Common photo by phluids on Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.

Northwestern finally nabbed the missing member of the Chicago-rap Holy Trinity. First, they got mainstream superstar Kanye West to descend upon Welsh-Ryan two years ago. Then, hot young thing Lupe Fiasco shined at Dillo Day 2007. Now, with the announcement that Dillo Day’s 2008 headliner will likely be rhymer/actor Common, the Windy City’s chilled-out elder statesmen will get a chance to show his stuff in Evanston.

Common (once known as Common Sense, known to his parents as Lonnie Lynn Jr.), has been a prominent force in the Chicago rap scene since 1992, when he dropped his debut album, Can I Borrow a Dollar? He became a critical darling thanks to 1994’s Resurrection, and only strengthened his artistic credibility two years later with One Day It’ll All Make Sense. Even though Common garnered praise from music critics and the Chicago fans, sales of his early albums barely dented the charts. That changed with 2000’s Like Water for Chocolate, a super-praised notch in Common’s belt that managed to break through and go gold. After one setback (2002’s bizarre and highly experimental Electric Circus, panned by many and registering relatively poor sales), Common struck back with 2005’s Be. Featuring production by Kanye West, Be sold very well and scored a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. Common’s latest effort, Finding Forever, went gold.

Recently, Common’s jumped into the world of film. His first major role came in 2007’s Smokin’ Aces, and he also appeared in the acclaimed American Gangster. This year, he acted in the recently released Street Kings and will be in the upcoming film Wanted. He’s also slated to play The Green Lantern in the Justice League: Mortal film, due next year.

Chicago rappers have yet to bomb at an NU performance, and Common should be no exception to the Second City’s stellar streak. Long underappreciated, Common creates smooth, often socially conscious raps blanketed in easy-going and soulful beats that frequently sample from ’60s and ’70s cuts. He doesn’t make tracks aimed to blare out of cell phones, cars or stadium speakers, but rather smooth songs emphasizing his words. One of the reasons Common has had such a long history of critical success and commercial failure is his frequent experimentation. Most of his albums find the rapper exploring his sonic template, never settling to be comfortable (this doesn’t apply to last year’s Finding Forever, the first time in his career that Common sounded like he was phoning it in). He has one of the most attention-worthy catalogues in all of rap, boasting a slew of excellent songs and albums (the afro-beat-leaning Like Water for Chocolate and South-Side celebration of Be shine brightest).

Unlike recent Dillo Day headliners Cake and Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Common provides something those slightly more manic outfits couldn’t: a mellow end to the day. Assuming Common takes the stage to close out the concerts (he should, Mayfest), his music would act as the perfect prescription to finish a day most students fill with booze and more booze. It’d be a soulful way for plastered NU kids to drift into the night — far better than having a gaggle of wasted young adults thrash about to so-so rock music. His music may not be universally appealing, but it draws in rap enthusiasts and indie kids, middle-aged yuppies and urban youth. He lacks a killer single that everyone knows, but that ends up being one of Common’s strengths: As artists like Cake and, more recently, Counting Crows demonstrate, generating a following based off only a couple of memorable tunes results in live shows featuring the knock-out performances of those hits punctuated by long stretches of material most people don’t care about. Common doesn’t have to worry about any awkward big-song build-up, and has more than enough varied and excellent songs to fill up a long, solid set.

Common’s best attribute, though, is passion. Last year, Cake seemed uninterested and occasionally angry about performing at NU, as the group’s lead singer acted snarky towards the crowd of intoxicated kids wanting a good time. Nobody wants to watch musicians that aren’t excited about what they’re doing. Common doesn’t face this problem. His music shows a love for exploration, coupled with words full of feeling. Maybe most importantly, Common loves Chicago. His songs play like an extended ride on the El, traveling from the streets of the South Side to the more intimate nooks of downtown. Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco killed in their NU performance because of that Chi-town passage, and Common won’t come to Dillo Day without his. There’s no better venue for an artist to celebrate a love for his hometown than here, on a stage surrounded by happy, inebriated kids on a warm Spring night (no rain please), the Chicago skyline visible from just across the lake. Good choice, Mayfest.