Common
hip hop // political rap
Common has been the influential uncle of the hip hop scene. But even though he’s got some of the most sophisticated lyrical technique, his sales haven’t come close to your typical hip hop juggernauts. Jay-Z even addressed this disparity between substance and sales, rapping in “Moment of Clarity”: Truthfully, I wanna rhyme like Common Sense/But I did five mil/I ain’t been rhyming like Common since. But later this month, Common releases Be, which critics are tipping as his more-or-less ‘breakthrough’ album. Hip hop’s true artist proudly calls “The Corner”, his first single off of Be, his “best work ever”. And it def gets the head nodding – Common’s flowing jazz-rap syncopations and Kanye’s loose-wrist production keep it hot. In this impetuous remix, Mos Def grabs ahold of the third verse and lays it down so smooth he nearly outshines the master.A wet, wet beat with the the sleekest of rhymes.
Common – Corners (Remix feat. w/ Scarface & Mos Def)
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I would just like to say that if Common is really only being ‘tipped’ by critics now, then we need a new set of critics. It’s an unspeakable injustice that they didn’t say that about Electric Circus, One Day It’ll All Make Sense, or, come to that, Resurrection (which remains one of my favourite hip hop albums). Boo, critics!
Electic Circus and BE are over rated by critics because a lot of people are still sleeping on Common despite those early masterpieces, its that grammy mentality. I’ve been looking for this one. Scarface sounds better on the beat than I though he would. lol at Ford Prefect.
common really is overlooked way too often, but i really wasn’t feeling that last album. i appreciate his effort to try different stuff, but it didn’t do much for me. still love ‘one day it will all make sense’. this is a good song, but i would pretty much guess that kanye is behind the beats. and that exact same beat was used recently on a junior mafia song called “that dough”, but the beat sounds better hear. thanks for the post.
I know you don’t listen to words and listen for sound instead, but I love Common and don’t feel this track is representative of his full power and strength as a lyricist and poet. Apologies for the delay in my response.