Be

by

Common

Edit

Common Sense has been around for awhile. He has always been known for having good rap lyrics and for having pretty good CDs. I was first introduced to Common on a track entitled "Take It EZ". This track was pretty good and although I had heard the CD, I never purchased "Can I Borrow A Dollar?" Common's next CD, "Resurrection", was also pretty good. "I Used To Love H.E.R." gave Common new found respect and he also bumped heads with the infamous Ice Cube. The title track was also a good track as well. From there, Common would release, "One Day It Will All Make Sense" and once I heard the track with him and Lauryn Hill, "Retrospect For Life", I then decided that it was time to purchase a Common CD. The CD was pretty good and I liked Common's versatility with his lyrics as well as a track with him and Erykah Badu entitled "All Night Long". His next CD, "Like Water For Chocolate" spawned "The 6th Sense" produced by the great DJ Premier and his best commercial song to date, "The Light" featuring Bilal.

At this time, Common was dating neo soul singer Erykah Badu and this would influence him on his next CD, "Electric Circus". This CD was unlike any other CD that Comon had released to date. The vibe seemed to be real mellow and you could tell that Common was "in love". However, I also thought that Common just wanted to try something different. Rappers seem to be afraid to step outside of their box for some reason. Although, Common had a hit with Mary J. Blige entitled "Come Close", many Common fans thought that he had lost his "fire" when it came to his lyrics and his overall style.

I have to admit that I had doubts but I knew that Common was just one moment away of proving me wrong and all of the nonbelievers wrong as well. That moment would come on Kanye West's "College Dropout" CD. Ladies and gentleman, if you have not heard this verse please go buy Kanye's CD IMMEDIATELY!

Common spits nothing but flames on a song with him, Talib Kweli and Kanye entitled "Get 'Em High". My nonbelieving ended at that moment. Then at the end of a Dave Chappelle episode on Season 2, Common and Kanye performed a song that I would later find out was called "The Food" and Common ripped that track as well. I knew after those 2 moments was that the Common that I had known all of this time was still here. Once I found out that Common had signed to Kanye West's label, GOOD Music, (Getting Out Our Dreams), I knew that Common was here to stay and that his best music was yet to come.

Now some people can argue that "Resurrection" is better but in my opinion "Be" is the best CD that Common has released to date. The buzz was started early on this CD with the first single, "The Corner". Kanye is featured on the chorus with The Last Poets and Common tells you about the streets of Chitown and the streets in general over 3 quality verses. On the next single, "GO!", Common, Kanye West and John Mayer, YES John Mayer, collaborated on this track after they had seen the movie Ray. The final product has Common going through a slew of what we will just call "Fantasies". Common is very clever with his lyrics and wordplay and "GO!" ends up being a brilliant choice as a second single. On "Faithful", common goes back to his "Electric Circus" side but he is breaking down plenty of points of views at the same time as he wonders if he would treat women differently if God was to be known as a woman instead of a man. After hearing this song a couple of times, you may even change your train of thought about women in general. "Faithful" also contains John Legend and Bilal on the voclas as well. "Testify" is definitely one of the best songs on this CD as Common takes you through a brilliant tale of deception about a case. This woman that is distraught over her man being charged with serious crime deceives everyone about her actions and as Common ends the track youeventually find out that she is the one that actually committed the crime, AKA the Queenpin as Common calls her. "Love Is" will remind alot of people of "Come Close" without Mary J Blige actually being on the song. The track is still brilliant as Common still isn't afraid to express his sensitive side eventhough Ms. Badu is now out of the picture. "Chi City" demonstrates how Common is still one of the best lyricists in the game as he rips the Kanye beat to shreds. DJ A- Trak and DJ Dummy deserve an A+ for the scratches on the track as well. "They Say" features Kanye and John Legend on the track as the three collaborate well together. This song seems as if this will be the next single if there is a 3rd single on "Be". "Real People" and "It's Your World" have Common tackling alot of issuses and he has you thinking about what he is saying at the same time.

There is nothing negative that I can say about this CD at all. Common could have had more than 11 songs on this CD, that is true but if he would have had 15 tracks on this CD and 4 of them weren't good like many artists do today then it's just like having 11 quality tracks. Now Common could have included the slammin' "The Corner (Remix)" with Mos Def & Scarface but that's another story. Simply put this is Common at his best. If you do not have "Be" in your music collection, it will be hard for me to call you a real fan of rap and hip hop music in general. You can also catch Common on Kanye West's "Jesus Walks (Remix)" with Mase and on a nice track with Kanye and Malik Yusef entitled "Would You Like To Ride" which cleverly uses a nice A Tribe Called Quest sample.

James' Top 5

THIS IS A REAL HARD TOP 5 SONGS TO PICK BUT I WILL TRY:

1) The Corner

2) Testify

3) GO!

4) Chi City

5) The Food or Real People

Look, let's be real here:

If we compare Be to Like Water For Chocolate or Resurrection, it's straight middle of the road. Half the tracks on here (Kanye or no Kanye) would be fillers AT BEST on those records.

However...

If we compare Be to the monumentally atrocious "experiment" that was Electric Circus, it's an instant classic. The second coming.

This is where many make the mistake of presuming this is Common's best work, kids who just got up on Common because they heard him on The College Dropout.

But trust me, anyone who knows anything, or remembers the lyrical creativity and cleverness tattooed all over Ressurection, or the soulful vibe that covered Like Water for Chocolate, would look at this album and find Be absolutely and extraordinarily mediocre.

Tracks like Testify and Faithful are perfect examples. The lyrical content is lacking. The creative "twist" at the end of testify is amusing at best. Faithful itself, though I enjoy an allegory as much as the next, fails to carry any sort of punch because of the juvenile theme it tries to push as being "introspective". Tracks like I Used to Love H.E.R. or The Light put tracks like this to shame.

Now you can talk about the tightness of production on this record all you want, and that's fine, but it only boils down to a flashy front that completely lacks substance. I'll admit, the intro/first track (s/t) was an incredible start. I expected big things after this, and picked up instead, only a noticeable decline from that point on.

Disappointing.