Common, 45, is back on the market. The rapper and his girlfriend of less than a year, Angela Rye, 38, have split, the political commentator confirmed. “We have and will always be friends. He is an amazing human being, and I’m a much better person because he’s a part of my life,” Rye told Page Six. “May we all keep loving and living.” Angela, who often appears on CNN, was noticeably not by Common’s side at the 2018 Oscars. “She was also not at the fourth annual Toast to the Arts event Common hosted with the Ayars Agency,” on March 2, the site notes.
On the same day the site announced their split, Rye complimented Common, saying he made her a better person. “From meeting Common I’ve definitely become a better human being,” Rye said about the musician when speaking with Vanity Fair. “For that I’m grateful.” The rapper and the activist began dating in the summer of 2017, having made their first red carpet appearance as a couple at the Creative Arts Emmys in September.
Both Common and Rye have spoken very highly of one another during their relationship. “There’s a definite connection with Angela Rye,” Common said on Bevy Smith‘s SiriusXM radio show, Bevelations, back in October 2017. “She’s a wonderful woman. I will just say, I am dating. I’m happy right now—and she is an incredible human being,” Common gushed.
He continued: “She’s just a fun person, too. She honestly is about the mission and about the people. Common admitted that Rye taught him that “just because you are conscious and aware, don’t mean you gotta not have fun. You still gon’ kick it, because that’s part of me, too.”
Common also credited Rye with making him more politically engaged. “I feel like I have a lot more work to do…I feel like I have to be more intelligent with the work and strategize more,” he formerly told Page Six back in November 2017. “I have to listen more and go out and do more work. It is no time for sitting back, now. This is the time to stand up, more than anything.”