Rapper Common has won three Grammys, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award but a recent visit to a New York City school was “humbling” – mainly because many of the students were too young to know his music.

The award-winner showed up at P.S. 111 in midtown Manhattan on Thursday as an ambassador for the Adopt-A-Classroom initiative. He made the surprise appearance with his mother, Dr. Mahalia Hines, to present the school with a $10,000 check.  

While Common has a diverse fan base, it probably doesn’t include many fourth and fifth graders. He joked about their reaction when he was introduced, saying the kids looked at him like, “Who is this dude? We don’t know him.”
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