At his best, Common is equal parts contemplative and aspirational, collapsing the distance between the man who has a dream and the seasoned skeptic who’s not quite wise enough to stop having them. That very human perspective, along with the diversified skillset and sensibilities to distill it, makes Common one of the most potent storytellers rap has ever seen.
He showcases that talent once again on The Auditorium Vol. 1, a new joint album he’s just released with Pete Rock. Carved from lush beats and accessible, but worldly poetry, it stands as a reminder of Common’s mastery, and all that he’s accomplished. To celebrate it, Okayplayer ranks Common’s five best albums.
Check out the breakdown below:
5.‘Black America Again’ (2016)
It’s easy to overlook Black America Again. It doesn’t have the mythic gravitas of his first three albums, it doesn’t mark a sonic or symbolic shift from a rap legend. It’s not polarizing like Electric Circus, and it’s not Be. But it is spectacular. Coated in flowery, yet functional raps and lush soul beats courtesy of legends No I.D. and Karriem Riggins, the LP is a timely meditation on Blackness in a corrupt world. For this one, Common shifts between idealistic reflection and the type of raw truth that stings your lips as much as your soul. “Here we go, here, here we go again / Trayvon’ll never get to be an older man,” he raps on the album’s titular track. Elsewhere on the LP, he imagines a paradise for Black women (“The Day Women Took Over”) and pays homage to his father (“Little Chicago Boy”) for tracks that cover a wide range of Black experience, living as a breathing testament you need to play again and again.
4.‘One Day It Will All Make Sense’ (1997)
It’s not fair to say Common found himself with One Day It Will All Make Sense, but he definitely burrowed deeper than ever. Released in 1997, it’s essentially Common at his most nuanced and transparently honest. That much becomes clear from the Lauryn Hill-assisted lead single, “Retrospect for Life.” For the track, Common dives into all the guilt he experiences after an abortion. Paired with pensive keys and Lauryn’s mournful hook, it’s the sound of immutable regret. With features from Black Thought, Erykah Badu, Canibus and more, Common explores other emotions, too, positioning himself as the rare artist who can truly make sense of a chaotic world.
3.‘Resurrection’ (1994)
There’s no consensus on the best conscious rapper or even what the hell a “conscious rapper” is, but when you hear the term, you’re probably thinking of 1994 Common. That was the year the then-21-year-old unloaded Resurrection, a jazzy mosaic of deft wordplay, existentialism and earnest reflection that’s as lucid as it is down-home. There are plenty of gems here. The titular track is an exhibition in tumbling rhyme schemes and precise punchlines, while “In My World (Check My Method)” is coated in relaxed, yet emphatic b-boy cool. But, the Resurrection conversation will always begin with “I Used to Love H.E.R.,” a love letter of a song that turns hip-hop itself into a childhood crush you grew apart from. As graceful, mischievous and pure as it is skillful, Resurrection is an innocent portrait of a love you pray you never lose touch with.
2.‘Like Water for Chocolate’ (2000)
While he’d been a gifted street poet from the outset of his career, early Common albums didn’t exactly make you want to dance. That all changed when he tapped in with Questlove, J Dilla and the Soulquarians for Like Water for Chocolate, an album that made you groove for the message, the delivery and the music. Here, Common laces disembodied funk soundscapes with his customary musings on Black existence, threading it all with writerly details and an increasingly dexterous flow. “Nag Champa (Aphrodisiac for the World)” is as vibey as it is poetic, and with its wide-eyed lyricism and indelible Bobby Caldwell sample, “The Light” is pantheon Common. With incisive raps and vocalists like Cee-Lo, D’Angelo, Jill Scott and Bilal filling in around the edges, the album is as rich as any of his releases. The bars were always there, but with its vibrant production, Like Water for Chocolate put the “move” in Common’s movement.
1.‘Be’ (2005)
Blending a keen eye for humanity with a glimmering soul and bubbling jazz, Be is Common at his virtuosic, everyman best. Checking in at 43 minutes, the LP is at once svelte and sprawling as Common oscillates between emotions and aesthetics with seamless ease. Produced by J Dilla and Ye, the titular intro is a soundtrack to a glorious sunrise. “Through death through conception / New breath and resurrection.” If the intro brings the warmth of a promise fulfilled, then “The Corner” emits the desolation of a murky future, with Common’s metaphysical bars sifting through the same despair he’s trying to escape: “We write songs about wrong ‘cause it’s hard to see right / Look to the sky, hopin’ it will bleed light.” While those represent emotional extremes, the LP finds its strength in the in-between — the tales of personal redemption (“The Food”) derailed destinies (“It’s Your World Pt. 1 & 2”) and lusty escape (“Go!”). Common threads it all with elite agility, spurts of spoken-word-esque poetry and an understated sense of understanding. Unpretentious, but unsparing — raw, but paternal, Common tells the truth at the intersection of life, death, and broken dreams, exploring the hidden battles that come with simply trying to be.
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