*throws smoke bomb and runs*

this is from Wikipedia

Studio albums
Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992)
Resurrection (1994)
One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997)
Like Water for Chocolate (2000)
Electric Circus (2002)
Be (2005)
Finding Forever (2007)
Universal Mind Control (2008)
The Dreamer/The Believer (2011)
Nobody's Smiling (2014)
Black America Again (2016)
Let Love (2019)

Collaborative albums
August Greene (with Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins) (2018)

I can see people saying Com has 2 bad albums (Ec and UMC....and even those have fans on here from what).

From there it's a lot of albums where it's truly YMMV but no outright BAD albums....it's annoying where there's just dope and trash like there isn't an inbetween.

Personally, the only album I can say I did not like was EC, as I can only stand about 5 songs on it (Soul Power was my shit tho).

The new one seems like August Greene where I'm not gonna play it everyday for months, but I can let it run through and not listen to it again for awhile....to me that's Mid or 3-3.5 mics.

not in the majority. did u like FF at all?

everything after that is a no for me

Damn near everybody peaks and then either puts out albums that are nowhere near their peak, or they stop putting out albums at all.

To me the only albums I'd accept to be called outright "bad" are UMC (not even debatable IMO) and Finding Forever (which was more corny/hit and miss than outright "bad" to me).

He's got his classics or near-classics (Resurrection, LWFC, Be) and greats (One Day, Black America Again, there's an argument to be made for EC as well IMO) then a bunch of middle-of-the-road/below his standard of greatness efforts (CIBAD, TD/TB, Nobody's Smiling, August Greene, and this new joint).

>To me the only albums I'd accept to be called outright "bad"
>are UMC (not even debatable IMO)


I can rock with that, but this post did remind me to listen to "Punch Drunk Love" tho. Still love that joint. I also liked 'Inhale', 'Announcement', 'Sex 4 Suga', 'Make My Day', and the title track. I always wanted 'Gladiator' to have a stronger beat and thought it coulda been pretty good but that beat was really weak. The bad songs were really bad tho lol... and I understand why folks wouldn't like 'Make My Day.' I don't hate the album tho, considering I like at least half of the songs on it even they aren't the most memorable.


>and Finding Forever (which
>was more corny/hit and miss than outright "bad" to me).


Yeah I don't think that album was bad at all.


>He's got his classics or near-classics (Resurrection, LWFC,
>Be) and greats (One Day, Black America Again, there's an
>argument to be made for EC as well IMO) then a bunch of
>middle-of-the-road/below his standard of greatness efforts
>(CIBAD, TD/TB, Nobody's Smiling, August Greene, and this new
>joint).


I haven't sat down and given this new one a good listen yet, but I pretty much agree except for EC. That's a classic to me idc lol... if only for how polarizing it still is. I just think it was both ahead of its time and too far from what most expected from Common. So much beauty in that album from the music to Common's sense of freedom. But I digress.

Overall, this post made me realize he doesn't have any "bad" albums according to my taste. Mainly because his love of and dedication to Hip Hop is always present in every one he makes.

I don’t love his albums this decade but they aren’t bad imo

He had six good albums out of twelve, that's pretty good if you ask me, the rest of his catalog has good songs on not so good albums, this can be said for a LOT of rappers/emcees; it's kind of hard for a rap artist to keep making albums and have every one or every other one really good one that's listenable from beginning to end with only one or two skips on that album.

Nas, KRS-One, Ice Cube, Ghostface Killah, Jay-Z, etc., they have all reached their peak years ago but continue to put out albums just like how rock & jazz acts continue even if the public says their early albums is their best stuff but every once in a while they will put out something worth while.

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

Like, stop

----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

Damn you flat lying


----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

.

You can recognize art as good without personally enjoying it. Or at least decide that an album is not bad per se, but just not for you. If you’re gonna argue that a critically acclaimed artist has 50% plus bad albums, you’re gonna have to make a better argument than just listing album titles. Otherwise this is just some edgelord bullshit

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

I made a joke about one person lying

other than that I've been letting people live with their beliefs despite disagreeing. I find everything after Finding Forever to be bad, terms like "edgelord bullshit" are lame but such is the internet

I think One Day is okay, it’s overrated to me.
The production is mid as fuck.
Be is cool - I get why people think it’s classic, it’s not.
It’s strong but maybe 4th in his discography.
Black America was okay, I know some people like that one A LOT.
I think Dreamer / Believer is MUCH better. NoID crushes that shit.
Com is being quirky and having fun with his flow again on D/B.
UMC sucks. Can I sucks.
This new one is very soft like terry cloth.

