Common Album: “Be [Edited]”

Description :

Personnel include: Common (vocals); Dave Chappelle (spoken vocals); James Poyser (various instruments); DJ Dummy (scratches); John Legend, John Mayer , Kanye West, Bilal, Luna E (background vocals); The Last Poets. <p>After fusing hip-hop, rock, and soul on 2002's THE ELECTRIC CIRCUS, Chicago rapper Common returned three years later with BE. Like its two-letter title, BE is much leaner, consisting of 11 pure hip-hop tracks marked by Common's enlightened, contemplative, easy-flowing lyrics. Although the album is more streamlined, it's not predictable or unoriginal, as the beats unfold with the same combination of rawness and melodic energy that made Kanye West's debut so uncommonly engaging. This is no coincidence--West is present throughout much of BE, producing all but two of the songs here. West even appears on one of the disc's highlights, "The Food," with some expert freestyle rhyming as captured live on CHAPPELLE'S SHOW. <p>Common's confident, yet constantly searching, demeanor and his poetic instinct for just the right words bonds him to the heritage of hip-hop, a point hit home by the presence of rap legends the Last Poets on "The Corner." Common is always slightly and endearingly unsure, and his self-deprecation seeps out on "Love Is..." and "Faithful." However, he has the inner power to garner attention, as evident on the smooth party jam "GO!" (featuring John Mayer). BE is Common at his unaffected, commanding best.

We've all been waiting for the resurrection of Common. Whether you liked "Electric Circus" or not, you knew deep down you missed the Common that sounded hungry. After his verse on Kanye's "Get `Em High" and his appearance on Chappelle's Show, it looked like his next album would usher the return of Common. "Be" has finally dropped. It is his most focused effort since "Resurrection" because its production is almost completely handled by a fellow chi-town resident. Instead of No I.D, we get his one time apprentice and current hot commodity - Kanye West.

Musically the album feels like a balance between "Resurrection" and "Like Water For Chocolate", heavy in samples, yet a solid amount of live instruments. "Be" starts out with a simple bass cello plucking, almost identical to John Coltrane's "Resolution" from Love Supreme. Slowly other elements come together, until Common's voice drops and blesses the mic. The title track is short, focused and to the point perfectly capturing what the album is about to accomplish. The single "The Corner" is the actually the darkest track on here. The incredible depth of sampling drives the track. For the lighter "Go!" Common uses a nice stop-and-go flow to rhyme ("Freaky like the daughter of a pastor/ said I was -bate for her to master/ 'Little Red Corvette', na she was faster").

To me, "Faithful" is simply beautiful. It's one of those introspective Common raps at its perfection. The typical Kanye West speed-up sample is taken to the next level, and used almost like a muted horn throughout Common's verse. You can't even be mad there are only two verses, because they're so deep and satisfying on their own. "Testify" allows Common to masterfully tell the story of a court testimony. Although it's short, it gets the Slick Rick stamp of approval.

Kanye releases a hold on "Be" and turns over the production of "Love is..." to former Common collaborator Jay-Dee (aka J-Dilla). You can't tell at all though, it fits right along with the rest of the tracks, brilliantly sampling Marvin Gaye's "God is Love" amongst other things. The title is pretty self-explanatory, but it doesn't ever get cheesy like on "Electric Circus". Kanye comes back and trades the sped-up sampling for some classic scratching on "Chi-City". The horns and drums give the track a dark-jazz vibe. On here Common sounds the most intense, perhaps in part because he's repping his home town ("What you rapping for? to Get Fame or to get rich?/I slap a n***a like you... and tell e'm Rick James B***H!!"). Whatever the case, it's another spectacular track.

I've been listening to "The Food" Mp3 since this summer, which was directly ripped from the Chappelle Show performance. You might be surprised as I was when the track opens with Dave introducing Common and Kanye. Instead of re-recording the track, they left the performance as is from the show. It doesn't seem like a smart move at first, but then again why do it over again? The performance was flawless the first time, and it really adds a lot to the feel of "Be". Regardless "The Food" is an amazing track and as mentioned earlier Common is hungry ("It's all good in the hood like racks in gyms/ throwbacks and Timbs/ blacks and rims/ whether on ball courts/ attires of all sorts/ we never fall short/ with us it's all Force like Air one's/ some waves some handguns/ the days of the fair one is over for/cats is colder than 4 below/ with self I go toe-to-toe/ Wondering if it's for the art or for the dough/ Though I know to grow a n***a gotta learn to let go/ Though I know the dough I got to bring back to the ghetto").

Some Grover Washington type sax and upbeat horns lace the entire length of "Real People" the production could actually stand on it's own as a jazz track (I wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing is lifted from one sample). John Legend lends the chorus to "They Say" and Kanye drops a verse. Overall it's laid-back and pretty simple. Really good, just nothing that stands out as outstanding. Well, except for Common who has been killing every verse and still hasn't faltered once on this album ("Played my cards right, they say I went too left/ They show me Strange Love like I was Mr. F/ Played chess in this game of pawns and knights/ now I claim King like Don a Frank White/ They say my life is comparable to Christ/ the way I sacrifice and resurrected twice/ they say the crochet pants and sweater was wack/ seen `The Corner' now they say `That n****'s back!' ")

"Be" ends on the magnum opus "It's Your World (Part 1 & 2)". The whole thing should be listened to at one time and the end provides a perfect closure for "Be" (it's always great to hear "Pops" at the end of a Common album).

The album really is not heavy with curses and contains no lyrics about violence or objectifing women. Really there is no reason you should be offended by getting the un-edited version, but if a clean version of "Be" is nessisary, it won't take away from the music too much.

As stunning as it sounds, it's not even debatable that Common lyrically surpasses any other of his previous efforts. No doubt Common has fully resurrected. Lyrically and musically it's a work of genius from start to finish. You'd be hard-pressed to find faults in this piece of art, it's the perfection of what a Hip-Hop album should be. Is it a classic? Only time will tell what kind of impact it will have. Regardless, of what it will be... "Be" is a masterpiece right now.

(10/10)