To that end, much of Common's new album - his tenth, called Nobody's Smiling - is themed around the city's violence and murder rates. It's a record that he hopes will spark a "movement" to help turn Chicago's problems around.
Released in July, it includes lyrics like: "The city never sleeps / It be needing some rest / The streets was a mess / And they still are" on 7 Deadly Sins. That soul-drenched standout also includes the line: "Cop's getting paid off / greedy company's got my people getting laid off."
It's a radical turn for Common (born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr), who is more known for the upbeat positivity of his last few albums, like his Neptunes-produced 2008 fizzer Universal Mind Control, or 2011's comeback The Dreamer/The Believer.
Then there's his growing film and TV career, which includes a recurring role on acclaimed Western Hell on Wheels, and bit parts in big budget films like American Gangster, Terminator Salvation, Wanted and Now You See Me. His latest role, in the Brad Pitt-produced civil rights protest film Selma, is one of his biggest yet.
Common says if he's "doing a film, I'm focused on the film, if I'm making an album, I'm focused on that. I balance them both because I love them both."
But music is his first love, and his focus on Chicago's street problems, combined with producer No ID's soul-drenched beats, has resulted in his most concise and best-reviewed album in years.
That's because, Common says, it has "a truth to it that's bigger than the music".
"The album is themed around Chicago but to me it's a universal project. Throughout my career I've tried to do music that was really true to me, and sometimes that me is ahead of its time, sometimes that me is stuck in the classic ways, but the feeling about this album is it's really present.
"It feels like it can fit in within today but it has potential to be a classic."
He felt inspired to tell the story of "the darkness of Chicago" after seeing just how violent the city had become since he grew up there in the 70s and 80s.
"One of the major reasons is poverty. When people are poor they're fighting for survival. It's a lack of hope and not really having a lot of guidance at home for younger people. The education system is not good, it's not keeping the kids interested, it's not up to where it should be."
That, Common says, has seen drugs and gangs take over the city.
"Crack really destroyed a lot of homes, because if you didn't have a father there you would usually have a mother there, but crack meant you didn't have a mother or a father. It really broke homes up to a point where now there are grandmothers and grandfathers on crack, along with mothers on crack and fathers in jail. The gangs used to be more of an organisation and had a code you had to abide by. Now the gangs have been broken up into smaller sections and no one rolls with that code, it's not a universal thing."
Common's not just talking the talk. He's passionate about turning Chicago's situation around, with his own charity Common Ground joining forces with Chicago's other major hip-hop hometown hero, Kanye West, and his aid effort Donda's House. They're holding fundraising events, supporting existing aid efforts and hosting concerts in a bid to boost awareness and change policies in the city.
And he's taking Nobody's Smiling on the road, with a performance scheduled at next weekend's SoulFest in Auckland, alongside fellow rapper Mos Def and soul singers D'Angelo and Maxwell.
"I wanted to bring something new because I've been travelling with a full band for a while. I have two DJs, a keyboard player and a vocalist; the show will be a very live, theatrical, creative, well put together performance. We're going to give a show. We give our all."
- TimeOut
