Looking back at Common's "BE": Did it hold up? I loved the LP when it dropped. I still like it alot now. With all of the hype gone and years to look back, what are your 2012 thoughts of "BE"

1. Is it a great LP or classic?
2. Where does it rank among Common LP's
3. ...general statement

Peace

"Highly developed spirits often encounter resistance from mediocre minds."-Albert Einstein

http://twitter.com/#!/TonyHanesPoetry

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I'd say it definitely holds up, I'd probably count it as my second favourite Common LP.

The only 'eh' bit to me was his verses on Testify, but the beat saved it hard.

I don't know what the majority would say, but in reality of the term, nope. People don't really talk about it much anymore. It was termed one at the time of it's release, but folks still discuss Electric Circus more than Be, which says a lot because the masses destroyed that album when it was released...I don't really go back to either too often, but I listen to EC more than Be

>I don't know what the majority would say, but in reality of
>the term, nope. People don't really talk about it much
>anymore. It was termed one at the time of it's release, but
>folks still discuss Electric Circus more than Be, which says a
>lot because the masses destroyed that album when it was
>released...I don't really go back to either too often, but I
>listen to EC more than Be

they discuss EC more cause that shit wuz garbo lol

wtf the fuck kinda crack u smokin thinkin that piece of shit EC wuz ANYWHERE near BE.

an BE wasn't even that hot.

It's not even a contest.

Outside of It's your World and one or two other tracks I can't stand Be, and I think I like Aquarius and The Hustle more than anything on Be.

>It's not even a contest.
>
>Outside of It's your World and one or two other tracks I can't
>stand Be, and I think I like Aquarius and The Hustle more than
>anything on Be.

lol EC has like 4 hot songs.

soul power is crack. an there like 3 other decent tracks.

but the shit is a pretentious, overreaching wanna be Bohemia piece of shit.

that one jawn where common started singing was probably the most embarrassing moment of the 2000s.

yes, it is a divisive album, but there is a whole cadre of okpers, including myself, who love EC and were extremely let down by how "safe" BE was

Electric Circus is fantastic for the 1,ooo time

>yes, it is a divisive album, but there is a whole cadre of
>okpers, including myself, who love EC and were extremely let
>down by how "safe" BE was
>
>Electric Circus is fantastic for the 1,ooo time

of course they love it lol

questlove was involvled. u think some of these sycophantic lames on here gonna criticise a release lord quest had a hand in?

let me preface it by saying Im a Comm fan..always have been

wheras many unjustly credit the Roots involvment for his demise on LWFC I thought that was just a mature-boys to man record

his Electric Circus phase was weird but to me Be is when he started to get a little too mushy for my tastes

--------------------
"Good hair"-Uzi

1619 the 1st slaves are brought to American shores
thus begins the phrase �mine is better than yours?� (huh?)
forced to serve-too broke to by freedom
the systematic rape of African culture has begun
little time

>let me preface it by saying Im a Comm fan..always have been
>
>wheras many unjustly credit the Roots involvment for his
>demise on LWFC I thought that was just a mature-boys to man
>record
>
>his Electric Circus phase was weird but to me Be is when he
>started to get a little too mushy for my tastes

I love Be but I think this was kinda the beginning of the end in terms of him having that "it" factor on his albums. I hate the word but even as a "conscious" rapper he still always had "swag" on albums like LWFC/One Day, where he was rhyming socially aware shit while at the same time having that "don't fuck with me" edge to it.

On Be, he had it to a certain degree but it was clear he was softening up a bit. I still love it but I agree with what you're saying.

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

www.royallegacy.org
http://therapfest.com/up-next-artists/

I hate that ish..its soo cheese

the "faithful" vocal sample and that synth sound grate on my nerves

I also hate Testify even tho its a dope story I cant get path the shearling style beat

--------------------
"Good hair"-Uzi

1619 the 1st slaves are brought to American shores
thus begins the phrase �mine is better than yours?� (huh?)
forced to serve-too broke to by freedom
the systematic rape of African culture has begun
little time

Both these tracks came out in 2005 so I dunno which was made first, or if the producers were even conscious of the other one being made. But I thought Kno made that shit sound a lot better

I think the sample also fit the vibe of this song better


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqUKnNizSzU

_________________________________
Yes Yes Y'all

I mean "what if God...was a her"?! I mean come the fuck on.

But, the song is absolutely saved by CeeLo and J.Legend going all gospel back and forth at the end. That shit is wild, with two of my favorites.

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

That is Bilal and John Legend

And yes, that ending is my favorite shit on the album.

Wow. I can't imagine what the fuck I was thinking.

But yes. Bilal and John Legend.

Logging off now.

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

that's the best song on the album


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http://www.shenzhenphotos.com

I don't even dislike the sing, but FUCK NO it's definitely not the best.

>that's the best song on the album
>
>
>-----------------------------
>http://www.shenzhenphotos.com

GamerTag and PSN: PokeEmAll

<---https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DL9AVTQ

i still think the beat, common is just pretty cheesed all around though if you ask me.

“So back we go to these questions — friendship, character… ethics.”

---
www.ikirejones.com
FW16: After Migration.

Jordan!

This past weekend cause I popped it back in for the first time in a while. You beat me to it. I'm lazy.


>1. Is it a great LP or classic?

Absolutely a great LP. Short, concise, great beats, Common tore it the fuck up. And it was his "comeback" of sorts (even though I'm on the pro-EC team), and you could hear how hungry and determined he was to prove he hadn't "fallen off".


>2. Where does it rank among Common LP's

Ummm let's see...

1. Resurrection/LWFC/One Day...
4. Be
5. TD/TB
6. EC
7. FF
8. CIBAD

So it's kinda middle of the pack, I suppose, but since Res, LWFC and One Day are interchangeable at #1 I guess it could technically be considered 2nd in his catalogue.


>3. ...general statement

Like I said, I'm on the pro-Electric Circus team, I really like that album. Common was still on another planet lyrically, and I enjoyed the "out there" production.

But that said, because of all the backlash it got, this was seen as Common's last chance to prove he still "had it" and he seized the opportunity 10-fold IMO. Lyrically, every song is on point. The Be Intro? Sheeeeit.

Production-wise, people call it a "sleeper" (some people, that is). I don't see it that way. Kanye gave Common soulful samples (which he rocks best over) and allowed Comm to flex his lyrical muscles. Dilla's two beats are standouts for sure but Ye didn't fuck around, either. They both felt they had something to prove on that album, I feel. And they did.

I listened just this past weekend so it's kinda fresh in my mind, which is good for this post. There's just a lot of feeling in that album and I still really love it.

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

LOL...LOL

Yeah, I agree with you.

"Highly developed spirits often encounter resistance from mediocre minds."-Albert Einstein

http://twitter.com/#!/TonyHanesPoetry

I like how you omitted UMC altogether
I don't know if that was on purpose or not
but even funnier if you actually forgot about it, lol

>1. Resurrection/LWFC/One Day...
>4. Be
>5. TD/TB
>6. EC
>7. FF
>8. CIBAD

I wish I could forget about it. Erase that shit from memory. Ha

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

For me personally, this was when I realized this nigga Kanye is NOT fucking around. Was already hype for LR and then this dropped? Plus that year was the last time he was really on that sound? Production on this is what keeps me coming back years later. Didn't mean to make this about Kanye but I absolutely agree with everything else. Be is one of my favorite Common albums period.


>Production-wise, people call it a "sleeper" (some people, that
>is). I don't see it that way. Kanye gave Common soulful
>samples (which he rocks best over) and allowed Comm to flex
>his lyrical muscles. Dilla's two beats are standouts for sure
>but Ye didn't fuck around, either. They both felt they had
>something to prove on that album, I feel. And they did.

...but its kinda soft like someone else mentioned

....It was his last quality LP released...Com (the artist formely known as Sense) is now pretty much dead to me...His last release was garbage, save 2-3 tracks...remember when you could sit back and listen all the way through a Common project...? Just knew he was gonna come with it? With the "Be" LP though, there were hints at the wackness to come....Sad stuff...

Integrity is the Cornerstone of Artistry...

Sharp change toward accessibility, not necessarily for the worse (and in fact, to a lot of people, it was for the better); but it kicked off a severe downturn in the quality of his output.

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starting with the first track. shit was corny to me, especially the beat.

listening to the album u could see it was just a matter of time before he puts out some horrific bullshit project like UMC... but before u could lose faith in the brotha he comes with joints like Go and Real People.
'Its Your World' was i.m.o. one of Comm's best songs EVER.
having that on the same album with crap like 'Love Is' just left me confused about what my opinion of the album was. i guess at the end of the day (album) i knew he still had "it" but saw he was gettin lazy with it. maybe just trying to dumb down for his new/wider audience.

this album gave me the first smell of Mainstream Comm. since he farted out UMC i haven't even been that excited about picking up his latest album. haven't even heard it yet. i heard it was pretty good tho, and it is Comm, so i'll probably buy it sometime soon.

i actually fuck with jay's version more, but i never had a problem with common's version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5d-bxZ6L54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtkyVX7JYTE

i'm not crazy about either one really. jay shit better tho fasure.

>starting with the first track. shit was corny to me,
>especially the beat.
>

The Intro is one of the best joints on the album. I'm not sure how the beat is "corny" maybe it is just you because you're the only one that I've ever heard apply that word to that song.

>listening to the album u could see it was just a matter of
>time before he puts out some horrific bullshit project like
>UMC... but before u could lose faith in the brotha he comes
>with joints like Go and Real People.

Really? You can tell from Be that Common was going to drop UMC? Yea, I'm going to have to classify that under bullshit. The albums are nothing alike. and LOL @ calling the intro corny and then stating Go regained your faith in Common.

>'Its Your World' was i.m.o. one of Comm's best songs EVER.
>having that on the same album with crap like 'Love Is' just
>left me confused about what my opinion of the album was. i
>guess at the end of the day (album) i knew he still had "it"
>but saw he was gettin lazy with it. maybe just trying to dumb
>down for his new/wider audience.
>

I agree Its Your World is a great track, but Love Is is very Common-like and no one should be mad at that joint. The beat was greatness. Com write a dope track that fit the beat. I swear people just talk to talk on this site.

>this album gave me the first smell of Mainstream Comm. since
>he farted out UMC i haven't even been that excited about
>picking up his latest album. haven't even heard it yet. i
>heard it was pretty good tho, and it is Comm, so i'll probably
>buy it sometime soon.

The Light is the first time Com got mainstream success. and I don't know why you keep mentioning UMC because that album didn't make noise in the mainstream at all. I'm still confused as hell as to how you keep mentioning Be and UMC like they're one in the same.

and that last sentence just proved u to be acting like a bitter beeeyach with no regard for common sense (no pun intended). #readingcomprehension

your emotion laced opinions are your opinions holmes, but no need to take something i say and run with it like u work for the damn Enquirer.

Mad is the go to answer for people who can't discuss their bullshit.

on top of making up dumb ass arguements about shit i never claimed, your arguement for 'Love Is'being good is that "it is very Common like and nobody should be mad at that joint."

clearly a discussion i have no energy for.

and yes, my dislike for PARTS of Be obviously made u very upset (read: mad).

I don't even like the album like that.

Just pointing out your hypocrisy.

even was rockin' the bootleg for a while before the CD came out. Between that and Kanye's LAST REGISTRATION (which was a much better album), I was cool that summer.

I don't go back to it often (I tend to do this with albums I played the shit out of on release), but I liked it better than EC as far as a complete album is concerned. The music fit Common better as a whole and even his "softer" side songs sounded more suited to his style than something like "I Got A Right Ta" or what have you. I will say, however, Common had started to lean on "Common" cliches in his rhymes (the token "shock verse" i.e. "black men, with white girls on their arms... I be mad at them, as if I know they moms") for the first time.

Not quite "Gap" Common, but you can see the building blocks were being stacked.

and Kanye did a fine job on production as far as I'm concerned. I like a good 85% of what he put out here more than the stuff on College Dropout.

>even was rockin' the bootleg for a while before the CD came
>out. Between that and Kanye's LAST REGISTRATION (which was a
>much better album), I was cool that summer.

I thought Be was slightly better but that's only because Common is the far better MC. Production-wise it's Late Reg tho, but only slightly.


>I don't go back to it often (I tend to do this with albums I
>played the shit out of on release),

Same here.

