Common Sense

I downloaded Common's new album last night and, it's better. 'Be' was supposed to be the return of the man that brought us classics, he declared that he had shed his 'hippy' bohemian character of Electric Circus (see picture and quote above, I'm glad you can explore your vocal range as a RAPPER but me I'll still kill the fuck out of a steak and then have a bowl of apple jacks with whole milk afterwards and then try to remember all of Machine Gun Funk which I can do just fine thank you) and had come back to his roots of wet Chicago streets. Meh. Be was better than Electric Circus, which I can't say I disliked all too much in the first place. But his flow was less lovy and cuddly and more gritty, and he officially fled under his fellow Chicago natives (Kanye West) wing for production. I love Kanye's production (except those new songs off Grad school or whatever the next album is called), and it seems on Finding Forever they have found a comfortable balance with each other, while Kanye's NOT the new primo he does place a mass effort into these beats. I'm sorry Common kinda left the whole Okayplayer atmosphere of Talib and the Roots because both are at a loss now (more ?estlove productions for the love of god!). It seems to me as if Common is trying to establish himself as something other than a classic underground rapper. Which is too bad, I can remember where I was, what I was doing, and the smell of the room (moldy and depressing, thanks sf state)when I first heard 'Resurrection.' Undeniably a milestone album and song, Common was at the top it was this album that when Jay-Z was asked how he propelled himself to lyrical king he responded 'I'm just trying to rhyme like Common.'

Resurrection

Everyone should have Resurrection, and everyone probably has heard 'Like Water for Chocolate.' After the name change and the success of previous albums, Common allied himself with okayplayer collective and produced an outstanding album in Like Water, the whole album is money. Even my mom has heard 'The Light' but what originally turned me to this album was the first track 'Time Travellin (a tribute to Fela).' Those hand claps, the atmospheric sound, and Zap Mama in the background grafted this song to my brain forever. I remember hearing it the music room in high school with Chris BH going apeshit and Alex Heine giving his gentle nod to the dopeness that is Common.

Time Travellin

Resurrection spawned another unjustly named 'underground classic,' I Used to Love H.E.R. blew just about every one's mind, and while other artists had used a romantic female figure as a metaphor for hip hop, no one has every done it better. This is a remix by 9th Wonder while you cannot out do the original production by No I.D. (where is that guy btw?) and sweet sweet scratch accompaniment by none other than the X-Ecutioner's Mistah Sinista (X-man forever in my mind), 9th does a fine ass job for a remix.

I used to 9th

and here's the video, the album version is better if you're a detail oriented person (I am) but it's always refreshing to see current artists when they were kids and had no cash to make a video and they dress like everyone else did in the nineties.



AND (I post mad songs that no one downloads for some reason, I wish I had more friends) this is off the new album, something I have noticed about Common's evolved (note: evolution is only for survival it does NOT mean an improvement in all cases) flow and wordplay is he sounds unfortunately more and more like Kanye. Kanye's always funny and unique (hardly a master by any stretch) it always sounds simplistic and Common was never simple. Anyhow this is Misunderstood, which uses a Nina Simone song (Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood), and a live version which I've never heard. One benefit of having Kanyeezy on your boards is he's got assloads of cash to throw around, that must be nice god only knows how much this sample cost.

Misunderstood