Who woulda thought Com heard the Black Album and said
damn... maybe I should dumb it down and Jay really said, maybe I should start rhyming like Common Sense.

Well said...and to me, the creative path Com took with "Electric Circus" was dope, still give it spins. Yeah, not all of it worked, but still dope....

Really tired of the "you don't get it narrative" about that album.

Joint didn't resonate widely. That's it.
______________________________________________________________________________

"To Each His Reach"

but.....

Fuck aliens.

an experiment with a few duds (I Got A Right To is inexcusable)

but he was rapping well on it

He didnt get better with time at music or rapping

go ahead, lie to me

I don't care what anybody says, it is.

>Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992)
Fine for the time, even if he sounds like he's 14 on it.

>Resurrection (1994)

Great.

>One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997)

Great.

>Like Water for Chocolate (2000)

Great.

>Electric Circus (2002)

Very good.

>Be (2005

Great.

>Finding Forever (2007)

Liked the beats. Did not like Common's performance.

>Universal Mind Control (2008)

Really didn't like this. And it was mostly because of Common's performance again.

>The Dreamer/The Believer (2011)

Great.

>Nobody's Smiling (2014)

Very good.

>Black America Again (2016)

Wasn't feeling this as much as many. Heart was in the right place though.

>Let Love (2019)

Yeah, really not feeling this one. And again, it's again on Common. Lyrically, he doesn't sound like he's really engaged at all. I understand, because he's full into his acting career. Good intentions and enlightened subject matter don't translate into good music if the execution is off.


>August Greene (with Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins)
>(2018)

Honestly haven't heard this.


But, he has far more good to great albums than bad ones. And his great albums earn him a lot of lee-way. His output isn't what it used to be, but I'm find with chalking that up to the normal shit that MCs go through when they've been recording and releasing music for close to 30 years. And, morever, get into acting.

>>The Dreamer/The Believer (2011)
>
>Great.
>
>>Nobody's Smiling (2014)
>
>Very good.

>>August Greene (with Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins)
>>(2018)
>
>Honestly haven't heard this.

this wasnt very good

But I guess stupid is as stupid does.

Shame

----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

______________________________________________________________________________

"To Each His Reach"

but.....

Fuck aliens.

...in #22, but I figured I'd chill and try to be diplomatic and address the thesis of the post. Serves me right, I guess.

.

all those albums were good to fucking great. You're just being a dumbass

>all those albums were good to fucking great. You're just
>being a dumbass

- you're not literally lying

- I disagreed so staunchly with your assessment that I jokingly described it as "lying on the internet for no reason"

All on Common. The beats I could feel working for someone else but he sounded bad on them.
__
I don't like the beat anymore because its just a loop. ALC didn't FLIP IT ENOUGH!

Flip it enough? Flip these. Flip off. Go flip some f*cking burgers.(c)Kno

Allied State of the National Electric Beat Treaty Organization (NEBTO)

agreed
pretty insane track record IMO

i didnt like his 1st album.

his 2nd album was pretty good (really buoyed by 2 great singles).

everthing from odiams to ff ranges from really good to great...with the exception of ec (wasnt feeling it like the majority of people).

everything after that is pretty forgettable. especially by his previous standards.

the cocaine 80s stuff was really hit or miss too (even tho you didnt include that).

i used to be a huge common fan. one of my 1st few posts on here was a leak of one of his albums that i got straight out the studio lol. but dude has been sleepwalking for like a decade now.

>i used to be a huge common fan. one of my 1st few posts on
>here was a leak of one of his albums that i got straight out
>the studio lol. but dude has been sleepwalking for like a
>decade now.


Facts. The super lyricist is gone for good. He's coastin'....running on fumes now.

Nowadays I just want good songs and dial back on the corniness. His corniness meter is starting to go off the charts.

