Common, the award-winning vaudevillian has been putting Valentine’s Day on wax for 25 years, building his career off romancing the Stony Island Avenue section of his Chicago origins and Hip Hop nation with his touchstone single “I Used To Love H.E.R.”
On his twelfth studio LP Let Love, the supposed musical iteration of his New York Times best-selling book Let Love Have The Last Word released in May, he devoted to focus on music rather than movies and other projects away from what made him famous.
Similar to Joe Budden’s blunt yet credible tweet about Pusha T’s Daytona album, most fans know what material to expect from Common when he releases a new full-length project: love ballads and dedication songs; historical references to the black experience and Hip Hop’s trending topics; occasional environmental awareness and politics as usual.
His jazz band August Greene collaborators Samora Pinderhughes and co-producer Karriem Riggins as well as singers Jill Scott and Daniel Caesar, BJ The Chicago Kid and masked female rapper Leikeli47 contribute to Common’s labor of love, which tends to sound laborious through several unedited jazz soundscapes, repetitive lyrical themes, and unnecessary experimental vocal scats.
Much of the album blends into a relaxed tone and Common’s semi-spoken word poetry while confronting several emotions linked to his family skeletons in the darkest corners of his closet breed repetition.
The opening soft piano keys that transitions into hard drums, crash cymbals and sauntering keyboards “Good Morning Love” gives the album a good starting point. From there, “H.E.R. Love” gives the fifth edition of an exhausted dedication theme to Hip Hop personified as a female with several rappers’ names of today’s era littered throughout the love letter over the J. Dilla-produced ethereal beat.
But it seems like throwaway tracks compiled in late producer’s sessions for his album The Shining in 2006.
Other tracks such as the album’s second single “Hercules” featuring Swizz Beatz brings Common back into his fist-in-the-air mode for justice for African-American youth. But it doesn’t have replay value like Common’s other tracks with similar themes like “The Corner,” “The People,” or “The Sixth Sense.”
Common addresses a relationship indiscretion saga in “Fifth Story” with Leikeli47’s banal chorus and whiny background keyboards that makes the track sound mundane.
There are other lulling coffee shop jazz production in the ode to his Common’s mother “Forever Your Love” featuring BJ The Chicago Kid and the gospel-inspired “God Is Love.”
Although the conversational song dedicated to his 22-year-old daughter Omoye is moving for his content, Common fails to make his story about his own fatherhood mistakes on “Show Me That You Love” sound compelling in his choppy monologue with Jill Scott’s hummingbird hook. The slow tempo of the track makes it feel like a loosely experimental jazz jam session.
The highest points of the album are the upbeat “Leaders (Crib Love)” with turntablist extraordinaire DJ A-Trak and “Memories Of Home.” In the latter track, he opens up and confronts past family skeletons, longing for his own male figure during his father’s incarceration and being molested.
Common has been delivering solid material for three decades, but this album can be chalked up as a mediocre comeback, not for lyrical ability. Rather, it’s for the lack of soul “by the pound” in the album’s soundscapes. It just doesn’t hold as much weight in his discography.
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I’m not sure about the rest of the album but the two tracks that you posted are amazing.
Common is a genius wizard of poety
Man this is my last common album I’ll purchase. Common’s “growth” and “maturity” is overshadowing that “dope” “gritty” sound in his so-called “immaturity” stages. I wish he’d found a way to converge both worlds because this shit is just unlistenable. All my older brothers in the game, please find a way to show maturity while keeping your music dope! Shit! I’m starting to wonder if these artists feel like their music should be church-like just because they’ve “grown”. Give me some dope Griselda in that case, I’ll find my “positive” advice outside of music if I can’t get it packaged in some dope lol
Well you will def see that with the new bizzy bone album dropping 9-12-19
Foreal, foreal?
This review is trash. The album is fire and is a smooth listen all the way through. The music is soothing and the lyrics are on point. Grown man music.
This album put me to sleep so fast. It’s a very boring album.
Grown man music or not still bad music
Common should just stick to acting at this point and helping sign and promote newer, younger acts. He’s been so far removed from the streets and so entrenched in Hollywood that his music has lost the edge that used to make it great. That’s a natural progression when an artist becomes a huge multi-media success like Common, but the artist needs to know when to hang up one thing and focus 100% on another. You can’t blame him for losing that edge–it happens–but he should at least recognize the effect it has on his music. Personally, I haven’t enjoyed a common album since Like Water for Chocolate. He started to fall off with Electric Circus and it just went downhill from there. He’s a good actor though, and honestly he just needs to pursue that and maybe do a feature here and there and some different artist’s albums and he’ll be good. He’s a good guy, I can’t hate him, but it’s time to give the music a rest.
