Rapper offers 'Common'-sense advice to Obama

Rapper offers 'Common'-sense advice to Obama

Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for VH1

Common is 'very excited' about attending President Obama's second and historic inauguration.

Common says there’s nothing ordinary about attending the second inauguration of his fellow Chicagoan â€" President Obama.

“I’m very excited. It’s a moment in history. I was telling my friends in the car tonight â€" it’s not always that you are at a moment in history,” the rapper tells The News’ Jennifer H. Cunningham.

Common was among the performers at the Ourtime.org “Generation Now” party Saturday night at Washington, D.C.’s Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture.

T-Pain and John Legend also rocked the event, which recognized young people’s role in the 2012 election. It was hosted by Tate Donovan and will.i.am.

Common says his advice for the President is to “continue to do what you're doing. You’re a great human being and you inspire us all.”

The rapping actor also says he has high hopes for the President’s second term.

“Expect greatness. Expect motivation and inspiration. Also, young people, we have to make change ourselves. We have to hold ourselves responsible. But the President is going to make change for us. Expect it. Change for the better.”

Before he performed a medley of hits, T-Pain said he wasn’t too impressed by President Obama’s singing skills.

“The President as a singer? Probably 50/50. Yeah, I don’t know."

T-Pain says he’d autotune Obama if he had the chance: “Definitely. All the way. I would crank it all the way up.”

Although T-Pain rocked the stage in D.C. Saturday night â€" he says he had to honor an oath of his own back home in Florida today. “I’m home Monday â€" gotta take the kids to go see ‘Wreck-It Ralph.’”

Will.i.am brought his relatives to the inauguration

“I brought my mom,” says the Black Eyed Peas front man. “My mom’s here and my aunt. So I’m really excited to have my mom see what I saw last inauguration.

He says his mom’s been wearing “just a big huge smile.”

Tate Donovan, who co-hosted the Ourtime.org Generation Now party, says Obama’s voice is music to his ears: “Every time I listen to him talk, I’m just blown away. I feel so happy and lucky that he’s our President.”

JUSTIN BEHIND IN HIS WORK

Now the Biebs is experimenting with crack? What appears to be pop star Justin Bieber showing his 18-year-old bottom to the world appeared on the singer’s Instagram account Saturday night where it was instantly “liked” more than 86,000 times before being taken down, according to Zap2It.com. On Dec. 24, Confidenti@l reported sources close to Bieber were concerned recent behavior could hurt his squeaky clean image. After the Bieb’s butt post, his manager, Scooter Braun, tweeted: “As a prankster, u have to respect another good prank. only makes sense. #crackdealer.”

SELENA HAS A GOOD ‘CRY’

Selena Gomez may have been trying to send Justin Bieber a message Saturday night when she reportedly worked Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River” into her UNICEF concert at Best Buy Theater in Times Square. That 2002 hit was inspired by Timberlake’s ill-fated relationship with his young love, Britney Spears. After the show, our spies spotted Gomez partying in Chelsea until 3 a.m. with Nat and Alex Wolff from the band The Naked Brothers.