common - like water for chocolate - C/D

so going back and reading the origins of this topic, here's some thoughts. . .

i bought every common album from resurrection thru finding forever on its` release date. up to, and including, electric circus he was my favorite music maker, full stop. like water for chocolate was the peak of my interest in him, so i can't really judge it objectively. it was such a watershed record for me when it came out. it introduced, and simultaneously solidified, so many things that i still hold onto as a music fan.

that said: if you're just talking common at his peak as a rapper, it was the beginning of his decline.

but musically? that didn't fucking matter.

this and electric circus are immaculately produced records. regardless of how you feel about the lyrical content of those albums, the beats —which it feels reductive to even refer to them as that— are stellar. top gear, all the way, all the time.

i stopped paying attention after universal mind control. the bigger they are, the harder they etc., etc.

here's how i'd rank the ones that were on my radar:

1. like water for chocolate
2. resurrection
3. one day it'll all make sense
4. electric circus
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5. can i borrow a dollar?
6. be
7. finding forever
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8. universal mind control

i've heard a song or two from things past that and it seems like really corny adult contempo hiphop. i mean, i guess it could be argued that that's what he had been doing ever since like water for chocolate. but those newer ones just feel kind of soulless. and as near as i can tell, he's become especially repetitious. it's lost a bit of its` lustre after the nth iteration.

okay i'm gonna go back and listen to all of his albums that i ignored and will be posting thoughts here. starting this morning with the dreamer, the believer from 2011.

about halfway through and it seems like be redux. he sounds not bad on the mic, lots of good samples, definitely has that soulful common vibe. he's still totally misogynistic, which, for me, negates the impact of some of his more well-intentioned and articulated rhymes. it's solid, but nothing surprising has happened at all.

okay, it ends quite strong. kind of the usual with com albums/the "pop's rap" series. bookended by the highlights, it does feel a bit overlong. not unlistenable, but nothing about it makes me excited to listen again anytime soon. 3 mics.

welp, halfway through nobody's smiling and it's more of the same. beats are just a bit "harder." he does sound a bit more fired up, he's just saying the same thing over and over: we seen it, we lived it, and we ain't havin it. okay, cool?

okay, foot into mouth- "rewind that" is fucking dope and easily my favorite thing since be.

his albums always end really strong, so here we go...

okay so yeah, definitely better on the second half. and i was listening to the deluxe edition, so "rewind that" is actually the end. he sounds engaged on the last few tracks and "young hearts run free" is another easy highlight. still same kind of vibe overall: ambition is apparent, but execution is unenthusiastic. certainly not awful, just all feels a little second tier. at least it has some legit memorable highlights. lonnie lynn sr passed away in 2014 and his contribution is sorely missed. 3 mics.

on to black america again and the first two songs feature bilal. ahh boy.

okay i'm taking off my cynical jerk hat now and i will say: about halfway through baa and it's easily his best since electric circus. he doesn't sound forced at all here. too much posturing on the previous two albums, but this feels like the old common who actually gives a fuck. beats are stellar (+some are fairly weird) and it's a damn fine representation of actual adult contempo hiphop. stevie wonder hollering about rewriting black anerican history is kind of a mindblowing moment in his catalogue. like it feels full circle that he had lauryn singing a stevie song on one of his old albums and he talked about changing the dynamic of black families... and then almost 2 decades later, he fets the official cosign from stevie himself.

still getting through it, but this is an easy 4 mics. too many highlights to start listing. fucking solid.

"little chicago boy"

not even gonna front: i have tears rn

don't care of i sound like a cornball, this is a beautiful album, holy smokes. again: easily his best in over a decade at that point. very firm and mighty 4 mics. even bilal and john legend couldn't fuck it up.

(lol, put my cynical jerk hat back on for a sec)

gonna take a detour into the august greene album...

the august greene album is good! it's glasper+riggins, so the beats are that chunked up synth jazz boombap and com continues to sound reinvigorated. it is a bit dour at times, but very soulful. the track with brandy was unexpected and it's a legit excellent radio jam that hits at the perfect time in the album's sequence. a very good record that plays like a sort of unofficial epilogue to black america again. a very solid 3.5 mics and a pleasant surprise.