>Facts. The super lyricist is gone for good. He's
>coastin'....running on fumes now.

The super lyricist is not gone for good, just doesn't show his face nearly as often.

>Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992) <-----GOOD (i liked it lol)
>Resurrection (1994) <-----GREAT
>One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997) <-----GREAT
>Like Water for Chocolate (2000) <-----GOOD
>Electric Circus (2002) <-----BAD
>Be (2005) <-----GOOD
>Finding Forever (2007) <-----BAD
>Universal Mind Control (2008) <-----BAD
>The Dreamer/The Believer (2011) <-----BAD
>Nobody's Smiling (2014) <----- never heard it
>Black America Again (2016) <----- never heard it
>Let Love (2019) <----- never heard it

Same for Jay


----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

And I love Nas.

but yes

After Illmatic...it gets ugly quick...

>Studio Albums

Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992) - aight

Resurrection (1994) - really good *

One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997) - good

Like Water for Chocolate (2000) - great *

Electric Circus (2002) - good

Be (2005) - great *

Finding Forever (2007) - aight

Universal Mind Control (2008) - NO!

The Dreamer/The Believer (2011) - really good *

Nobody's Smiling (2014) - n/a

Black America Again (2016) - really good

Let Love (2019) - aight



>Collaborative albums

August Greene (with Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins) (2018) - good *



* are my favorite albums of his

---

https://twitter.com/MeeshUniVerSoul


"She was on that tip about stoppin' the violence
About my people she was teachin' me..."

He could put out bad albums for the next 30 years and he's still legit.

maybe dont ask a subjective question if you're looking for an objective answer?

it's up there with anyone who would say Undun/and then you shoot your cousin compare to the rest of The Roots catalog

>it's up there with anyone who would say Undun/and then you
>shoot your cousin compare to the rest of The Roots catalog

sorry, you're not the arbiter of that shit. you're just not. SMH.
those are solid records, whether or not they are the records that YOU wanted out of them. Artists go thru phases. Not all phases are gonna hit with all listeners. But get off your snobby ass high horse jeez.

https://media.giphy.com/media/llSXlSdOMXK8M/giphy.gif

here you go:

sub·jec·tive
/səbˈjektiv/

adjective
1.
based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.
"his views are highly subjective"
synonyms: personal, personalized, individual, internal, emotional, instinctive, intuitive, impressionistic; More

I just didn't expect this much bias in favor of the guy

It's an opinion dude, not climate change denial. How are you telling people they can't enjoy/not enjoy music however they want.

how else would you like me to word this?

Because that would be closer to bias if you are saying we like Common as a person and are therefore saying we like his music even though we actually do not.

Or, you could be saying that the fact that we like Common as a person is creating a 'halo effect' through which we only think we like his music. In this case, you are proposing that if another artist who was not Common made identical music (if such a thing were possible) we would not like that music.

Otherwise I would say it's not biased to have a different opinion about music from someone else.

im a professional writer

again, how do you need me to word this?

>im a professional writer


https://media1.tenor.com/images/fa28a8cfa5bcc7244edff69a83372c19/tenor.gif

universal mind control was bad, and can I borrow a dollar was meh. everything else was good to classic.

Can I Borrow A Dollar - meh

Ressurection - CLASSIC

ODIAMS - Very great

Like Water For Chocolate - CLASSIC

Electric Circus - Very good

Be - Near classic if not outright classic

Finding Forever - Good if not very good

Universal Mind Control - Bad

The Dreamer/The Believer - Good

Nobody's Smiling Good - but not quite as good as TD/TB

Black America Again - Near Classic

August Greene - Very good

Let Love - Very good


So yeah, this post is waaaaaaay off and not good at all. Common has a legendary discography. Far better than most.

comments even prove it, no matter what the OP says.

Lol

general consensus is Let Love is mediocre at best, so you might just be biased

end of story.

Badly.

The post premise was absurd (and I suspect disingenuous...) but the discussion has actually been good - it's cool to see where everyone slots Common's work, where the overlap is and where opinions diverge.

