Be

Stellar

Probably more a 3.5, but it was a solid album. Had some good, maybe overdone production by Kanye.

still a great listen!

zero skips

I thought I knew this album better than I did. I really love it, which is not surprising because of Kanye and J Dilla's contributions.

I was only familiar with Testify, but I found myself getting into some other tracks too, like The Corner and They Say. After a few listens I had ~5 tracks liked.

Enjoyable. Not always the most memorable, but a good album I was happy to revisit.

I like socially conscious hip hop. Even the Kanye-produced stuff. There are some whiffs on this album (Faithful especially) but the great tracks more than balance out the meh ones (The Corner, Testify, They Say, Be, It's Your World).

I don’t know if it’s because the album is a certain style but felt dated. Mostly common rapping a story over a decently catchy mixed track.

Easy to listen to. Solid album

Big Kanye West vibes on this one, so his involvement as producer was not a surprise to read. It even has chipmunk soul elements in 'The Corner'. As you would expect with the involvement of Me West, this is an accessible hip hop record. Rating: 3/5 Playlist track: GO! Date listened: 02/11/23

I absolutely loved the early Kanye Beats and the mature lyricism of Common in this album.

-never heard of this rapper! but i’m excited to listen -omg is this an upright bass?????? what a start -LOVING this intro song omg -this rap is so GOOOOOOD -i like that the rap takes center stage in GO! because it really is the star -they let the beats and background be more subtle to let the rap shine -so far genuinely one of the best rap albums i’ve heard from this list -the singer in testify has a BEAUTIFUL VOICE -damn common and KANYE? omg the dave chapelle show -YEAH JOHN LEGEND ON THE CHORUS! you tell em pookie! -this is definitely getting a full four stars, really good album

Ganske chill album

Common is in top form here, as is Kanye. Dilla is just the cherry on the sundae. I like One Day… and Chocolate better but this is a highlight of this era of rap/hip hop.

didn’t listen but i know it’s a classic

Flyter bedre enn flytende margarin! Som en viss Kanye W. en gang sa: "I miss the old Kanye", og dette albumet bærer tydelig preg av Kanye anno 2005.

Rap is not for me personally but I liked some of the beats and the intro song.

Very good. Quality composition and style

Enjoyed. Railing against plastic “gangsters” and a message of hope for the next generation to break free of the street corner. Effortlessly listened through 3 times…

So the problems… The music is interesting. But is it original or is it sampled? You just never know where credit is due. And the lyrics. For me, the best music is universal. But life on the Chicago corners is not universal. I’ve seen The Wire, I don’t need it lyrically. And I don’t believe we see God through our children. So I’ve got issues with it. It’s not my genre, I get that. But it’s interesting. It holds my attention and I was interested enough to research the lyrics after an initial listen. I feel my smorgasbord is more varied as a result. Would I buy it? Would I fuck.

I'll preface this by saying I'm a 54-year old English white man. In the two weeks I've been on here this was the first artist that I actually never heard of. I almost didn't listen to this album because EVERY song was greyed out on Spotify because of explicit lyrics, and I didn't feel like turning off my kid-filter for someone I'd never heard of. But I did. And I'm glad that I did. Melodies were nice, great backing musicians. Music reminded me of Mos Def or A Tribe Called Quest. Explicit lyrics weren't extreme, mostly the occasional N-word. I doubt I would listen to this again, but I'm glad I did once.

This site has certainly given me a lot of samey Hip Hop albums to review... and a lot of samey Country albums... I wonder if the person who compiled the list had a slight bias. It would be fair to say, I've yet to find any hip hop album that I'd say is good, they are all so samey in musical arrangements, and the default continued application of repeat lyrics with the N and F words, which although i'm no prude, I do find these type of lyrics completely boring and ignorant. For this album, it did have a lot of good bass, which made it more palatable on the ears, and having listened to a Kanye album for review yesterday, it was no surprise to recognise his involvement in the production of this album. Tracks I liked - intro Would I play this again - No

Some of Kanye Wests best production work. Great lyrics and themes throughout. One of the best intro tracks on an album.

Probably should listen again

- Music to walk to. - Walk in a place you’ve never been - A new city with new faces. - shades of Cooley high - kinda feel this like muted music in the apartment down the hall. Follow the sound and you make new friends and hear new stories. 4.1/5

-Album was fantastic. It was such a surprise to me that this was going to be so good. -masterclass on samples. Each sample was unique and provided an extra flare to the vibe of the song -Listened to it a couple times yesterday be because I liked it so much. From the getgo of the intro I knew it was going to be a fire album

They say is so damn good, Kanyes features back in the day are all so gold.

I gave it a go. Common uses fairly clear dictation, I can understand him better than a lot of rappers. I didn't care for the lyrics. I tried for a few songs until he started talking about if God was a woman. Talking about if he was dating this woman. No thank you.

Really liked. Went and found more to listen to

nice, did not know

Stand-out Track: Be (Intro)

Secret Kanye album wtf

When Kanye produced albums in this era they were basically always really good.

Soft 5

Great collaboration between Common and Kanye West, the complement each other well. Many great tracks, ”GO!” being my favourite. Also, a rap album from 2005 and it’s only 42 minutes long? A miracle!

