For the longest time, Common represented the Chicago hip-hop scene. While New York and L.A. claimed coronation in the hip-hop community, The City was overlooked, underrated and definitely underrepresented. Meanwhile, the man once known as "Common Sense" held his ground at home and staying in his own lane.
Most importantly, Common kept it real before "keeping it real" was a catchphrase for whack rappers or a punchline for out of touch fakers who wouldn't know real if it sat on their laps and called it poppa. His hits were overlooked on a wide scale, but Chicagoans and hip-hop heads alike were not overly outraged because he was the glimmer of hope that hip-hop would not completely turn commercial. He was like the one guy in baseball who refused to take steroids (whoever that was, we may never know) when medical needles were as common as baseball bats in the clubhouse. Rap all you want about blunts, hos, hood rats, bitches, rims and 40-ounce beverages, Common was not going to change for anyone.
Then some cat named Kanye West blew up and took over locally, nationally and then globally all in one fell swoop. But the good news for Common was that 'Ye was able to take him along for the ride, bringing a new set of ears to good music. Since joining Mr. West's G.O.O.D. Music label, Common has two classics under his belt. "Be" is a man's album where you get classic Common on story-telling tracks such as
The Corners and
Testify, while showing a little bit of his grown up side with
Go and
Faithful. On his second album, "Finding Forver," Common continued to stay true to his roots as his music continued to make waves in the mainstream.
Then came the mis-steps. I'll get to
Universal Mind Control later because the fact that he made a song with the Jonas Brothers needs to be addressed now.
Yes, the Jonas Brothers. Those teenie-boppin, pop-rock, Taylor Swift-heartbreaking sonsofbitches somehow conned Common into making a track with them. There is no rhyme or reason for Common to be wasting bars on a Jonas Bros. track, simply none. I understand trying to reach out to another audience in an attempt to capture more ears, but truth is that the people listening to the Jonas Bros. are not listening to Common.
As for
UMC, it was a disappointment in all aspects. Somewhere, The Clipse heard that album and shook their head in utter disbelief as The Neptunes wasted a year's worth of beats the Virginia duo would have certainly smashed. As for Common, he sounded off key and out of place. Sure, the first single (which sampled Afrika Bambaata's
Looking For The Perfect Beat) was nice, but it landed somewhere in between the mixtape fodder and something you would hear at a house party categories. The only other worthwhile track was
Punch Drunk Love featuring a Kanye West hook in which (shockingly!) Common sounded comfortable on.
I'm not saying that Yeezy and Common should be attached at the hip for every album, but what I
am saying is that I want my old Common back. No more misguided attempts with random Neptunes tracks. And definitely make sure the Jonas Bros. erase your name and number from their cell phones.
For Common, he needs to go back to making sense and care less about making dollars and cents.
Common Featured On A Jonas Brothers Song [Nah Right]
