My love for Lonnie Rashid Lynn a.k.a Common Sense a.k.a Common goes far beyond his looks. He is an amazing hip-hop artist and in recent years, he has become a great actor as well. I decided to list 7 of my favorite Common hip-hop joints....He has impacted hip-hop in so many ways but he is never credited for it. This is just my way of saying thank you to hip-hop for being diverse and isolated at the same time.
7. Testify - The way he tells the story about a woman who betrays her man, amazingly genius. http://youtu.be/CZRH68Ib1Ko
6. Retrospect for Life - This was an amazing collaboration with Lauryn Hill...he talks about getting a young woman pregnant, about how he is not ready to have the child, abortion...I wish kids these days would listen to this song and get a reality check. http://youtu.be/pmDybzfNBG0
5. The Corner - Speaks for itself. The Last Poets and Kanye West on this joint. Black is Beautiful! http://youtu.be/6mnKNr2Tiq8
4. Love is - How beautiful Love can be, How beautiful hip-hop can be
3. I Want You - Heartbreak is hard; I love this joint because I fell in love and got my heartbroken...this song made me realize that you will find love but you will never forget the love you had for another. http://youtu.be/QRfTS8bd05o
2. Love of my Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop) Disclaimer: I know this is Badu's song but I still consider it one of Common's....don't judge me for it! http://youtu.be/zQxLiKLoIZQ
1. I used to love H.E.R (Hearing Every Rhyme) http://youtu.be/C99iG4HoO1c
I have no comments for my top 2 because I really can't describe the love I have for them. Those two are the reason why I love hip-hop; they make me hope that we will have more artists like Common in the future for our kids to jam to. These 7 joints are the reason why I continue to support him. He has a way of telling a story through his music which hip-hop is lacking right now. What are your 7 fave Common joints?
Way too many to name but I will say that Heaven Somewhere off of his Electric Circus album is one of my favorites. It's actually a spoken word piece. His story telling abilities are rivaled by only the greats (Big, Jay, Nas, Andre, Eminem, Slick Rick, etc). Commercialism killed the story telling. Chuck D was also a good story teller. Unfortunately it's not popular so they're usually looked at as the "conscious" song or an album filler. You'll really need some star power like Jay-Z to pull off a narrative like 99 Problems and have it be accepted. I enjoy both the braggadocios rhymes as well as the introspective stuff as well and he blends both well to create complete albums instead of just songs. Rappers should take note. I need a super group entitled Badu's Baby Daddies (Andre 3000, Common, Jay Electronica). It could end up being the most prolific and experimental stuff we'll ever hear in our lifetime. Wouldn't that be amazing?
ReplyDeleteOmg, her baby daddies are 3 of the best rappers ever...I am jealous of her...hip-hop went commercial even before we knew it hence "I used to love h.e.r"...I know Kanye and Jay did their thing with "Watch the Throne" but "Badu's Baby Daddies" would be a work of art!!
ReplyDeleteLove this! Every single time I listen to the corner, I feel like I'm back in Chicago because that's where I saw all of what he's talking about for the first time, and it's powerful because so many corners in different parts of the world are the same.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I disagree that Kanye and Jay Z did their thing with 'Watch the Throne'. Esp. with me being in a place where it's just me and my music (no radio play or videos, or television interviews to be sucked into product promotion) I've come to the conclusion that I just have zero interest in what they had to say on this album.
I definitely agree with you guys on Ms. Badu's selection of men. I love it because not only has he mastered the art of storytelling, he keeps pushing to do better and evolve as a storyteller, and he keeps his integrity. That's admirable, and I think the reason why meaningless songs get more play is because many rappers just don't know how to tell a good story.