I'm about to go back and listen to Nobody's Smiling bc apparently I hold it higher esteem than most. On the other hand, someone called TDTB "great" and I remember it being ho-hum... good fodder for listening w/open ears and minds.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

I didn't make a statement. I formed a question, not knowing people here like the last decade of his career like that

mainly because im a Cocaine80s fanboy
and NoID helmed the whole thing with Fauntleroy on like half
so it really hit a sweet spot for me

So I also love that album and have always held it in high regard.

But it def could've benefited from a little trimming. "Sweet" was a weak ass attempt at being hard when the dude was damn near 40 - not to mention Comm was never all that hard to begin with. As a longtime stan I wish he'd gone about that whole situation in a very different way lol.

And "Blue Sky" was a meh attempt at imitating Kanye's "stadium" sound at the time which I thought came off as pretty contrived and unnatural for him.

There's another track or two that I think could've been dropped that I can't come up with right now but other than that, I thought it was a really dope record. "Ghetto Dreams" is some tremendous throwback ish, "Gold" is some vintage Comm lyricism, the opener is in line with some of his best, "Cloth" is a great tribute to his daughter, etc. There's a lot of high highs on that joint.

But like 3-4 songs could've been cut to make it near flawless IMO.

tho i will say
after writing that post i put the record on otw home
i had never liked blue sky either, but relistening now im really digging it for some reason.

so sweet, def agree - but thats prob my only real consistent skipper at this point TBH

it was also the last Pops track, right? which makes it kinda special to me as well

>i had never liked blue sky either, but relistening now im
>really digging it for some reason.

In recent years when I've put that album on I've stopped skipping that song. I still think I could do without it but you're right, it's definitely grown on me as well.


>so sweet, def agree - but thats prob my only real consistent
>skipper at this point TBH
>
>it was also the last Pops track, right? which makes it kinda
>special to me as well

Uhmmm I *think* he did a post-mortem Pop's Rap on "Nobody's Smiling" but don't quote me on that. But either way this one was a great one.

I forgot to mention "Celebrate" which I thought was a dope party track. Love a good piano loop. No ID rocked that album. Per usual.

such a feel good song

Yea that song is straight joy/happiness for sure.

that's the one that felt contrived to me. Loved sweet. that beat is cray. also liked blue sky a lot. ghetto dreams is dope too.

that's one of my fav albums of his. along with ec, lwfc, and black america.

And Blue Sky.

I know a lot of people didn't like Celebrate but that beat is money.


>that's the one that felt contrived to me. Loved sweet. that
>beat is cray. also liked blue sky a lot. ghetto dreams is
>dope too.
>
>that's one of my fav albums of his. along with ec, lwfc, and
>black america.

I LOVE electric circus BTW. After finding forever I kinda lost interest. Outside of Universal Mind Control none of his albums after FF are trash, but they haven't really excited me either. They all just blend together after that.

That said I couldn't get through Let Love. I think it's ok to just have enough of an artist and not be interested. It's not really a judgement like he is wack now if I just don't check for his music.

I'm a stan so I am definitely biased and think a good chunk of his late-career work has been really good, specifically Black America Again.

But at the same time I sort of begrudgingly recognize that as time has gone on he's run out of interesting things to say and perhaps more importantly, interesting ways to say the things he wants to say.


>I think it's ok to
>just have enough of an artist and not be interested. It's not
>really a judgement like he is wack now if I just don't check
>for his music.

than truly great ones at this point

.

Listening again I think I like Com's work more than I remember.

Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992)-good
Resurrection (1994)-Classic
One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997)-Classic
Like Water for Chocolate (2000)-Classic
Electric Circus (2002)-Classic (yes, not a typo)
Be (2005)-Classic
Finding Forever (2007)-great
Universal Mind Control (2008)-Bad
The Dreamer/The Believer (2011)-Great
Nobody's Smiling (2014)-???lost interest
Black America Again (2016)???lost interest
Let Love (2019)-1st impression no like

I think Nobody's smiling is where I stopped listening.

At this point in his career he has more non-classics than classics.

It's easily a near classic.

he's really into spirituality and wellness, nothing wrong with that. But there there's this quote about Marianne Williamson "Man, if we could get more people in politics to approach things like she does, the human race would be better"

I definitely dont need a Common album every year, he's now dropped 4 the last 5 years

i hadn't been keeping Com on my radar since the allegations. But I really dug August Green and Let Love was aight. I see he's still on his "organic soul" tip with Glasper, Riggins, and Burniss with this new album. I hope it's good because there's a lot of space for mediocrity

---

https://twitter.com/MeeshUniVerSoul


welp

A Beautiful Revolution
Let Love
The Dreamer, The Believer


.....the cornier, the blander.