Classic

Great

Be (Intro): 5/5 Holy shit. Not sure what I was expecting since I've never actually listened to Common, but this was an incredible first track. (hip hop video game idle music) The Corner: 5/5 First of all, the flow throughout each verse and how this bitch kept making up fucking rhymes that just kept fucking going... dude. Plus the addition of the spoken pieces right after the repetitive "I wish I could key this feelin"... iconic Go!: 3/5 I enjoyed the melody and sound of this one, but the lyrics and repetition of "go" just made me kind of bored. Faithful: 5/5 A song about fucking god, who's also a woman? Work. But honestly, I was going to give it a 4/5 because I really liked it but it was just missing something, and then the choir came in at the end and I was like, yeah that's the something it was missing. Testify: 5/5 At first I was kind of annoyed by the singing in the background, but after a first listen and re-listening to it a second time, I think it fit really well. A whole Law and Order episode in a two and a half minute song? Love that. Love is...: 4/5 Really enjoyed the refrain and the lyrics, it was missing something extra to put it at a 5 though. Chi-City: 5/5 Similar to Love is... I thought the refrain and lyrics were great, but this time it had that extra oomph to give it a 5. The Food: 3/5 If this was just Common, it would probably be at least a 4, maybe even a 5. But because it have Kanye and Dave Chapelle on it, I just can't really enjoy listening to it as much. Real People: 5/5 Saxophone break, plus calling cops Nazis? I don't even care about anything else that deserves a 5. They Say: 3/5 I'm sorry, this is John Legend?? Oh wait Kanye's back, great. Outside of Kanye being on this, couldn't really get into this one as much as the others, but it's not bad at all. It's Your World: 5/5 Similar to the Corner, the flow/lyrics on this one is incredible. I would normally scrutinize the length, but seeing as it's labeled as a part 1 and 2 song with a distinct separation, I can forgive it. Because this is the final track, and it has a clear callback to the first track, Be, throughout the second part of this song, it wraps up the album beautifully. Overall I think this album really surprised me. We’ve had some other rap/hip hop albums here before that didn’t really resonate with me, and even when their lyrics were great, the melody and instrumental to accompany them were not. This one though (note that it was released in the early 2000s vs the others that were in the 80s/90s) has great production behind the music in addition to the lyrics.

Be - This goes. So fucking Smooth. I saw in the bio that Common is an activist and so far, it shows in the lyrics. (5/5 Jazzy) The Corner - It's giving spoken word poetry. A lot of the lyrics so far have been very left-wing and focused on the messaging and I love it. (4/5 I'm not the biggest fan of spoken word type stuff in music) GO! - (is this sampling John Mayer saying "go"?) Sex and escapism. the two genders. ( LOOKED IT UP AND I WAS FUCKING RIGHT BUT MR. [kan]YE WEST WAS ON THIS TOO???) (3/5 -2 for John Mayer and artist formerly known as a person who hates jews. but it is 2023 the year of our lord and savior himself, ʇsᴉɹɥƆ snsǝſ) Faithful - that fucking little speak-box make voice go [brlahbow]. This is giving Saba (my favorite album is CARE FOR ME) (5/5) Testify - The back vocals sound so awesome with the beat. oh no this is actually really sad. (5/5 emotional journey) Love is... - This is the version that Black Eyed Peas wanted to do but failed. more happy than the last one (5/5) Chi-City - yeah fuck cops (5/5) The Food - Dave Chappelle? (4/5 censoring is weird but I get it I guess) Real People - like Faithful, this feels like the message is being pushed. Urgency/Importance. But the jazzy background feels so contradictory (5/5 I love juxtaposition) They Say - the do do dos in the back with plinky piano. Rap rap. John Legend??? end it there (5/5 Arthur meme) [i didn't actually stop listening to it but yes 2005 Kanye West hit those notes] It's Your World - "Let's Stay Together - Al Green"? "She know dairy so she say cheese to get bread" what a fun line. God I hate when artists add like a bit where kids talk or whatever, this breaks my fucking heart. This song hurts. (5/5 this is why representation matters) 5/5 this was art. the album sprinkled in pain, humor, and love and then rips your heart out for 8 minutes. So this actually caused me to go down a little bit of a rabbit hole. So I don't know much about music in general but I like to talk about it just based on what I know using only previous experience. Realistic. Okay, hip hop is not necessarily the origin of this kind of sound- but it technically is a branch of hip hop. This album mixes inspiration of soul and jazz using hip hop as a base to express the message. And it honestly, I think does go a little underappreciated. I was reading and apparently the lyrics tend to be an afterthought for modern stuff because standards have changed. Okay, the more I read and look into it this shit is insane. anyway have sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_music https://www.complex.com/music/a/pnl/black-thought-on-mubmle-rap-i-essentially-invented-it (This article is neat)

Love this album, early Kanye and chi town crowd

Good old conscious hip hop 4/5

Good record. The soul era of Hip-hope will always be one of my favorites

Not normally a fan of rap music, but I thought this one was pretty good. 4/5

I'm a slave to the groove

Truly enjoyable display of Kanye’s abilities combined with great preformances from all involved

Good

It's interesting listening to this album in 2023 and looking back to see that some of the top songs of 2004 were "bring em out" (ti) and "my band (d12). This album feels classic, as if you could have realsed is 6 years prior and have had it been both a revelation and be at home while realising it today woukd have snappes necks with it's refreshingly honest and clear direction. You can hear Kanye honing his signature production style while flexing his smarts on beats like"the foodc "real people" and "testify". Common is brilliant thoughout weather he is using his words carefully or twisting carefully linked rhymes. The lyrics paint vivid pictures or both trouble and triumph but the album as a whole feels positive.

J Dilla and Kanye influence make this album for me. Lyrically he fluctuated between genius and cornball.

So much better than I expected! Great listen beginning to end

Eh mid

melodic, groovy, great features

So nice, so thoughtful. Kind of deceptively relaxing. I want to come back to it and see what hits past that - there's a lot going on under the texture and the deft sampling and the approachable vibe.

I found myself listening to it a third time and humming the tunes when away from the headphones. Enjoyed the overall theme of the album.

Solides HipHip Album? Keine Ahnung von HipHop.. mochte den Anfang, dann ist nicht mehr so viel passiert. Ein Song in Playlist Zwischendurch Soul-Elemente Abgehackte Songenden Gut produziert

Great beats, really jazzy.

Not my cuppa

Now this. This I love.

Great album, would definitely listen again.

