I love me a good rap song that gets me goin on the dance floor but I have to admit that there is too much senseless rap music out there today that talks too much about "big booty girls", getting money and asking me to lean,rock and snap wit it. Then every so often you'll get that one rapper who'll come out with material that is inspiring, conscious, and relavant. For me that rapper is Common.
I first heard Common on Erykah Badu's single "Love of my life" (which was the OST for Brown Sugar) in 2002. I thought he was a new-comer but by 2002 he'd released his 5th album "Electric Circus" and I wouldn't jump on the Common band wagon till the release of "Be" in 2005 for which he would be nominated for seven Grammy Awards. Stand out tracks for me were "go" which featured vocal samples from John Mayer, "the corner", "be" and "Testify". I love his conscious lyrics and the way he poetically weaves together a story and raps in his songs. I guess this was one of the reasons I fell in love with "the light" (which is often suggested was written for Erykah Badu).
Just recently, ConcreteLoop featured several tracks off his much anticipated album 7th album 'Finding Forever". I had already enjoyed his singles "The people" and "Black Maybe" that were released earlier this year. The album which is primarily produced by fellow Chicagoan Kanye West features other artists such as Dwele (The people), Bilal (Black Maybe), Lilly Allen (Drivin' me wild), Will-i-am- (I want you), D'angelo (So far to go) and of course Kanye West. Its artists like Common who make me greatful for hip-hop and for having the balls to "be real".
For a review of some of the tracks off Finding Forever visit hmblog.wordpress.com
or ConcreteLoop to hear some of the tracks.