Electric Circus (wtf does that even mean)
Finding Forever
Universal Mind Control (THE FUCK)
Black America Again
The three you named ...

He could've gone with either "The Dreamer" or "The Believer" and it would've been fine. But he had to do both. smh.

Common::picking album titles
as
Nas::picking producers

>Electric Circus (wtf does that even mean)

Nah, I'm good with that one -- and it fit the feel of it upon its release perfectly

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

I love that album and know what he was going for, but for some reason the "Again" annoys me.

I'm cool with the EC title. Just not a fan of the album cover to cover. Plus, after all these years, i'm still waiting for the beat on Soul Power to start.


>Common::picking album titles
>as
>Nas::picking producers

THIS... is exactly what i thought. lol

>Plus, after all these years, i'm still waiting for
>the beat on Soul Power to start.

If he does....like put out another 3 then yeah. Common should just hang it up and stick to acting. He is no longer the Chi m.c. with something to prove. His songs are predictable and very bland. And now that he is in that Democratic Hollywood circle (i.e. the establishment) he is no longer a rebel. Just reciting cliche verses.
I will always have a spot for him on the list of top m.c.'s but he's done. And it's all good...he has moved on. Still got Royce, Phonte, Masta Ace, Kendrick, and Cole so I am content.

>His songs are predictable and
>very bland. he is no longer a rebel. Just
>reciting cliche verses.

He was interesting because he was an outsider, a rebel, with that certain swag to him that not a lot of folks had early in his career.

But now that he made it, he's got little to say. The edge isn't there. Which makes for some boring music, unfortunately.

I stop short of calling any of it "bad," (outside of UMC) but Let Love, Nobody Smiling, August Greene ... were just bland to me. Not bad at all, I actually liked a lot of it. But nothing from those albums stood out.

I don't think it's so much that he's an insider as much as it is a couple of things.

One, he's older. Like in his later 40s. He's also living with a much better quality of life. It's also hard to be intense when you have a somewhat luxurious life. Even take Nas and Life is Good. It was a great album but it doesn't have the intensity that he had on Illmatic or I Am.

Also, apparently, people are the most prolific in their 40's but the wildness of the imagination gets tamed before then. That could play into his lack of lyrical imagination.

Two, he's in a better space mentally. Like you said he's into health and wellness now. While he's always been somewhat positive, he's even more so now and it's simply hard in hip hop to come off hard and sharp-edged yet compassionate. I don't know anyone who's really been able to pull that off because we take empathy to be corny for the most part unless it's done exceptionally well.

As far as him not having anything more to say, there's truth in that. If only because he's older and touched a wide range of topics over his career.

I'm not an artist, but I used to keep a blog, and it is REALLY difficult to mine ideas and topics and do justice to them after a while. I literally stopped after a few years because I simply couldn't draw anything meaningful from myself. The well just ran dry.

If Common simply gave more time in between projects to let ideas form on the own schedule that might help. There aren't really superproducers anymore but I wonder if he decided to work with someone who really knew how to draw fresh material out of him if that would spark another great album out of him.

At the risk of stating the obvious lol. Cuz I'm a huge Common fan.

But as someone mentioned above, it's moreso that his most recent work (save Black America Again) is just UBER bland. The production is uninspiring, his lyrics and flow aren't as sharp (save some moments here and there), etc. It's more "uninteresting" than it is bad.