I know a common song but I can't remember which. I wonder if I'll recognize anything here. First song has Kanye on it, I wonder how common feels about their relationship. Also sounds like he's on the second song too. He appears multiple times throughout haha. Overall enjoyable. Definitely has a Chicago vibe. Also had one song that reminded me of Nas almost. Surprised to have it end so soon it felt like. Not bad at all

Mid

Knew I'd struggle with this as not a hip-hop fan usually. Appreciate all the instrumental stuff going on, although the overlapping vocals was confusing on some tracks

Pretty solid. More explicit than I love

Good Common album but not his best for me.

Didn’t like it

Quintessential hip hop album. Amazing listen from start to finish.

It wasn’t for me honestly

I am not a rap, fan, nor aficianado....yet, I enjoyed this album a surprising amount.

Pretty good. I'm not huge into rap/hip hop but I liked this. NOT sure I'd listen whole lot but may listen again

He’s great and the album as a collection of songs is too. The problem is listening to the whole thing continuously reveals that Common has one flow, one tone, one meter to his voice, so nothing stands out on the album. Heard individually it is much stronger

Enjoyed it

Didn’t have a lot of expectations coming in, but this album is actually pretty good, some good lyrics and doesn’t have that monotonous feel to it that a lot of similar albums suffer from

Some bangers on this one. Loved the intro song, the corner and the Food

Not my cup of tea I’m afraid.

no stand out tracks (besides maybe Chi-City) but an outstanding full album. great instrumentals + super consistent Common + kanye in one of his peaks just made an amazing piece of art

Mature and thoughtful, a great album.

Loved this, great collaboration between Common and Kanye at their very best. Instantly pulled in and joined this from the intro. Production was great throughout this album along with Common's smooth flows this was an amazing listen.

Wasn't bad - doubt I'll revisit.

1. nope, still not into rap.

For a musical genre I do not usually listen to, I rather liked that album. Heartfelt lyrics and a realistic, yet hopeful worldview.

Thank goodness I am not doing this project back when I hated and disrespected rap. I would've given this a 1, and it does not deserve a 1. This still isn't the kind of thing I usually listen to, but it's pretty good. Favourite tracks: Be (Intro), It's Your World

This is really good. I’m shocked by how much I liked this album.

This is a great album. I love Justify.

Really cool album. Common has always seemed like a really likeable dude, and how can you not like him after this?

There's a listenable groove going on. I don't listen to enough rap to know if this is a good, bad or indifferent example, but it's pretty same-y throughout to my ears.

It's your World is like Black Free to Wear Sunscreen. That J Dilla production is incredible though

Singles are the best songs on the album. The Real People is also good.

The singles were the good ones. Not too impressed.

I've definitely heard the bass line from Be (Intro) used in newer rap; just can't place where. I dig the slow, jazzy build on the intro track. Common holds nothing back diving headlong into #conscious lyrics. It's a nice mood setter. GO! features a pre-College Dropout production with prominent vocal feature. Interesting that neither his nor John Mayer's efforts have credits (at least on Spotify). Twinkling beat, but honestly not loving the central "GO!" sample. Faithful, true to name, features gospel elements. Production is clean, but I don't really feel anything. Testify features one of the most interesting beats on the album so far. Rooted around a snaking bass line and completely chopped and sliced vocal sample. Coolest song so far. (no surprise its a Kanye beat -- apparently the whole album is) Chi-City through They Say is a hot run. Interesting choice to include a single live cut on an otherwise studio record, but it works in The Food. Once again, interesting omission of feature credits to Kanye. Real People is a jazz-influenced jam. Very groovy. They Say is basically a Kanye song; both MC's matched, and both delivering strong. Honestly I was a soft 3 for the first half, but the back half of this album is so solid I'm leaning 4. They Say is the standout IMO with Testify and The Food giving strong service as well. I'm not fully bought into Common, but I enjoy this one.

The beats on this album are definitely my favorite part. There are some high points with the lyrics, but once again, I'm not listening that closely while working so a lot of the message gets lost on me. Overall this is a fine album. It had me head bopping a few times. If this was Album of the Week I would definitely spend more time active listening to these albums.

Listened to this album while working but the beats were very good. I wasn't really following along wiht which song was which but it didn't matter the whole album was excellent. Common's flow is very good and matched the beats perfectly. Wish I paid more attention to the lyrics to really get an idea of the album. But I enjoyed the heck out of the album. Haven't really listened to Common before so it was a nice find. The live song with Kanye on the Chapelle show is great, mainly Kanye, wish he didn't like fish sticks so much and was such an absolute weirdo now.

Never really listened to much Common besides any features or the Chapelle Show performance. After listening to a few songs I love Common's flow and you can kinda tell Kanye is all over this. Just shows how insanely talented that man is. Fuck him now though. Oh wow they have the actual Chappelle Show live track. Pretty weird to have that in the middle of a studio album but I'm not complaining.

Really good, liked every song on this album. Very smooth music overall!

Wayyy more vibey than I was expecting. Had to throw in the second earbud part way through The Corner. I don't love the refrains. They feel a little odd and sometimes uncomfortable and forced. The verses are incredible, though. The production of the album is fantastic. The produced noises are never overdone, and are finely tuned to the song. A really good album, particularly the first half. I will probably never listen to this again, though.

Ikkje så dumt, ikkje så minneverdig heller

Close to labeling this as possibly the finest rap album on the list. I need multiple listens, to be certain I'm not clouded by Common's underrated screen presence, which is really how I knew of him before hearing this album.

The principles of this so-called 'art' are rudimentary, at best. Simplistic rhythm section and unpolished, usually simplistic poetry. We're aware this type of "music" comes out of an impoverished environment. Impoverished and oppressed by predatory capitalism, of course, though its practitioners rarely , if ever, address that. It's regrettable that the billions of dollars made by the pretend moguls and their patsies can't be reinvested in the communities which spawned this style. Maybe then the reliance on jury-rigged technologies can be overcome and real musical instruments and instruction and real musical invention can come back.

