Stop looking at me like that.
I know, I know. This album HAS been out for a minute. I picked this disc back up when it first came out and trust me, I have been trying to knock this piece out since then. This is actually the fourth time that I have tried to write a review. But damn, Comm! Why you got to make something that pulls me in so?! Every time I sit back and start taking notes, I zone out for about 45 minutes later, and I realize that I just listened to the whole album and didn’t even notice the time passing by! I guess that’s how you know you’ve got something good on your hands.
I have known Common for years. Well, I have known OF Common for years.
The cat from the Southside had been getting praise years for his smooth
wordplay and his ability to interject real-life into his complicated
rhymes schemes. He was more than just a record-maker. He was a poet. He
wasn’t claiming gun-play and flags. He was updating us on the people.
Maybe that’s why it took him so long to blow.
I’d read Common in Newsweek back in 2001 talking about the state of
hip-hop and I remember his days beefin’ with Ice Cube. But I kept on
sleeping. He seemed like someone better suited to be an elder-statesman
of hip-hop. Someone that should be involved in hip-hop politics. Not an
MC. I wasn’t looking for poetry in my hip-hop. None of my friends were
either. America was on that Eminem tip. I wasn’t looking for regional
dialogue and dialect. I wanted my drug rap back. In the next few years,
conscience hip-hop took the front of the stage. With Blackstar, Pharaoh
Monch, Murs 3:16, the return of Nas, The Roots, Black Eyed Peas
(PRE-Fergie) and others beginning to blow up, the crack in the door
seemed to be widening for a guy like Common.
Then Kanye blew-up. Conscience, back-pack, circle-cyphering hip-hop had a spokeman. And with his arrival, the doors to the Midwest swung open. Twista came out. GLC and Consequence got picked up. GOOD Music got inked and finally, Common had a real home. Kanye West has always been big on Common. They met in 1994 when legendary producer, and at that time, mentor to Mr. West, No I.D. worked on Common’s underground classic Resurrection. When Kanye put Common on the track “Get Em High” (also featuring Talib Kweli) on West’s classic The College Dropout, the man who had always had street cred had finally found a national audience. His verse was universally lauded as genius and almost immediately talk started up about he possibilities of a Kanye West/Common colab.
Sadly, that is almost what we got. First, let me backtrack, I really dug 2004’s Be. I thought it was hot and featured some amazing records. But it didn’t feel like a solo album. In the style that Mos Def and Talib Kweli created the group Blackstar, I felt that Be should not have been labeled a solo, but rather a group effort. 9 of the 11 tracks are produced by Kanye and 4 of the songs featured Kanye dropping verses or hooks. It just didn’t feel like Common was able to really shine. But that was then. This is 2007. And today, Common found what it takes to be remembered forever.
Finding Forever is an instant classic. Founded on jazzy beats and smooth vocals, Common is able to ride instrumentals like no one else in the game right now. The CD’s third track “The People” captures Common’s soul in his 3 minutes of mic time. His passion for his community and his understanding of where inspiration truly comes from shines through in this violin-driven street anthem. Common finds ways to reference FINDING NEMO, Stevie Wonder, Barack Obama and Botswana while still keeping the track fresh and maintaining credibility.
“The Southside”, a gritty trunk-banger featuring Kanye West throwing up the 708 reminds the listener of the passion that got these two MC’s to this point in the game. While they are both world-wide phenoms and regarded as saviors of the hip-hop community (Yes, I know, Kanye acts a fool, but would you rather have him or Dem Franchise Boyz?), they are still true to their home and what made them. The next track “The Game” is a short, but vicious flow chronicling the battle to make it in today’s hip-hop and how Comm got here. Produced by DJ Premier and featuring samples from B-Real, Ice T and other experts of the life, “The Game” carries this record deftly reminds you how while Common is a smooth and dapper fella, he still knows how to get down and dirty and make you get up and out of your seat.
“So Far to Go” featuring the smooth stlyings of D’Angelo is a quiet, chill-out track dedicated to the oh-so-famous topic, the anonymous hip-hop lady. While this is a great track, in general it is a pretty skipple track, mostly due to the theme being done to death. Almost every MC has a song dedicated to the lady who he has wronged, but stays with him. It’s a great idea, and I am glad that he cares for the girl, but we’ve heard It before. Many times.
Now, on the OTHER had, Common finds a way to amp that theme up with “Break My Heart”. This song is a head-nodding classic about meeting an admirable and respectable female on Spring break and coming out of it with his head still attached. In the first verse, Common finds the path to drops knowledge on Lance Bass, bling-hop, and the Screen Actors Guild.
I now realize how hard it is to review a Common album. I want to touch on each and every track! And while I can’t do that, the ones that I am able to write on, I can not find word and ways to articulate the feelings that are created. I think that the reason it took me over 10 years to discover Common is that he is build to be played in long-form. In time, I am sure some crafty label exec will release a Common greatest hits album, but that is not how he is supposed to be heard. Common doesn’t set out to make singles. He makes 45 minute pieces of art.
That is one of the reasons that it took me so long to put this review together. Everything just flowed so smoothly, I didn’t realize how the album was passing by. Finding Forever has the potential to be the backing score of beautiful coming-of-age-in-the-hood movie. Built on sweat, passion, energy and most importantly love, Finding Forever has found its way into the hearts and homes of the hip-hop and poetry lover.
When I was at Starbucks the other day, I saw that Finding Forever was a HEAR music featured CD. That made me smile. Some lovers of the game would hate seeing such an independent brother being displayed in a super-corporate establishment. But not me. I saw it as a sign that he has been able to take hip-hop to a place that isn’t found to be immediately intimidating to the soccer mom or the street guitarist. And he was able to do that and still not sell out.
Finding Forever is true hiphop. Beauty, heart and love reign supreme in this truly inspired piece of street poetry. One of my favorite records on the year and a classic in the making, Common has been able to take you in a mere 45 minutes to a place of peace and a love for yourself.