CIBAD - fine
Resurrection - classic
ODIAMS - classic
LWFC - classic
Electric Circus - really good
Be - borderline classic
Finding Forever - fine
UMC - BAD
TD/TB - pretty damn good
Nobody's Smiling - boring, but fine
Black America Again - really really good
Let Love - boring, but fine


>*throws smoke bomb and runs*
>
>this is from Wikipedia
>
>Studio albums
>Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992)
>Resurrection (1994)
>One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997)
>Like Water for Chocolate (2000)
>Electric Circus (2002)
>Be (2005)
>Finding Forever (2007)
>Universal Mind Control (2008)
>The Dreamer/The Believer (2011)
>Nobody's Smiling (2014)
>Black America Again (2016)
>Let Love (2019)
>
>Collaborative albums
>August Greene (with Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins)
>(2018)

And that’s what’s making them uninteresting to me. Some call this lukewarm shit bad.
Dude is technically too good to be a bad rhymer. Got access to the best musicians too.
But the blandness just makes it come off not good at all.
The guy’s been Hollywood and happy for quite some time now.
It translates into his live shows too.
I’m not mad at that. His music just doesn’t grab me anymore tho.

>At the risk of stating the obvious lol. Cuz I'm a huge Common
>fan.
>
>But as someone mentioned above, it's moreso that his most
>recent work (save Black America Again) is just UBER bland. The
>production is uninspiring, his lyrics and flow aren't as sharp
>(save some moments here and there), etc. It's more
>"uninteresting" than it is bad.
>
>CIBAD - fine
>Resurrection - classic
>ODIAMS - classic
>LWFC - classic
>Electric Circus - really good
>Be - borderline classic
>Finding Forever - fine
>UMC - BAD
>TD/TB - pretty damn good
>Nobody's Smiling - boring, but fine
>Black America Again - really really good
>Let Love - boring, but fine
>
>
>>*throws smoke bomb and runs*
>>
>>this is from Wikipedia
>>
>>Studio albums
>>Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992)
>>Resurrection (1994)
>>One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997)
>>Like Water for Chocolate (2000)
>>Electric Circus (2002)
>>Be (2005)
>>Finding Forever (2007)
>>Universal Mind Control (2008)
>>The Dreamer/The Believer (2011)
>>Nobody's Smiling (2014)
>>Black America Again (2016)
>>Let Love (2019)
>>
>>Collaborative albums
>>August Greene (with Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins)
>>(2018)
>

Common is the reason I came to OKP. Like Water For Chocolate ran my life when I scooped it up. I viewed it almost as a double album with Voodoo.

I will listen to everything he makes at least once. But I am at the point where I don't expect to like anything he makes. Too much singing. The rapping isn't tight enough often enough. I generally like the music but too much of it still that 10:15 before a club is poppin and the DJ is just playing stuff to play it style music.

I'm not sure what he needs to do. The topics make sense for a grown man trying to do better but the energy of the delivery seems off. Or maybe it's just the music isn't challenging him anymore, he's not working, and we can hear it?

I vouch for everything he made up through Finding Forever. I've liked songs on almost everything since then. But still, everything he makes seems like a decline. Maybe it's me cuz I'm over here still listening to cussing and threats when I'm not wallowing in early 80s jheri curl roller skate jams.

>At the risk of stating the obvious lol. Cuz I'm a huge Common
>fan.
>
>But as someone mentioned above, it's moreso that his most
>recent work (save Black America Again) is just UBER bland. The
>production is uninspiring, his lyrics and flow aren't as sharp
>(save some moments here and there), etc. It's more
>"uninteresting" than it is bad.
>
>CIBAD - fine
>Resurrection - classic
>ODIAMS - classic
>LWFC - classic
>Electric Circus - really good
>Be - borderline classic
>Finding Forever - fine
>UMC - BAD
>TD/TB - pretty damn good
>Nobody's Smiling - boring, but fine
>Black America Again - really really good
>Let Love - boring, but fine
>
>
>>*throws smoke bomb and runs*
>>
>>this is from Wikipedia
>>
>>Studio albums
>>Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992)
>>Resurrection (1994)
>>One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997)
>>Like Water for Chocolate (2000)
>>Electric Circus (2002)
>>Be (2005)
>>Finding Forever (2007)
>>Universal Mind Control (2008)
>>The Dreamer/The Believer (2011)
>>Nobody's Smiling (2014)
>>Black America Again (2016)
>>Let Love (2019)
>>
>>Collaborative albums
>>August Greene (with Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins)
>>(2018)
>

It’s not bad but it’s boring. There’s no real spark to it, and I assume he’s quoting a Rev. Run inspirational twitter morning message half the time. It’s all good though. I thank him for the great music he made and wish him well.

I would say Nas, Jay-Z, and Little Brother are the only ones who I think do it really well.