Since “Like Water For Chocolate” ?!!!“The Dreamer The Believer” was fire! “BE” ?!!! Is a classic. “Finding Forever” was dope! And that August Green album was dope as well.
Thank you. Be is a fucking classic. Finding Forever, Dreamer The Believer and Nobody’s Smiling were all pretty dope.
If y’all expected this particular project to be on some extra lyrical shit over hard beats then you’re delusional lol. Sure, they might not be staples, but Com is still putting out good music. He’s simply exploring his artistry and this is why he’s still around. This project might not be for you and that’s fine. Check the next one out.
It’s a perfect homage to grown man hip-hop. Solid album, lyrics, production, etc. Didn’t have an issue with the jazz experimentalism. I only wish that the album had more content.
He wack now. Keep this album
I feel 5he album is Amazing. He put his heart and soul into to it. It is inspirational and motivational.
The album is Amazing and phenomenal.
This is definitely not a weak album. You all sleeping. 4/5. Got to be in the mood for this one. Don’t expect club joints.
Maxim
This album is amazing it’s so different which I like .
Great great album. I knew it would get a bad review on here lol. That’s how you know it’s good.
Just press play and vibe to it. Real hip hop fans will like this album and if not at least the sound of it.
that’s the opposite of what that means lol
Yll lose all credibility wit this rating. Great album!!
This is a mature ass album. He speaks beautiful imagery. No clubs bangers or anthems but some smooth joints to relax and reflect to. Beats are nice. Flow, word play, storytelling is really good.
this review was straight dumpster juice. a 2.8? what is this world coming to. This album was incredible from start to finish. Common ain’t did nothing to y’all to deserve this.
I wouldn’t go that far lol, cool album tho
Facts
It’s so funny how these albums get low ratings first. Then overnight theres a bombardment of positive reviews. I wonder who’s behind this…
Much respect to the OG Common Sense! The man is Hiphop at it’s essence, Health Love, Awareness, and Wealth; to yall
Might be great poetry, but as an album…Common could do better! This album can’t touch Dreamer/Believer, or UMC. The album is forgettable. I miss real good Common stuff!
I liked reading his book but this often feels like a spoken word of his book. I like how personal he gets, how he expresses himself and the message he delivers. It’s even a very creative music project and I really appreciate that. I haven’t wanted to listen to it straight through like most of his albums. 1 or 2 tracks here and there and then I move on to something more up beat. Just not a lot of rythem on this. Gladiator feels unfit with the project like he needed to put something upbeat on it too. I like the songs on here but not for too much replay value.
This review sounds like it was written by one of those old dudes that still thinks like a young dude
Facts
Cool album just a little sleepy for me. 3/5
Boring and uninspired
The problem is fans always want to compare an artists modern music to the artists older music. Fans gotta understand music changes, perceptions change and the artists are just in a different place. Just enjoy the music
This project is fire…real hip hop is with Common…keep it coming brotha
It’s a decent album. It’s different. It’s adult music. No mumble raps. No swag BS. No annoying trap beats or auto tune hooks. Just good music for the soul.
All the songs are good just each in small doses. I don’t see myself in the mood too often to want to sit through it entirely. A little alow. Common sounds like he’s just talking a lot. It is a very positive, mature, and honest album. Common has always been those things but you really see him grow here. I think he should of left the few cuss words out. It just wasn’t needed on this. It felt like he just just did hercules and said the few words cause he had to. He’s almost 50, I’d like to see him get past the N word at this point. Just my opinion though.
This isn’t the Common from early in his career. This is a older, mature Common who is happy with where his life is. Fans like myself who’ve been listening to him for over 20 years will appreciate what he’s doing with this album.
This is a grown up album displaying mature content. It isn’t a album you out on to get hype to it’s more of a driving and want a moment of reflection and chill.
I love seeing Common grow through his music. It’s evolved over time, but his heart has always been in the music. You don’t need to bang an album to enjoy it. I love his inspirational lyrics. It motivates me even if it is lower tempo at times. There’s an art to his music that few can replicate. I don’t think the reviewer was in a patient mood when they sat down and listened to this. Some of the rifts may have gone on a little long, but overall it’s a beautiful playthrough that I love visiting.