More than anything, this album celebrates collaborations. The array of artists making appearances on this album elevate it. From an early track featuring The Last Poets, occasional appearances of Kanye, to John Legend lending some vocals, among others and sampling take the album to a different level. The production is lush and layered and Kanye elevates Common and the Chicago connection. The lyrics are dense and draw upon wide-ranging experiences, but the accompaniment backing the verses might be the strength of the best tracks, which are far more than simply beats and basslines. Easy to understand its appeal and success.

Very good. Great song writing!

Beaucoup aimé l'intro et la dernière piste. Le reste c'est sympa de loin mais je ne m'y connais pas assez en hip hop pour apprécier les subtilités, et j'ai pas l'impression de prendre une claque niveau nouveauté

Très bien, très efficace, tente des trucs mais reste accessible. Sauvegardé pour réécoute plus tard.

Not my typical type of music, but it has a cool vibe. I liked it a lot more than I expected

Its a jazz-electro-funk-rap thing and to be honnest its not really my kind of music so i dont find it very good, but its very personal

Okay so here’s the thing, Common is the worst part of his own record. His flow is non existent, it’s more like he’s doing slam poetry over a beat, but even then it’s not decisive enough to be poetry, I think he just has bad rhythm. Also, conscious bars are bad, but especially bad when like 10 years later you’re doing them in an American Express commercial. All his bars are like the Bill Cosby pull up your pants speech. The production is great, it’s clear why Kanye was so in demand as a producer at the time, he and Dilla crushed it. Anytime Ye gets on the mic he absolutely blows Common out of the water, and it makes me just wish this was a Kanye album. Idk, I enjoyed the record, but truly only because of the production. Common just makes shit way too corny, I mean give me a break with that ‘what if god was a her’ line. The finale I also thought was a little overdone, going from the kids all saying their dreams to some overly saccharine speech about dreaming. Idk, it was some Sesame Street stuff.

“I was rollin around, in my mind it occurred // what if God was a her?” 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 Went into this cold and within 10 seconds I was like “oh shit I didn’t know Kanye produced this”. His name is written all over it, and it’s the best part of the album - it upstages Common constantly. He’s not terrible or anything, but there isn’t a single bar on this album that stood out to me (except the one above, technically lol). All the highlights are Kanye. Common is passable but tends to be a little corny, often failing to be the introspective artiste that he’s trying to be. Very light 4.

I was very surprised by this one. I’ve never bothered to listen to Common and this was a great listen. It’s produced by Kanye and clearly not just in name only. It’s got his fingerprints all over the beats and production, and from a time when he was was on fire just ripping heaters. Cool stuff, fun and out of my usual sphere of knowledge.

i miss the old kanye

Really well produced!

51/100

6/10 Top 3: Be (intro) Go! The food

Favorite: The Food Least Favorite: Real People Classic album. Kanye's production never disappoints. Very much a sister album to Kanye's own "Late Registration." Soulful sound with great rapping from Common. Consistent throughout with very few lows. If you're a Kanye fan and have not listened, you need to. I wish there were more than 5 rating options for more differentiation, but a 4 will do I guess. Out of 10 I would give this a 7.

Not my type of music. Dont ever listen… so it was difficult to sit through

Pretty good. Liked the jazzy vibe

Decent album. The N word was used way too much for my liking. One of two songs stopped out for me.

Started out really strong but got a little bored by the end. Really good though!

Muito bom. No começo, parece um álbum bom, embora eu não tenha muita experiência com Hip-Hop, mas as últimas 4 músicas mostram que esse álbum é, de fato, especial.

Fun noughties classic.

очень стильно, модно, кайфово музыка прям сочная

I liked this way more than I expected to when I saw the genre. I thought the intro was great and it put me in the right mood to appreciate the rest of it I guess. I actually definitely want to return to it. So many good moments.

Definitely one of the best hip hop albums I've heard on this list yet

Nice flow and delivery over smooth beats.

I was expecting another generic boring 40 minutes of the exact same song over and over but this was one of the best hip hop albums I’ve heard so far

Felt like listening to a Kanye album with less charm. Not bad, just very forgettable

This was really fun. Absolutely something I would have never listened to before this so it was really cool to be tossed this from the generator. Also woa hi there lots of early kanye

Best way I can describe this record is smooth and soulful in the best way. Common's flow throughout this record is real nice, he glides through each song like a knife through butter, tackling all sorts of social issues and personal experiences in some great meaningful lyrics. But the real shining point here is Kanye West's production. He dabbles all over R&B, and even other genres like gospel and jazz pop up at times, and every song has a laid back but bright atmosphere to it.

Pretty good, but some of the tracks weren’t for me. Worst tracks: Testify, It’s Your World

Vääntämällä vääntäen voimaannutava.. vähä sama ku meikä tekis suomijussille tsemppi ääninauhruilla ääniviesti…. Joka menis näin: tsemppiä kaverille, tsemppiä vaan… tsemppiä savolaisele.. tsemppiä vuoan.. Savolainenkovia kokenu.. Keskiajalla savolaiset joutuivat useaan otteeseen puolustamaan maitaan… tsemppiä tsemppiä… HEH 2005 JA TÄSSÄ NOUSEE TEEMAKSI MUSTAIN SORTO HÄH… barack samalla vousikymmenelä… presikekkona.. 2005 MIKÄ HISTORIAN KAIVELU ALBUMI TÄMÄ MUSTILLA TÄYSIN SAMA,,, TOISTAN TÖYSIN SAMA TILANNE AMERIIKOISSA ELLEI JOPA PAREMPI KUIN NORMAALI AMERIKKALAISELA.. VUAN ALAS PAINETAAN AMERIIKAN KANSA… siksi tähti vähemmän..

