As it is with many different types of people in all fields of life, sometimes an artist's biggest disappointment can lead to their biggest success.
Way back in the year 2000, Common released his fourth album "Like Water for Chocolate" and received great reviews as well as solid sales results. The recognition from the album elevated Common to a point where he was on the cusp of mainstream success and stardom. So two years later when he was set to release his next album, anticipation and expectations were very high.
In 2002 Common dropped the hotly anticipated "Electric Circus", but that mainstream success was put on a screeching hold when the album proved to be disastrous commercially. Critics praised the album, and I don't think anyone questioned how skilled Common was as a musician and rapper, but clearly something didn't work out quite right, and the album was considered a big disappointment.
Hoping to have a better outcome for his new album, Common made one of the best moves of his career when he decided to team up with fellow Chicagoan Kanye West to produce his next album. In 2005 Common released "Be" under Kanye's own label, 'GOOD Music' to stellar reviews and excellent commercial sales. The album sold over twice as many as "Electric Circus" and catapulted Common into the mainstream.
Released in May 2005, "Be" is solid and concise from top to bottom. Although there are only 11 tracks, the tight song list doesn't have a single 'skippable' track in the bunch. You literally listen to the album straight through without ever having to touch a dial. Clearly Common was inspired to make a great album, and he emphatically succeeded, crafting some truly fantastic tracks. While I feel the whole set list is excellent, "Go!", "Testify", "They Say", "The Corner", and "The Food" stand out above the rest.
"Go!", which featured John Mayer, was the most commercially successful track on the album and one of the best. Although Common at first was unsure if he wanted to bring on a non-hip-hop artist onto the track, it proved to be an extremely good move, with Mayer providing a perfect compliment to the rapper. On top of that, Kanye West's production is top notch, creating one of the catchiest beats on the entire album.
Common really has a great way with words, as proved on this verse as he raps with supreme confidence: "Freaky like the daughter of a pastor, said I was bait for her to master/Little red corvette now she was faster, wet dreams Le'maire cream the bathroom/We made love and then laughter, and anyway I wanted I could have her/Said there were some girls that did attract her, a new chapter she was after so I said let's/To a place that you wanna be, uh get what you want from her and me uh/Free love I wanna see uh, hot sex in the third degree uh/You gettin' served while servin' me uh, dirty words encourage me to/Rock steady and sturdily on, you turnin' me no turnin' back the further we."
"The Corner" is one of my favorite tracks on the album, and it very well may be one of the best. The track features Kanye West and The Last Poets and was nominated as Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the Grammy's that year. Detailing what life is like on the street corners of tough neighborhoods, Common sounds his most inspired, rapping seamlessly over another solid beat produced by Kanye.
Common paints a fully illustrative portrait of life on the street as he raps: " Streetlights & deepnights cats trying to eat right/Riding no seat bikes with work to feed hypes/So they can keep sweet Nikes they head & they feet right/Desires of streetlife cars & weed types / It's hard to breath nights days are thief like/The beast roam the streets the police is Greeklike/Game at it's peak we speak & believe hype/Bang in the streets hats cocked left or deep right."
One of the most fitting parts of the track is the spoken word segment by The Last Poets to close out the track, perfectly placing the idea of the 'corner' in cultural and historical context: "The corner was our Rock of Gibraltar, our Stonehenge/Our Taj Mahal, our monument/Our testimonial to freedom, to peace and to love/Down on the corner..."
"Testify" is one of the most creative an interesting tracks on the album and it also was nominated for a Grammy, this time for Best Rap Solo Performance. The track details a story about a woman who manipulates a judge and jury to find her partner guilty of a crime she committed. Common has always had the skill of telling a story through his rhymes, and this track might be the perfect example of that.
His slick rapping and passionate tone coupled with another quality produced beat by Kanye make you completely visualize the story as it's unfolding. Common builds up the story on top of the beat as each verse goes on leading to a thrilling conclusion/last verse, which is one of his best on the whole album: "The court awaited as the foreman got the verdict from the bailiff/Emotional outbursts tears and smeared makeup/He stated, he was guilty on all charges/She's shaking like she took it the hardest/A spin artist, she brought her face up laughing/That's when the prosecutor realized what happened/All that speaking her mind testifying and crying/When this bitch did the crime- the queenpin..."
While I don't think "Be" rewrote the rulebook, or was all that groundbreaking in any particular way, it's hard to argue with its quality as an overall album. Common raps as good as he has throughout his entire career, and the production from Kanye West (with a little help from J Dilla) provided the foundation for an all around solid album with some jazz and soul sounding beats.
In my opinion "Be" is Common's best work. The album is a tightly condensed yet utterly enjoyable collection of tracks that holds up many years down the line. Although not revolutionary or a game changer, the album was easily one of the best of the decade, and is surely a classic.
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