>but I liked it better than
>EC as far as a complete album is concerned. The music fit
>Common better as a whole and even his "softer" side songs
>sounded more suited to his style than something like "I Got A
>Right Ta" or what have you. I will say, however, Common had
>started to lean on "Common" cliches in his rhymes (the token
>"shock verse" i.e. "black men, with white girls on their
>arms... I be mad at them, as if I know they moms") for the
>first time.

Really? I wouldn't say this is the first time. "...in a circle of FAGGOTS, your name is mentioned"
"you still rockin hickeys, don't let me find out he did it"
etc. He'd been doing taht type of shit for years. And to be honest I don't think it was "shock" verses as much as it was just a guy we were always so used to being conscious and socially aware saying some shit that you wouldn't otherwise expect him to say/believe.


>Not quite "Gap" Common, but you can see the building blocks
>were being stacked.

Agreed here.


>and Kanye did a fine job on production as far as I'm
>concerned. I like a good 85% of what he put out here more than
>the stuff on College Dropout.

Same.

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

>I thought Be was slightly better but that's only because
>Common is the far better MC. Production-wise it's Late Reg
>tho, but only slightly.

I agree that Common is way better (by miles, even).
I felt Kanye came with a concept and delivered. Common did too, for the most part, but it felt more like a "rebound from a fall". Kanye seemed to be on some Michael Jackson "Fuck This... I Wanna Destroy The World" shit. I don't quite remember getting that vibe from Com on this album, though there was a lil of it.

>Really? I wouldn't say this is the first time. "...in a circle
>of FAGGOTS, your name is mentioned"
>"you still rockin hickeys, don't let me find out he did it"
>etc. He'd been doing taht type of shit for years. And to be
>honest I don't think it was "shock" verses as much as it was
>just a guy we were always so used to being conscious and
>socially aware saying some shit that you wouldn't otherwise
>expect him to say/believe.

Yeah. Well, what I mean by that... is that Common saying that AFTER flipping the script on EC started to feel like he was doing it more to prove he was still not to be fucked with on certain subjects rather than just those classic "WTF did Common just say" moments. On LWFC I felt Com was just RIGHT there with the rawness. Though placement ("Nag Champa" reuse of that old verse) was odd, it still felt like those moments when Com would catch you off guard back then. (See: "Car Horn" and the "tossing salads" line). I kind of thought that was dope about Common. Sure he was hanging out with the boho crowd but he was still a raw dude from Chicago who could offend. My favorite of such lines (besides the aforementioned "circle of faggots" line) was the one where he said someone "raps like a dude with his nipples pierced". LMFAO.

EC and "Between Me, You, and Liberation", "Come Close" was like him becoming full boho. And it seemed like some of that kind of shit was over. Then he was like "NOPE... ROLLBACK"

it's hard to quantify that, it's just the emotional feel I got from hearing that line on Be. I laughed at it anyway.

>Yeah. Well, what I mean by that... is that Common saying that
>AFTER flipping the script on EC started to feel like he was
>doing it more to prove he was still not to be fucked with on
>certain subjects rather than just those classic "WTF did
>Common just say" moments. On LWFC I felt Com was just RIGHT
>there with the rawness. Though placement ("Nag Champa" reuse
>of that old verse) was odd, it still felt like those moments
>when Com would catch you off guard back then. (See: "Car Horn"
>and the "tossing salads" line). I kind of thought that was
>dope about Common. Sure he was hanging out with the boho crowd
>but he was still a raw dude from Chicago who could offend. My
>favorite of such lines (besides the aforementioned "circle of
>faggots" line) was the one where he said someone "raps like a
>dude with his nipples pierced". LMFAO.
>
>EC and "Between Me, You, and Liberation", "Come Close" was
>like him becoming full boho. And it seemed like some of that
>kind of shit was over. Then he was like "NOPE... ROLLBACK"
>
>it's hard to quantify that, it's just the emotional feel I got
>from hearing that line on Be. I laughed at it anyway.


I can see what you're saying. On Between Me, You & Liberation, it seemed like he made the full transformation into a fully conscious dude, so to flip it back does seem KIND of odd. But I just didn't find the line from Real People that you referenced all that shocking I guess. But again, I totally see what you're getting at.