Really excellent album. Common's got a terrific flow and brings in some terrific beats and themes throughout his music.

Strong disliked the previous Common album I got on here. This one was slightly better. First and Last track both really good. The rest was pretty meh. 2.5*

I struggle with hip-hop in general, but I quite enjoyed this. Lyrically it seemed stronger and had a bit more going for it than some of the other albums I've gotten from the genre, and the last track was particularly on the mark. I'd listen again to this.

Forgettable and uninspiring for me personally

I listened to this a couple weeks ago. Can’t remember much but I think I enjoyed it the whole way through.

I used to really love this album. I like commons records more than I like him, his rapping isn’t really my favorite but he always surrounds himself with good people. I love the corner, the drum best is great

Really good. Crazy to think about where Kanye was back then.

Still fresh and funky 20 years later. Good message and fun to listen to

generic rap album не впечатлил абсолютно единственный трек Go! можно более менее слушать, остальное лоуфай на фон МАКСИМУМ

Immediately put me back in high school. The 2005 oozes from this record and the genuineness feels like a bygone era. 3/5

High 3 for Common.

Helaas is dit album iets te veel R&B voor mij, terwijl ik de stem van Common wel aangenaam vindt.

I used to think Common could be a bit too sincere, and I still do a bit. But can't deny the quality of production on this and actually I enjoyed it more than I remembered

The production is excellent, I sure hope the producer is a nice guy with tolerant attitudes.

I'm all good with socially conscience or alt-rap, but Common just irritates me. That said, this is far superior to Like Water For Chocolate.

Smooth beatz - doesn't hit me squarely in the trouser, but was pleasant enough to listen along to in the background

Favourites: • Be (Intro) • Testify • It's Your World (Part 1 & 2)

Wow, this really surpassed my expectations. Common has never really been on my radar for some reason. I’ll need to let this sink in a bit, but it’s definitely at least 4 stars!

como rap MOR. impecable.

I like the intro. There's some funky beats in there man. It's a shame the rest of the album doesn't hold up to that. There's still some nice things going on, but it's just not my thing and lots of it sounds generic.

2005 Kanye production with great features from him, and Common is just awesome on this album. I love it. 8/10

Definitely very polished, but maybe that’s its strong suit. Kanye’s production is lush and layered. Common’s raps are probably the strongest he’s done. Combine that with some solid songs/hooks, and this is much better than I originally gave it credit for. Certainly not a masterpiece, but very good - 3.5.

Good starter but kinda fizzles out for me.

Legendary

Another hip-hop album that is not relatable at all for me. Some of the samples are nice. Don't like listening to all the N-words, sorry.

Terrible music, hate it

What's this? A tight, skitless, sub 45 minutes hip-hop record? Sign me the fuck up! The introduction might be the best I've ever heard, and it's clear from the beginning that Kanye "George Bush doesn't care about black people" "I'm a Nazi" West is at the top of his game here as producer. With samples of gospel, jazz and child voices, this sounds more like a Kanye album than anything else. The lyrics are clever (with the exception of 'Go!'), and tracks like 'Testify' and 'Chi-City' are impressive. Wests verse on the latter is a downright monster. And oh yeah, Common also appears.

There’s nothing groundbreaking about Be, but it’s one heck of a solid rap album with a length that is just right.

2005, but fits like a glove if you dig that late-90’s FunkMaster Flex East Coast style!!

Common kan absoluut een heel aardig potje rappen, maar toch heb ik hem altijd wat saai gevonden. Bij dit album zit ik eigenlijk vanaf het begin te wachten om weggeblazen te worden, want je hoort dat het erin zit, maar dat moment komt eigenlijk nooit. Alsof Common het hele album z'n voet op het rempedaal houdt. In een aantal tracks hoor je de producer-hand van Kanye flink terug. Track 1 en 2 voelen bijna als leftovers van Kanye's 'The College Dropout' album. Daarnaast vind ik dat Kanye te vaak mag meerappen. Voor mij zijn de beste tracks 'Love is...', 'Chi-City' en 'The Food'. Mij doe je geen plezier met de R&B, John Legend achtige shit als 'Faithful' en 'They Say'. Toch 4 sterren omdat ik 3 net te weinig vind.

I have never heard of this guy before, but I was quite pleasantly surprised and definitely found myself digging some of the songs. I don't think this type of rap/hiphop is really my thing, but if it was I think it would've maybe gotten some higher ratings.

Man do I have a soft spot for 00s hip hop. I love the samples of this album, it's really J dilla and Kanye at their best. It is so J'dilla died young, I wonder how much more beats he would have made. I actually had never heard this album before which is suprising in hindsite because I'm a big fan of this era and style of music. And of course J'dilla in particular. It gets a very strong 4 from me, beats alone are worth a 5.

not huge on the beginning tracks so never got properly invested in this album but it gets sooo good. I love a little meditative session where the music's about just being, so cute. kanye could've been so much more than what he is now :(

Interesting hiphop

Hip-hop rap. Escuchable, sin más.

A few of these tunes definitely got a lot of airplay on streaming. It's more of a rap album, with melodic content, than hip-hop.

This is the kind of album I was really looking for today. Really excited to listen to this. The rapping in 'GO' reminds of Kanye West. EDIT: Turns out Kanye is rapping in this, Common is just the producer. Sadly it wasn't as good as I expected. Decent but didn't blow me away. Has to be a three. Will deffo re-listen at some point.

Aweseome

Good album highly influential with some particularly good highlights scattered throughout.

I remember when this came out it was a sharp contrast to the other mainstream hip hop which was either gangsta or about bling and women. The political consciousness coupled with a chilled jazzy vibe was refreshing.

