hip-hop brought that was so new was that it wasn't really any rules to hip-hop. When I listen to Chuck D on 'Rebel Without a Pause,' he had like four verses on that song. It wasn't about, like, 'Okay, we gonna do 16 bars with an eight bar chorus.' It was just like this is what I have to say and I'm gonna say it and it came out that way. They let it be natural and be raw and that's what I want to have happen with my new album."

The project will reportedly come out this fall.

"It's 'good' music," he said. "The themes are street music and elevation, things that I feel like I always embody when I rap. But here there's new situations, new solutions." As far as production goes, Common says he's working with No I.D. and Kanye West, both of which have produced a couple of his previous albums -- "Be" and "Finding Forever," "Resurrection" and "One Day It'll All Make Sense" respectively. "I'm striving to get it out in the fall," he said, adding that fans can expect a single by late summer or early fall.

Check out a recent Common interview below: