The Be-Coming

The B-Coming is the only appropriate title to celebrate Common's sixth album release. Nothing short of a classic, Common everso delivers powerful rhymes, metaphors and techniques that are, well...anything but common (yeah, I so went for the cheap pun!). This is arguably Mr. Common Sense at his best and Chicago at its finest, for the matter. Guided and heavily produced by Chi-town's unlikely, but extremely talented musical prodigy, Kanye (kon da louie votton don, kaine, Ye, etc.) West, this album could not help but be anything but a masterpiece....let me explain for all y'all that don't know. This disc is not only well crafted with positive storytelling, interesting, but unsophisticated wordplay and an unstoppable mixture of sounds, it also serves up a heavy dose of passion!! Who would have thought, right? True fans can so tell Common, Kanye and Jay Dee gave it all they had with this album. The mastery of production and collaboration is phenomenal and Common "done good" with the choice to have this album "all about him". Sounds a little vain...but Common undoubtedly had something to prove, especially coming off his previous "Electric Circus" release that was all too eclectic and truly out of this world (Damn, what Erika Badu can do to a man!!). BE was his way of saying "Listen, I still got it, always had it and always will have it!" Big props to Kanye for bringing out some common sense in a brotha....

So since I haven't written on this blog in a while..I am charged to go "hard core" and give my audience a run down of this superb piece of art. Ok...I'm up for it. The present is a gift and I just want to be...is the last line of his intro. Along with changing the world through his daughter, ain't it grand? On to THE CORNER, a beat-heavy track riddled with the signs of the times in everyone's favorite windy city. Here, Common depicts life's triles and tribulations on the streets of Chi-town as a hustlin' African-American, but cleverly does not isolate his audience, allowing them to reflect on their own sides of the street. GO, my personal favorite (although I have several), uses vocal gifts from John Meyer and Kanye West to help Common talk some sense about his fantasies with women. Leave it to C to tastefully describe every man's fantasy. Of course, C backs up his fantasies by coming back to his righteous self and describing how FAITHFUL he truly is to his women, his goddesses. TESTIFY is another personal favorite, using some awesome sampling to develop a story about a golddigging ex-whore who marries her lover and cleverly frames him for her crime by offering up false testimony. Common's rhyme scheme and storytelling are in full bloom here, giving any true fan goosebumps of the album's possibilities. LOVE IS...possibly stems from his most recent relationship with Erica Badu and his heartache, but also shares all the love and compassion he has experienced throughout his lifetime. C definitely makes you believe that there is a love out there for you...that you will find somehow, someway. How sweet it is!! CHI-CITY, another testimonial to his favorite hometown...gotta love it. THE FOOD, real chicken soup for the soul. REAL PEOPLE....helped by the album's most visible producer, it describes situations that Black men find themselves in from time to time. THEY SAY...testimony to the haters and society's moral values. IT'S YOUR WORLD....Common, like Trick Daddy, loves the kids and never seems to fall short of giving them something to strive for, think about, and live life for. This appropriately last track inspires hope, dreams and life for any kids with doubts...and I guess as any appropriate crit comes full circle, this album is a gift...and it can only BE....(inside my headphones)!!!