PREFS : Be (Intro), The Corner, Go!, Love Is..., Chi-City, The Food, Real People, It's Your World (Part 1 & 2) MOINS PREF : Faithful

curti o rapzao, com o instrumental pika

sowieso iemand zijn top 10 album

Ooh heerlijke conscious rap met een zeer goed te horen Kanye influence (niet enkel zijn stem hé haha). Mooi album over zelfreflectie en het leven in the chi natuurlijk.

I love the jazz inspiration throughout this album. Common’s flow and lyricism fits so well in the backing tracks. Also need to shout out the top tier production from psychopath Kanye. Shame. Can we just go back to 2005 when it felt like we got a new classic album every week?

Production from Kanye Fucking West and J Fucking Dilla are cheat codes for a game already made all too easy by Common’s street-wisened rhymes.

can’t go wrong with signature early 2000s kanye production

great hip-hop sounds, some songs didn't hit but overall very solid

Classic hip-hop. Great flow, intelligent lyrics, fantastic production. Best Tracks: Be (Intro); The Corner; The Food

Before today, I'd only knew Common through his acting career (Elam in Hell on Wheels, and Cassian in John Wick). I was aware that he had a rap career, just never took the time to delve into it before. This is his 6th studio album, and was produced largely by Kanye West, who was featured in a few songs along with appearances by Lost Prophets, and John Legend. This style of rap more closely resembles John Legend's R&B/jazz style of music than it does traditional rap/hip hop. It is as if an R&B singer decided to rap their lyrics instead of sing them. It makes the music much more digestable, especially to someone who isn't deeply invested in the whole rap game. Common's lyrics are intelligent, and he doesn't rely heavily on throwing N-Bombs around to make his point, he does it through his vibrant story telling. Overall, a really refreshing rap album that you wouldn't be opposed to playing in mixed company. I will definately add it to my regular rotation. I enjoyed it so much, I listened to it twice today. Favourite songs: Be (Intro), The Corner, Testify, They Say, The Food, Chi-City, Real People, Faithful, It's Your World (Parts 1 & 2), GO! Least favourite songs: Love Is... 4/5

Very listenable. Not my normal music but I liked it.

Some amazing production - the base line on Be is always a joy and the energy on The Food is so good. At the same time, there are some clunkers here that make me cringe. For example - I used to love Testify but it just doesn’t do it anymore. A solid 4 stars and holds up better than a lot of the rap I’ve listened to on this list.

Funny to hear kanye in the songs, not necesarily as a feature. (He produced most songs) Very relaxed almost loungy 3/5

Really easy to listen to, classic rap album structure. Easy beats border on Lofi, lyrics border on funny, well produced, but nothing particularly stood out. I could see a world where I think this is a 4/5

Solid and smooth rap album. Kanye producing at his best

This album just flowed along not sparking anything arresting along the way.

я плохой ценитель репа, не ухватила

great rap album but produced by Kanye West 10/10 rap music tho Go! - <3

Pure gold. Soulful, cool and vibrant.

Some real fresh beats and Common is a more cultured rapper than some of his more mainstream contemporaries. Musically this is an album that hits the right notes

Wasn’t really enamoured of the rapping or the lyrics. But I did enjoy the beats and the melodies and the samples that underpinned everything. And I preferred the songs with collaborators who actually sang. I found Common’s droning a little lacklustre.

I listened to this Friday and remember very little about it today. I think that I liked Testify and the one with the kids I like Common as an actor.

This was really good. I suck at following the narrative and thread in a lot of rap, but this drew me in and I liked the tracks on most of the album. A couple of samples got overused, but I would play this again for sure.

Words by Common, beats by Kanye. What more do you need? I was glad to hear this as I think I'd only heard it in passing once before and for some reason it didn't stick. This time it did. Great stuff.

Good 2005 throwback

Not bad, but I’m not big into rap so…

I didn't have high hopes for this, given that Like Water for Chocolate is the only album I've shut off partway through in 350+ albums. This was...fine. I'm not a big fan of rap and hip hop. It seemed like a decent album if you're into this type of music.

Solid hip hop record. Didn’t expect Kanye to show up but there he is. I liked faithful

A fantastically soulful hip-hop album. Great production. Great lyrical intricacies, thematic content and word play. Funny that there’s a live TV performance on this album, not sure I’ve seen that before. Funnier still that it’s from the Chapelle Show. Really appreciate that this album isn’t 2 hours long with a million sketches. Absolutely one of the most accomplished, refined hip-hop albums of the 2000s. Both lyrically and instrumentally and it continues to hold influence through Chance the Rapper’s The Coloring Book and beyond. On a personal level, my roommate, Matt, in college—a Chicago native with an awesome collection of CDs he would haul into our new dorm room each year—used to alternate between Common’s Be and D’Angelo’s VooDoo each morning as he would French press coffee in our 7th floor dorm room sophomore year. The two albums perfectly soundtracked those morning as we sipped caffeine and caught up with each other’s lives. And, of course, talked music. This one’s a 5.

Oh man this album. So good. It feels like both a quintessential Common, record, AND a quintessential Kanye-produced record. Kanye’s still, in this period and beyond perhaps, as inventive as a producer, maybe far more, than he ever has been as a lyricist— it’s his signature, it’s hard to argue with. This is straight from one of his highlight periods. I played this album a ton of times in college, I’ll never get tired of listening to it. Not a ground-breaking, life-changing work, but a fantastic example of the good in hip hop. 4/5

A nice mix of g-rap while also being uplifting, Commmon's raps are smooth and he's a great storyteller

This album is produced by Kanye around my favorite Kanye albums, it sounds like Graduation trilogy DLC. I really enjoyed it. The sampling and instrumentation is incredible, the interjected singing is super catchy, it works very well with Common.

An era of hip hop I wish we could go back to.

In my opinion— meh.

