by Rell Battle

Common, formerly Common Sense, is the rapper everyone knows as an ill emcee - but most are way too loyal to commercial records to admit it. His is the name that comes up every so often in rap circles - mainly because he saw the b*tch in Ice Cube in the early nineties.

Common’s longevity can be attributed to his respect in the rap world. He’s not a headlining artist, but he has been able to release six albums. There’s even a new wave of rap fans starting to jump on his bandwagon and conscious rap itself because a certain Jigga made it cool. In Young Hov’s lyrics from “Moment of Clarity” off the Black Album, he gave a nod to Common: “Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Commons Sense, but I did five mill, I aint been rhyming like Common since.”  Then just like that, radio loving hip-hop followers took notice.

To underground rap fans, Common has been nothing less than the best for years. Some would go as far as to say a Jay-Z of sorts in the underground circuit. But for those still looking for convincing, maybe BE could change their minds.

The album starts out with the title cut “Be.” The instrumentation knocks you out before the words even have time to take affect.  “The Corner,” Common’s video single, rips your eardrum with the deep-base Kanye so eloquently provides. The track describes all the events that take place on the infamous hood spot.

Other tracks to check for include “Go,” featuring rocker John Mayer. Surprisingly, Common steps away from his social message and focuses on chasing the opposite sex. Although monogamy isn’t a regular occurrence in the rap world, Common pledges this to his mate with “Faithful”:  "Wouldn’t be ashamed to give her part of my check/ wearin’ the cross, I mean the heart on my neck.”  This piano driven track will make you return to your eighties soul roots - if you can remember back that far.

Every so often a song comes along that crosses over musical genres, and Common has provided the next one with “Love Is.” Here he pays homage to his home town of Chicago or “Chi City.”  He comes out the gate spitting as hard as he ever has. Common attacks naysayers and the beat with, “I ride with the passion of Christ, n*gga cross me/took it outta space, and n*ggas thought they lost me.”  It’s damn near impossible to be a non-believer after hearing the power in his voice on this record.  Finally, on “Real People” Common rhymes with ease as if his veteran status isn’t to be tested. His flow comes across as if it was scripted for the film screen. We can follow Common, and envision him in the streets of Chicago with trumpet players in the background.

Album guests are minimal, but effective, with Kanye West, John Legend, Bilal, John Mayer and the Last Poets.

This album is definitely cop-able, and a breath of fresh air.