And as a huge lifetime Common fan, I have been talking about his lack of "rawness" or that "it" factor since LWFC around here for a while, so I agree. Like you said, he was coffee shop/boho but still had that edge, that "swag" (ugh)...which makes his dope lyrics sound that much better from that old time period. Since then, he's still got dope rhymes but something has been missing a lot of the time. So I feel you.

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

>>even was rockin' the bootleg for a while before the CD came
>>out. Between that and Kanye's LAST REGISTRATION (which was a
>>much better album), I was cool that summer.
>
>I thought Be was slightly better but that's only because
>Common is the far better MC. Production-wise it's Late Reg
>tho, but only slightly.

That's an amazing statement. LR was miles and miles better than Be as far as production. Not even in the same ballpark.

I love them both.

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

Acceptance of prevailing standards often means we have no standards of our own.
Jean Toomer

I think they should've put the studio version of "the food" on there,
and make the live version a bonustrack or something.
It disrupts the flow of the album.

'Testify' is the weakest song on there (to me), I never skip it though...

I'd put EC, LWFC, Resurrection & TDTB over this.

I've been revisitin Com's discography (and I'm reading his 'memoire')

and made me a new personal favorite list:

LWFC
TDTB
R
EC
BE
OD
FF
CBD
UMC

http://islasoul.bandcamp.com

finding forever was aight but his lyrics was too granola for me.

<--- Big Baller World Order

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be is classic. the most consistent common LP from front to back. as with illmatic, i think the concise nature helped. every track is listenable, every track is good. and common is spitting fire throughout. probably my favorite common album as a whole. i can't believe it is almost 7 years old!

>Looking back at Common's "BE": Did it hold up? I loved the LP
>when it dropped. I still like it alot now. With all of the
>hype gone and years to look back, what are your 2012 thoughts
>of "BE"
>
>1. Is it a great LP or classic?
>2. Where does it rank among Common LP's
>3. ...general statement
>
>Peace


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http://www.shenzhenphotos.com

testify is the only really questionable track

divided we fall

The John Meyer track I can take or leave.

Overall, strong project tho. I haven't played it in a while but it feels like @@@@

___________________________
OL' DIRTY BASTARD on himself:
"I may curse, I may have a bad mouth, whatever whatever. I'm not that bad, yaknow'mean. Bad to y'all, I dunno how y'all... I don't give a fuck. Um, I'm a good person at heart, for real and shit.

FF was aiight, then....the plummet

It takes all kinds to make up a world, son. -My pops

I just live for the comments -Da wiz

version of "Be" (produced by Dilla, no?) in its place...

then add Home or whatever from Late Registration (why in the f*ck did Com pass on that??) near the end of the album...

then it would really be hitting on all points


** Yeah Go and Faithful are a little corny...but its Com. That wasn't new for him


** Its Your Wold is effing phenomenal like others have said. Just an amazing track and the perfect closer


** I love Real People too. I don't take it as him being shocking either...just honest about his back and forth on the subject


** I'm still confused why Ye didn't just take the time to give the studio version of Food more life... that's another change I'd make to the album to make it perfect



Be really was *almost* the perfect way for him to come back.

Its definitely his 4th best album to me.

Could have edged **closer** to the Com holy trinity had it been-

1 Be intro
2 The Corner
3 Go
4 Faithful
5 Original Be (this sh*t goes)
6 Love is
7 Chi City
8 Studio Food with more life somehow
9 Home
10 Real People
11 They Say
12 Its Your World


You could throw the live version of The Food on there as a bonus track...as well as The Corners RMX.

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

this is the one you are talking about? its nice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXVSZsT97xw

“So back we go to these questions — friendship, character… ethics.”

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

right after "The Food" or some shit.

This is HARD!

I bumped that track for like 3 days straight when I found it...

Great track...

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

Yep..agreed

"Highly developed spirits often encounter resistance from mediocre minds."-Albert Einstein

http://twitter.com/#!/TonyHanesPoetry

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whenever he disses someone, he acts like he wasn't dissing when he is asked about it. he has one line about nas on this album where he did this, just like he did with drake at first. anyhow, it is a pretty good album imo but doesn't really have staying power. i did love it when it came out though. the dilla tracks and a couple others i still really enjoy.

