We got the rapper in New York City on Thursday and our photog asked about celebs like George Clooney voicing concerns about President Biden's chances of beating Donald Trump.

Common -- who campaigned for fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama back in the day and Biden in 2020 -- admits he's disheartened about the nominees for president but says that's not an excuse to sit out this election cycle.

The way Common sees it ... despite the letdown at the top of the ticket, it's important for people to vote in November because down-the-ballot races are important too ... and he rattles off elected positions he feels are key to progress.

Common is looking forward to the day Maryland Gov. Wes Moore gets a chance to run and while there wasn't much excitement regarding Biden's 2nd term, he wouldn't even say Trump's name or speak on celebs like Amber Rose who are now supporting DT.

We also talked to Common about music ... he released his new album "The Auditorium Vol. 1" on Friday and we got his breakdown of the differences between working with Kanye West and his latest collaborator, Pete Rock.

Common says both Ye and PR are geniuses in the studio with separate musical backgrounds ... producers who help him feed rap purists' appetite for new tunes ... like they did on "The Tonight Show" earlier this week.