Not a fan of hip hop, but I’ve managed to stomach most of this. As usual what I enjoy the most is the interesting ways these songs use samples Saved tracks: The Corner, GO!, Testify

Wow. As an African-American youth residing in the inner city of Chicago, this album has inspired me to do great things. Wait a second, I’m not an African-American youth residing in the inner city of Chicago!

C+ Be(Intro) - 3 The Corner - 3 Go! - 3 Faithful - 4 Testify - 3 Love Is… - 2 Chi City - 2 The Food (Live) - 3 Real People - 3 They Say - 2 It’s Your World, Pt. 1 & 2 - 2 Returned to this with my new anti-Kanye lens and guess what? They (didn't) got better! MWahahahaha. It's a reference to- nvm I'll just drop the link: https://www.tiktok.com/@krantzcke/video/7192553832679935278 . It'd take too much to describe. Hopefully that link lives in. Otherwise, this review will make no sense.

It’s a common record, soulful spittin

Not my music!!!!

4/11, 36%

Really liked the jazz and soul samples. This was a damn good album. Shame that Kanye was involved thus a star was deducted. Still, a cool, chill vibe while being socially conscious. This would be a hip hop album Marvin Gaye would have made.

Oh, this was quite cool. Wasn't sure what to expect not being familiar. But Be (Intro), GO!, and It's Your World - Part 1 & 2 are great tracks. Looking forward to hearing it more.

I haven't really listened to Common before, so this was a discovery for me - very nice! It's got that laid back R&B infusion and smoothness that makes for good summer time hip-hop. Fave track - "Be" is a nice opener. Also liked "Go!"

Not generally my genre, but really enjoyed this album.

That opening is absolutely excellent, and the rest of the album is pretty good too. I love the beats and backgrounds here, and the more jazzy sound of some of them. I'm not madly in love with this album or anything, but still very good, and the normal length (rare for a hip-hop album on thie generator) definitely helps.

ALBUM RATING: 3.7 ALBUM GRADE: B- TRACK RATINGS: 1. Be (Intro) - 3.0 2. The Corner - 4.0 3. Go! - 3.5 4. Faithful - 3.0 5. Testify - 3.5 6. Love Is… - 3.5 7. Chi-City - 4.0 8. The Food (Live) - 4.0 9. Real People - 3.5 10. They Say - 4.0 11. It’s Your World (Part 1 & 2) - 4.0

lyrics: incredible. beats: fantastic. runtime: perfect. sequencing: flawless. common is a genius and this is easily his best album

This album was great. Common has always been one of the most likeable rappers, and that shines through here. Favorite track: The Corner

Very repetitive but not unpleasant to listen to.

It’s good,I should give it a relisten though because he saying a lot of stuff and I’m not really listening to lyrics on a first listen.The beats are nice and the mood is classy.I didn’t expect Kanye west or John Mayer to be here but they’re not unwelcome.

Uncommonly good.

Great comeback from the previous album, solid

This was fine, I guess. But it also has Kanye West on it so to hell with it.

Gives me Mos Def vibes. Pretty good. Not sure why I'd never checked out Common before.

So I read the info on the front page and immediately cringed when I saw the words rapper and produced by the idiot, nutjob we know as Kanye asshole. Well, Kanye is still one crazy shit and and even bigger a-hole, but damn, this was a solid album. Bonus surprise, I kept thinking I've seen Common before but couldn't figure it out until I heard The Food and the introduction by Dave Chappelle. They (Commom and A-hole) performed this song at the end of one of Chappelle's shows. Dave use end his shows with musical guest. I verified and it's out there on youtube. Anyway, back to the album. This wasn't an in your face rap album, but more a of soulful, good grooving kind of album with some solid lyrics. I listened a couple times and found myself groovin in my seat each time. There were a couple tunes I didn't care for, but I did like quite a few. Shoot, first 6 songs were my favorites. Be, The corner, GO!, Faithful, Testify and Love is were all solid tracks. If I understood Testify, his girl is the killer and he's the one going to jail. That's one cold bitch. The Food and They say stood out to me as well. I pretty much named just about every song on this album. This album did surprise me, but maybe due to my dislike of the dude producing and having low expectations. Good album to throw on in the background while working! I am going to rate this album a 3, but probably much closer to 3.5 as I found this to be more of an R&B album, than a rap album. Love me that old R&B sound. 3

This was pretty okay! This is the way I like samples to be used. It's pretty front-loaded with the cool beats and catchy hooks though. Not that that's what it always has to be about but that's what keeps my attention. I like the lyrics when I noticed them. Common has a cool and almost relaxing style that I really enjoyed. I really only see myself going back to maybe half of this album. 3

3.5 After just having an album produced by the monster Phil Spector, it’s nice to have something produced by someone without any known controversy or offensive behavior. Man, what a refreshing rap record. I really, really, really, really don’t want to give Kanye any kind of credit for obvious reasons, but I can’t deny the production here is fantastic. There’s clearly quite a bit of old school R&B influence, and the album benefits so much from it - everything felt so alive and colorful without ever feeling repetitive or manufactured. That sound combined with Common’s effortlessly smooth delivery and insightful poeticism made this a really solid listen from front to back. For every infectiously catchy hook (“Before you lock my love away!”), there’s a socially-conscious one that’s just as profound. In particular, I really liked the message regarding the ability to create greatness regardless of one’s beginnings on It’s Your World - though I have to admit the line about being the “best swimmer in 500,000” was a bit much. That all being said, I actually struggled a bit with my rating for this one. I liked almost all of it, but I’m not quite sure how much of it I actually loved. There haven’t been any tracks I’ve gone back to since my listening, but I do see myself giving the full album a listen again in the future. So, there might still be some room for growth with me.

It was solid but no really my thing.

Too soft

Common works here with Chi-towns other premier MC Ye and the influence is clear from the beats here. Common writes some solid lines that’ll have you backtracking to listen again. An overall solid hip-hop record for the time period.

Some pleasure to ear beats (by Kanye obviously) and some fire lyrics.

