Even when Common sounds his most vicious, spitting “ I never kiss the ass of the masses,” the static-laced bounce underneath makes for an irresistible confection. Early leak “The Game,” in particular, with scratches from veteran DJ Premier, finds three of hip-hop’s most formidable working in Voltron formation to crank out the album’s hardest bumping party jam. And though there’s an underlying sense of seriousness, perhaps just the inevitable consciousness and concerned cynicism that comes with any Common album, Common and `Ye sound like they’re having a hell of a time, which in turn makes it that much more fun of a listen.
Teaming up again with fellow Chicago producer/emcee Kanye West, Common picks up where Be left off, energized and inspired and carrying a milk crate full of fantastic songs with him. This is where Common steps in-on one particularly notable line on his new album Finding Forever, Lonnie Lynn proclaims “ they used to call me Chi-Town’s Nas.” It’s a funny thing, then, that Common, with the exception of the weird, psychedelic Electric Circus, has an impressive record of great albums under his belt, Finding Forever only continuing his winning streak. And then, of course, there’s Nas maybe it’s unfair to single him out for having released what’s arguably one of the top five hip-hop albums of the ’90s with Illmatic, then steadily declining in quality from there on out. Mos Def has released two baffling records since Black on Both Sides, and his former partner in crime, Talib Kweli, while still cranking out a winner now and then, is too inconsistent for anyone to expect gold again. It’s far too frequent an occurrence in hip-hop for an artist to release a stellar debut and spend the rest of his career struggling to come close to that early peak.