“Sing to Me at 3AM in the Kitchen” — Common Pushes Back on Claims Jennifer Hudson Has Lost Emotion

A recent critique circulating online suggested Jennifer Hudson’s singing now feels “karaoke” and “lacks emotion.” It drew an immediate response from her partner Common, who said the judgment misunderstands both her present voice and her present artistry.

“Whoever says Jen lacks emotion has never seen her sing to me at 3am in the kitchen. Her voice still melts my heart — don’t mistake maturity for ‘lack of fire’.”

Hudson — introduced to most of the world during American Idol’s third season — built one of the rare EGOT careers in American entertainment. Her 2006 film debut Dreamgirls delivered an Oscar. Her work on record earned a Grammy. Her producing work helped secure both a Tony and an Emmy. In between, she portrayed Aretha Franklin on screen and launched a daytime talk show that still carries her name.

Her catalog is not short of volume or intensity. But Common’s point is that there is a difference between vocal evolution and erosion. Age, experience, motherhood, stage mileage, studio mileage — those shape tone and interpretation. They do not necessarily dull them.

Hudson’s career today spans more than one lane: film, television, Broadway production, recording, talk television. She can headline a global stage one night and shape a script or segment the next. That professional range often changes pacing and phrasing — but it does not erase power.

Common’s defense is that the truest evidence is not on a short clip with a phone mic. It is in the long arc — and sometimes in a kitchen at 3am, with no lighting, no cameras, and no audience except one person who knows the voice at its most unguarded.