Common

Editor's Review:

Common is a rapper’s rapper, one of the cleverest rhyme-sayers of the last decade, and unfortunately, one of the most slept on. Most recognizable from posse cuts with crews like De La Soul, Common’s easy-rolling but precise flows, smart word play and well constructed raps first knocked out hip-hop heads with The Resurrection, and now on his third release, Like Water For Chocolate, the rapper turns to more traditional musica negra to back his awesome lyrical styling.

The album begins with a number called "Time Travelin’ (A Tribute to Fela)," a musical tribute to Fela Kuti featuring the African music luminary’s son Fema Kuti and trumpet player Roy Hargrove, one of jazz music’s young lions. Hargrove’s tone, with a healthy dose of organic percussion, adds a warm and earthy mood to the track’s deep beats and Common’s quick-fire, pin-point precision rhymes.

Other tracks of note include "Dooinit," a true toast to really keeping it real ("I could give a fuck what you made in a year, nigga’ / you’re wack") and "The Sixth Sense," a jazzy jam laid down by Gang Starr’s DJ Premier over which Common really lets loose, busting pure genius on wack fools ("You trippin’ with nowhere to pack"), propping his own ability and truth in hip-hop ("I’m like Orpheus in this hip-hop matrix / exposing fake shit), and reminding listeners that he cares about his life, his daughter and the art that he creates ("I just wanna innovate / and stimulate minds / travel the world / penetrate time"). Guest spots by the likes of Hargrove, vibes player Stephon Harris, and The Roots’ Black Thought, ?uestlove and Rahzel are just the added bonus.

- Philip Bole


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Record Label MCA Released March 2000

Tracks 1. Time Travelin' (A Tribute To Fela) 2. Heat 3. Cold Blooded 4. Dooinit 5. The Light 6. Funky For You 7. The Questions 8. Time Travelin' Reprise 9. The 6th Sense 10. A Film Called (Pimp) 11. Nag Champa 12. Thelonius 13. Payback Is A Grandmother 14. Ghetto Heaven Part Two 15. A Song For Asata 16. Pop's Rap III...All My Children