Common and Pete Rock are warming fans up for their forthcoming joint album The Auditorium Vol. 1 by releasing the first single.
The rapper-producer duo dropped their new song “Wise Up” on Wednesday (May 22) after months of teasing a full project.
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Backed by a nostalgic, hard-hitting soundtrack from the Soul Brother Number One, the South Side Chicago MC paints a vivid picture of street life with slick wordplay and esoteric rhymes.
“Where we’re both trying to get to, it ain’t coincidental/ His is on the streets, mines is over instrumentals/ The Lord sent my mental to be more than sentimental/ The ventricles that I vent through are temples of what I’ve been through,” he spits.
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For the hook, Pete Rock samples an apt line from MC Shan‘s 1986 classic “The Bridge” where he raps: “Why don’t you wise up? Show all the people in the place [that you are bright].”
Adding to the Golden Age Hip Hop vibes, the song’s accompanying video pairs shots of Common and Pete Rock rocking vintage brands like Walker Wear and Umbro with black-and-white scenes of daily life in Hip Hop’s birthplace, New York City.
Common first revealed he and Pete Rock were working on an album together last fall, crediting ’90s Hip Hop with inspiring the collaboration.
“I been listening to a lot of ’90s Hip Hop because I been creating a new project,” he said on MSNBC’s The Beat With Ari Melber.
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“I’m working on a new album with Pete Rock and just, the energy of that music, whether it’s Brand Nubian, A Tribe Called Quest, or De La Soul, because they just got their music on streaming, it’s been inspiring to hear. But I am creating new music right now. I’m in a great space.”
That same month, Pete Rock promised that The Auditorium Vol. 1 would bring excitement back to Hip Hop.
“You ever miss that feeling of a good release in Hip Hop?” he wrote on Instagram. “Remember how exciting that felt??? We both excited as a mafugga. i always feel like i got something to prove but its just fun to me to make music.
“Competing to make good music with all the different personalities involved today just gotten dry. We love Hip Hop and you will know just how much. stay tuned!!!”
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Common has even hailed the album as one of his top five efforts, despite it not being released yet.
“Y’all gon’ think I’m just talking, but this new Pete Rock joint. I’ma see y’all when I come back, whenever I’m back, and y’all can tell me if I’m bullshittin’ or not. It’s in my top,” he said on a panel last month.
“I’ve had a couple people coming in saying, ‘Yo, this is one of your best albums.’ So I’m excited about it.”
