what did you think man

this week been hell on earth!

but nah thanks for actually quoting this, I'ma try to get to it today.

ha no sweat im in the same boat this week has been insane

lmk what u think when u get to it man!!

Today I’m going out DoorDashing and listening to his eleventh album.

I’ll give you guys a short review when I’m done.

need this thread with The Roots discog, whoever wanted to do it please please please get it going

“WE ARE REWRITING THE BLACK AMERICAN STORY”

This album, entirely produced by Karriem Riggins and Robert Glasper, is a celebration and demonstration of black excellence. He is accompanied by Bilal, Marsha Ambrosius, Syd, BJ The Chicago Kid, Elena, PJ, John Legend, Tasha Cobbs Leonard, his late Dad and the legendary Stevie Wonder. All the features on here do a great job adding color to the canvas like on “Red Wine”. It’s great to still hear artists like Bilal and Stevie Wonder after all these years. The jazzy soul that Common is well known for is on display here, juxtaposed with a darker timely subject matter. I have really come to appreciate that despite being 3 decades deep in the game at that point, Commons passion and drive has not waned. On tracks like “Pyramids”, he’s rapping like someone half his age with the same hunger and intensity. His conviction and belief system carries him throughout this and it makes me feel invested in this work. There’s some very potent lyrics that stuck with me after a couple listens. Overall, I like this album a lot. The only negatives to me is there’s a few moments throughout where the pace can drag a bit and it can be a bit harder to really get into, but these moments are few and far inbetween for me. This is a really solid entry in Commons discography.

Final Score: 8/10

Favorite Tracks: Black America Again, Red Wine, Pyramids & Unfamiliar

Least Favorite Tracks: A Bigger Picture Called Freedom

Yess

Drop that review

Can't wait to see what you think about Let Love

Listen to black America again remix with push, Gucci, and bj

the one "knock" on "A Song for Assata Shakur" that my dad always put on it (and after reading the book, I see where he coming from) is that, it's just literal re-telling of the actual book.

Also fading out during her speech was just....I thought that was kinda eh.

Real. Ghetto Dreams is so underrated

Aight now remember you asked for this.

Hot take that will expand upon later: If Star 69 and I Got Ta Right Ta was taken off the album (Or if instead they rapped over the Star 69 coda instead), this album is remembered a lot more fondly.

So, this joint was a LOT better than I remembered growing up. It's also a LOT weirder than I remembered growing up. And as I asked when I was younger, why the hell is Larenz Tate on the cover? When I listened to this album growing up I was not really the nigga f***ing with psychedelic rock at all. So hearing this after Like Water For Chocolate was jarring as hell to young Ajani.

Now listening to it, I love s*** like Jimi Was A Rock Star outro and Electric Wire Hustle Flower. That being said, there was s*** during the album that definitely had a lot of too much ambition to it. This goes into Star 69 and I Got Ta Right Ta. This is where the album starts to REALLY drag. The production on these 2 tracks just felt off to me. And the way Common sounds on these ESPECIALLY the latter (moments that had me laughing, it's not often but when common sounds goofy on a track, it's apparent: I'M GRINDING )

I Am Music should've been a single. I know Come Close was the one and yeah it makes sense but listening to I Am Music that s*** is f***ing amazing. Like...I almost put this over Celebrate as one of my fav Common beats (and I played that s*** out during that whole year dreamer/believer came out)

Between Me And You is still as beautiful as I remember it. And Heaven Somewhere is still one of my personal favorite Common songs, just cause it always felt good to hear pretty much some of my favorite singers waxing poetic about what they idea of heaven is like (Omar Lye Fook one of the greatest baritones of our time.)

It's funny the thing that "killed/kills" this album is the same thing that the labels said about Bilal's "Love For Sale" album but I LOVED the leaks that came from that album. I think this free-form, multi-genre/fuck it approach only works for me with singers and specific rappers (e.g. Like Outkast as someone mentioned). Common's pocket is so specific that sometimes it can miss on some of these tracks but I appreciate the fact he took a risk and said f*** it. I miss that in hip hop.

So no @localblaccmane I take it back, it's not a dud. Definitely not like UMC (and no I dont need to relisten to that I vividly remember not liking that album lol). BUT after Resurrection, One Day It'll All Make Sense, Like Water For Chocolate? It's still a low point. Just off the fact Star 69 and I Got Ta Right Ta were just not it

And why the hell is Larenz Tate on the cover?

Today I’m going out DoorDashing and listening to his collab album with Karriem Riggins and Robert Glasper.

I’ll give you guys a short review when I’m done.

i never even knew this happened. i'll have to give it a listen someday

Robert Glasper & Kareem Riggins

Dang, OP surpassed me now. For whatever reason, I stopped checking for Common after UMC. Maybe one of these days I can checkout his later career stuff.

Hope you enjoy. Always liked the August Greene album a lot. Beautifully put together.

It’s fire, grown man vibe with a cigar music

Yeah you definitely missed some gems. As @op pointed out The Dreamer/The Believer is a great album. (which is the one that came right after UMC)

Nobody Smiling is hit or miss for me but when it’s good it’s REALLY good

Black America Again is a near masterpiece imo, worthy of mention along side his best work

After that Common kinda plateaued imo and comfortably settled into making predictably substantive, high quality grown man rap. He doesn’t push himself as hard as he used to but his albums are still pretty consistently good. He’s got like 5 projects after BAA and all of them are worth checking out imo.

So far for me

TD/TB > Black America Again >> Nobody’s Smiling.

BAA is probably the best album out of all of them, but since this entire thing is based on my preferences and taste, I place TD/TB over it.

I feel you man can’t go wrong either way

Looking forward to your take on August Greene

Bumping now and it’s a lot better than I remember

Question: in your opinion which common albums do you consider to be Classics so far?

The obvious 2

Like Water For Chocolate and Be are his 2 classics.

The dismissive would label this as “freeform dad rap”, but those who are willing to be patient with this will definitely find something worthwhile. All throughout this listening, I had to remind myself this is a collaboration album by Common, Kareeim Riggins and Robert Glasper. Thus, there is more of a spotlight on all 3, rather then just Common himself. The positives are that this album has some very beautiful moments throughout musically. “Let Go” is incredible. Both Kareeim and Robert are excellent musicians and there’s no denying that. This is probably Commons jazziest work to date. And that comes with a good and bad connotation. The negatives derive from just how long some of the songs are. I found myself getting impatient a couple times as I felt some of the material dragged on. The final song on this album is 11 f***ing minutes! Even though this album is only 51 minutes in length, it feels 20 extra minutes longer. I would be lying if I said this was some of my favorite work of Common to date. But I also feel like despite Common being passed his peak, He does continue to find unique pockets to rap in. He is still just as great of a rapper as he always was. My issues overall have more so to do with the musicality rather than the talents of these 3 individuals and what they bring to the table. If you go into this with an open mind and you know what you’re getting into, you will probably find some enjoyment out of it. But if you’re just a casual listener who stumbled onto this from “Be”, this probably isn’t for you.

Final Score: 7/10

Favorite Songs: Meditation, Let Go & Optimistic

Least Favorite Songs: Swisha Suite