I think the secret is you have to go really personal and share what's going on in your life and not become too preachy. Common rhymes like a black words of wisdom motivation poster.



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"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

>Common rhymes like a black words of wisdom motivation poster.

That's exactly what he sounds like.

And what's weird about Common's late career inconsistency is that he *was* the epitome of grown man rap ... in his 20s ! Like that's exactly what he was so good at ! Getting introspective, being perceptive about his surroundings and spitting potent verses to paint those pictures for us.

He was grown man rap before grown man rap existed ! So this should come so easily to him. And sometimes it does. Black America Again, for example.

it becomes hard to relate with on a personal level.


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"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Truth be told, I listened to the new one and the production is great. But it does overall feel a little more wallpaper-ish than what we all would ideally hope for.

I don't know what I would say or suggest for him to get back on track. No diss, but I think his greatest work has come out of him riding in the passenger seat to creative partners that have given him a good framework in which he can operate.

At this stage though, it almost seems like the producing would need to extend beyond the sound, and be more direction of the songs. And I just don't see a world in which any rapper, let alone one who is so deep into his career and quite frankly doesn't NEED it, to go along with something like that.

Like you touched on I don't even know if I have any recommendations - the music isn't *bad* at all. The edge is just gone. What can ya do. LOL.

But your last point is 100%. An artist of his deserved stature isn't gonna take direction on his art. And I don't blame him.

I am simultaneously bored by the music, but PSYCHED that one of my all time favorite artists was able to achieve such a high level of success while still being himself. Can't ask for much more than that.

So in celebration of that fact and my appreciation and respect for him (and others) as an artist/person, I will forever check for his new music. Just a matter of whether or not it ever warrants repeat listens or not.

will give it a few more spins to see if I missed the goodness.

had my hopes up on thursday that we might be in for Black America Again level album which i really enjoyed, but this ain't it chief

the best thing on the album...

Not sure how many folks actually went out of their way to listen to it. It wasn't awful but sort of offensively innocuous? A lot of the production was cool but Com's rhymes were predictable.

The trouble with intentionally making music that is supposed to speak to the times - whether imagined as protest music or as music to inspire - is that the likelihood of backsliding into the obvious, the cliched, the saccharine just explodes, exponentially. What is amazing is that a lot of Black America Again avoided that trap. This record does the opposite. That's not a Common problem, though, that's just a problem with how art works. You're always on the verge of being too on the nose.

We're seeing it a lot right now, too, though I'll hold back from naming names, lol.

Regardless, a lot of his rhyming here is just lazy and occasionally straight bad. It would take a lot more to write him off, he seems to work in cycles, but this might be his second-to-worst album if we're going primarily off lyrics.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

>the best thing on the album...
>
>Not sure how many folks actually went out of their way to
>listen to it. It wasn't awful but sort of offensively
>innocuous? A lot of the production was cool but Com's rhymes
>were predictable.
>
>The trouble with intentionally making music that is supposed
>to speak to the times - whether imagined as protest music or
>as music to inspire - is that the likelihood of backsliding
>into the obvious, the cliched, the saccharine just explodes,
>exponentially. What is amazing is that a lot of Black America
>Again avoided that trap. This record does the opposite. That's
>not a Common problem, though, that's just a problem with how
>art works. You're always on the verge of being too on the
>nose.
>
>We're seeing it a lot right now, too, though I'll hold back
>from naming names, lol.
>
>Regardless, a lot of his rhyming here is just lazy and
>occasionally straight bad. It would take a lot more to write
>him off, he seems to work in cycles, but this might be his
>second-to-worst album if we're going primarily off lyrics.
>
>-thebigfunk
>
>~ i could still snort you under the table ~

Agreed. Common is one of my favorite rappers, but the writing was mediocre by his standards. I wouldn't call it a horrible record but it definitely isn't good. To be honest, I thought a good amount of the instrumentals were solid, I'd really like to see Karriem Riggins work with someone with a bit more hunger - I could see him doing great stuff with Noname.

I generally like Riggins a lot and aside from a few cuts he came through here.

I was bummed by that Lenny Kravitz track which actually started out interesting and kind of strong but then quickly devolved into... awful.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

.