“So back we go to these questions — friendship, character… ethics.”

simple and plain as that.

i also liked ec and ff. umc was of course reeeal corny.

he's on the right path again with td/tb but ya'll noticed every hook is sang by the same guy ? on every tracks. that annoys me so hard. it takes a lot from that album, if you ask me

____________________________
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http://www.nico-schlegel.de

1. Is it a great LP or classic?

great LP

2. Where does it rank among Common LP's

3rd Lyrically, 4th Overall

3. ...general statement

BE came fresh off the heels of Electric Circus, which was great artisticlly. At the time, I felt that he was backtracking. I mean every album before BE was musically more progressive, then BE came along and it seemed like he went so far over peoples heads that they couldn't comprehend what he was doing with EC. However, for the past couple weeks I have been listening to BE repeatedly and recognized that lyrically, it might be his 3rd best album, behind One Day and LWFC.

╭∩╮（︶︿︶）╭∩╮





www.last.fm/user/Tha_Abstract

this is when i ceased to have any interest in this dude. he went from soft to corny and kanye did not help at all. finding forever was when it just got cringe inducingly sad. if anyone still gave a fuck, the drake shit would be the nail in the coffin

If you want to fuck up the flow of an album, that is how you do it.

GamerTag and PSN: PokeEmAll

Like someone else already said, the way to do it would've been to liven up the studio version a bit cause that song was great. But adding the live version was almost embarrassing. Doesn't RUIN the album but the flow is definitely thrown off. Especially since they put in the fucking edited version! Ugh.

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

but the live version >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the studio version.


but it shouldnt have been hard to "liven up" the studio verson after they had perforemed it.

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

Jordan!

Only the two Dilla songs still sound good. Oh and Chi City is cool. The last good Common album was LW4C.

That beat man. That fuckin beat.

I said the same thing..

"Highly developed spirits often encounter resistance from mediocre minds."-Albert Einstein

http://twitter.com/#!/TonyHanesPoetry

was that a slick subliminal shot at the OKP who Kweli battled with on this board or was it just Comm making the kind of tired pop-culture reference that he'd beat into the ground on the next two increasingly weak albums?

Kweli got Dave Chappelle to host The Beautiful Mixtape as Rick James, in a clear dis to that poster ("That's right, the REAL Rick James!").


Francis.

I don't think I saw this...

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

In early 2004, someone posting as 'ImRickJamesBitch' leaked a slew of early versions of songs from The Beautiful Struggle (which I think Kweli was still recording at the time) to the boards. Kweli and ?uestlove both leapt in with angry responses, and it all turned into a shitstorm of opinions about the ethics of leaking an unfinished album to the world and what consequences, if any, might be awaiting the anonymous poster. A few of the posts are summarised here: http://www.hiphopmusic.com/archives/000458.html

Another amusing addendum was that, on April 1 that year, another poster named 'I'mSTILLRickJamesBitch' turned up and posted a link for a full leak of The Tipping Point. ?uestlove was there in seconds with another outraged response and a promise to dead links everywhere and mete out righteous justice....until revealing later in the day that it was an April Fools prank that he was behind, with the 'leaked' tracks being looped snippets of Tipping Point tracks (with a few unreleased treats snuck in for good measure).


Francis.

>In early 2004, someone posting as 'ImRickJamesBitch' leaked a
>slew of early versions of songs from The Beautiful Struggle
>(which I think Kweli was still recording at the time) to the
>boards. Kweli and ?uestlove both leapt in with angry
>responses, and it all turned into a shitstorm of opinions
>about the ethics of leaking an unfinished album to the world
>and what consequences, if any, might be awaiting the anonymous
>poster. A few of the posts are summarised here:
>http://www.hiphopmusic.com/archives/000458.html

Thanks for the info

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"Fuck aliens." © WarriorPoet415

1. Is it a great LP or classic?

I'd say great LP, but not a (personal) classic. Bought it on day 1, and then played the hell out of it. Definitely my summer of '05 album.

2. Where does it rank among Common LP's ?

My 4th favorite Com album, behind Like Water, Resurrection, and Electric Circus.

3. ...general statement

I agree with the posters above who say it was a transitional album in his career. It's the last of his records I enjoyed in its entirety; there are some tracks I dig on his following releases, but overall they disappointed me. I had high hopes for The Dreamer/The Believer, but never really got into it�

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