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  • » Name: William E. Ketchum III
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Viewing Posts Tagged "Common"   View All

Common's Finding Forever: The Prequel (AKA, I Download Too Much)


May 21, 2007 | Tags: Common, Kanye West

I know I've got a (unhealthy?) habit of opening blogs with strong statements, but let's get this out of the way: anyone who doesn't put Common at least  in their Top 10 (EDIT: Top 15, just for a bit more room) MCs of all time needs their ears checked. Take a look at all of your favorite "conscious" MCs, and they can't even hold a torch to Com's catalog [1] of two 3.5-4 star albums (Can I Borrow A Dollar? and One Day It'll All Make Sense), two undisputed classics (Like Water For Chocolate and Resurrection), one debateable classic (Be), and a dud that many hip-hop fans appreciated three years after it came out (Electric Circus). He's versatile enough to hit you with harder verses ("Orange Pineapple Juice," "Thelonius"), diss tracks (granted, "The Bitch In Yoo" was his only one, but nobody's really fucked with him since), narratives ("It's Your World," "Payback Is A Grandmother"), and female-friendly joints. [2] From his Can I Borrow debut to Be, he's shown artistic growth with every album out, and it's only felt forced with one of those. Plus, he's one of the few MCs to make female-friendly singles that still capture his conscious steez, but without being corny. Be was the best amalgam of conscious hip-hop and mainstream sensibilities since, well, College Dropout. [3]

But judging off of the leaked tracks from Finding Forever, Com's taking it there (word to Alias). So far, six tracks are out there: "Black Maybe," "Misunderstood," "The People," "Southside," "So Far 2 Go," and the first single, "The Game." [4] While Be was more of Common simply executing things flawlessly, these new tracks have Common sounding a lot hungrier. He was already comfortable in his zone, but he also sounds empowered - the verses on "Black Maybe" and "Misunderstood" sound like Common feels a responsibility to give his insight and viewpoints, which is how he was with some of his past work. With Be, Common seemed like he was focused on making a great album; this time around, he sounds more focused on making a point.

Oh yeah: as much as I hate to admit it (and trust me, I do), Kanye is the new Premo. Dude is one of, if not the most prolific producers in the game today, and I can't even name five wack beats by him off the top of my head. Plus, at least with his own projects, he changes his formula every time out; it's scary how much better he gets with each stage of his career. All of the beats I've heard for Finding Forever so far are incredible. Hate on his whiny award show theatrics, fashion sense, or even his rapping all you want [5], but dude's got the crown right now. My homie said that as far as major labels, only four people keep their work consistent and genuine: Kanye, Ghostface, Nas and Common. I couldn't think of any competition, but let me know if you do. Either way, Common and Kanye are the best Chicago duo since Jordan and Pippen. [6]

A friend who heard it in its entirety told me that Finding Forever shits on Be, Electric Circus, and possibly on Like Water For Chocolate; and while I don't believe him just yet, I'm definitely not calling him on bullshit anymore.
--
[1] Mos? One solo classic, one group classic, some great cameos, and that's about it. Same for Talib.
[2] Sorry for the excessive examples; just had to make sure that the haters had a reference point.
[3] I kid, I kid...sorta.
[4] Is all this bootlegging going to get this album Lupe'd? Or, better yet, Be'd?
[5] Personally, I don't think he's that bad.
[6] Don't even try to name Kirk Heinrich and Luol Deng, or any other duo on the new Chicago Bulls - holla at ya boy when they beat Detroit in a playoff series.



The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

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