I’ve been riding with Common since Can I Borrow A Dollar. It has always amazed me at the depth of his music considering Common is gang affiliated simply by location of life. The idea that he overcomes his surroundings to place relevance and revolution in his music is not something that should be overlooked. While Can I Borrow, was more about Hip-Hop and battling it would show where Common was headed.
I recently got Black America Again, and like his last album Nobody’s Smiling it’s obvious that Common does not allow his life in Hollywood to shape his performance. Quite to the contrary, he digs in deeper to utilize his voice for people who don’t have the platform he does. It’s no different than what he did with Resurrection and Like Water For Chocolate. He observes and delivers his testimony on life for Black America. This is Common and on BMA he seems to be channeling his delivery from the Black Radio Project where with Patrick Stump and Robert Glasper they delivered the anthem Stand Alone. The sound is jazzy, soulful and could be background music for an art gallery even in its Boom Bap moments like on Pyramids.
Common has created Advanced Artistry. This is a term I’ve coined to discuss Hip-Hop that moves the culture and the people forward. I’ve picked up several 90s era emcees in the last month and of the three, De La Soul and ATCQ, this album feels the most complete, but not by much as the ATCQ album is lyrically powerful. The music there is sparse and is the only reason I give this Common project the nod as the best of the three. There really shouldn’t be a comparison. They are all good on their own merit.
This video is representative of the sound and definitely worth your time. Use any of the links to pick up the albums discussed, but more important take your time and listen to Black America Again. It’s an amazing work and it advances art and life and that’s what music is supposed to do.