Hey AJ_list,
I finally picked up the new Common album today, and upon a first
listen I feel about the same as the majority of the folks here. I'm
not about to say that Comm fell off, or that he has gone to the dark
side (ala Q-Tip), but this album has a melancholy note that pervades
it. The album seems to be divided between a sorrowful, retrospective
reminiscence, and some strange attempts at party rockin.
Jay Dee's production, as usual, is beautiful. The guest appearances
are well put together for the most part. Backup vocals rock overall.
I wonder about the Slum Village track, which sticks out as being a
little too hardcore for the rest of the album. "The Heat" is a bit
jiggy and there are a few weird ones. I will have to figure out the
metaphor for "A Film Called Pimp" later, because I just cannot accept
that Comm would actually write a track posing as a pimp without some
hardcore message. I just don't get it at the moment.
"I went from Bashful, to Asshole, to International"
What made Common special for me, in the days of Resurrection, was his
wordplay. The fact that he could be smart without conceit, talk about
his neighborhood without sounding like he's telling war stories, and
give props to his mom without sounding like pathetic. Common was
sweet and cool and laid down some tricks on that album that I am
still catching (x years and two albums later). No ID was doing some
right nice production as well...
On this album, and also "Someday It'll All Make Sense" he pretty much
gives up on the wordplay. I expect that he got too much flak for
making his rhymes hard to digest. His flow got choppier, and I felt
like he was faking it to be more palatable. I didn't listen to
"Someday" very much because it was such a departure from
"Resurrection." I kinda felt wronged.
But on this album I think I am willing to make amends. It feels to me
like he's gotten comfortable with the way he's doing things now, and
I think that the social climate is right for a record like this. It's
socially conscious, it's sad, it's soulful, it's lovely. The tracks
that make it for me on the record I can't knock, not one bit.
Gotta listen to it a few more times :)
Cheers,
.aaron shinn
ps: It's been a long day, sorry if I am taking this too seriously :)
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