Smooth rhymes by Common and lush production by Kanye and Dilla. Can’t beat it.

Enjoyed it for the most part, started losing me at the chipmunk voice

3/5

This was surprisingly wholesome and uplifting. I only knew Common as the guy who wears a turtle neck and preaches about “A.I.” in those commercials before listening to this.

très très cool

I think I’ve heard of Common before but I’m not completely sure. One thing I can be sure of it that his teeth look really nice on the album cover. Have you seen them? He has really nice teeth. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Be (Intro), Go It isn’t often that an intro song is a highlight for an album, but that mix of bass and 8-bit melodies was a fantastic opener and had me interested from the beginning. I did start to tune out a little towards the middle of the album, but I do wonder if that’s my own bias in that it’s rare that I find a hip hop album that I love. It’s just never clicked for me as much as some other genres. Overall, I did still enjoy this album but I’m not sure if I’ll be rushing back to listen again, except for maybe that intro song.

I liked it way more than I expected to.

Uszy nie bolą - wysłuchałbym jeszcze raz albo nawet dwa.

Phenomenal production, though once or twice I was thrown off by the chipmunk soul vocals. Love the subdued horns on (forgot the name of the track).Overall, just a great hip-hop record.

this album just bops. Old school soul beats from Kanye.

started off good, fell off after a while. went from a strong 4 to a pretty weak 4 overall.

Probably my favorite album from this list I haven't heard before. Will def be listening to more.

Enjoyed intro and testimony as they stood out the most to me Liked most instrumentals with the bits of jazz mixed in. Some became a bit repetitive or dull as they sounded like other rap songs from the early 00s Vocals were okay, liked some bars he has but voice/flow wasn’t as interesting or didn’t capture me entirely. Testimony female vocals were great tho. For me that was the best song especially with the story telling from start to finish.

The Chicago Avengers got together to make this one. A fresh-faced, hungry Kanye West on production and Common barring like his life was on the line. One of my fave rap albums. Fave track - Go

Great production, sick rhyme schemes. Only really managed to tune in for the lyrics on the first two songs so I'm gonna have to sit down and give this one a dedicated listen some time, but there's some pretty fucking great lyrical craftwork in what I heard.

Common's first 6 albums are milestones of the more sophisticated jazz rap of the 90s and early 2000s that was influenced by neo soul too. 'Be' doesn't waste time and puts you into all the things you would need to know as a Chicago kid. Common's lyrics are better than ever because he puts some subtle humor in the stories he tells. And then of course there is producer Kanye West. I never thought of him as a genius (albeit a great producer, of course always aided by an army of other talented people). I think 'Be' shows more than his own albums that West has talent.

It was good, better than I thought it was gonna be.

Faithful to the end, qué buen instrumental, ultra melódico common

Highlight: GO!, The Food (Live)

Duuużo lepsze niż poprzedni album. Bity lepsze, tekst lepszy.

"They say because of the fame and stardom I'm somewhere in between the church and insane asylum I guess it's messin' with my health then And this verse so crazy when I finish I'm just gon' check myself in" If only Kanye would've listened to himself in 2005

It sounded ok I guess, didn't connect with it though and won't be back. Seems like a waste of my time to give it a longer review.

Great!

Didn't realise the extent of Kanye's involvement in this. Also very obviously where 360, Pez, Seth etc jacked a lot of their style.

Common is great, but I think he is much better as a feature

Really enjoyable hip-hop! Some great bears and memorable choruses. Faithful is my favourite track.

It's alright as far as rap goes, but not something I really enjoy. 2 stars.

Common: the intelligent rapper. I love his storytelling. He seems to be one of the more enlightened, and enlightening, rappers to ever do it. Hip Hop Golden Age has referred to this album as Common's mangnum opus. It came out in 2006 and is produced by Kanye West, who was at the top of his producing game way back when circa Late Registration and Graduation. The good old days. This album, Be, is just so smooth from front to back. I loved the tracks Go, Be, Chi-City and Love Is... A solid rap album. Thougtful. Enlightened. Long lasting.

holy shit, the sampling on "Testify" was so fucking annoying

Why don't I know a single Common song? I know he's a famous rapper but that's literally it. Didn't realise he was this old actually. I can hear the Kanye influence, now I'm slowly learning he was actually good once. I enjoy the soulful undertones. First track I thought this was going to be really good, but after that it's basically very accomplished well produced mid - 2000s rap/hip hop, which I enjoyed while it was on but am unlikely to go back to. I am not looking forward to the 77 minute long album to come though, this is fine at 40 something. Best - Intro, Chi-City.

I listened to this album without even realising it was almost over Very good easy to listen to :+1:

While not groundbreaking, it's an enjoyable hip-hop album from the 2000's, with plenty of clever verses and catchy beats.

🙌🙌🙌 This was one of my favorite albums in college when I was getting into hip-hop. I can close my eyes and picture walking through campus listening to this on headphones, iPod in my pocket. Common is a joy to listen to but Kanye’s production is the star here. He pairs soft-focus soul with tight, crisp drums, a perfect complement for Common’s buttery voice and smooth flow. (Ooh and there’s some killer use of vocoder on a few tracks!) A ton of great songs. The album flows beautifully. A solid 4 but the nostalgia factor puts it in 5 territory for me. After Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint,” this list has been doing a great job of slowly reintroducing Kanye music back into my life. I had a great time listening to this today.

Wow it's cool to see Common on this list. I've heard so many good things over the years but I don't think I've ever listened to any of his music. Very cool instrumentation on the first 2 tracks. Love an album that starts with cool stuff like this. "GO!" you could almost tell right from the drop that it was produced by Kanye. I didn't however realize that it was John Mayer doing backup vocals, although I don't really love how the tone of his voice fits in with the rest of the track. Maybe he could have sang something more than an echo'd "go" and it would have fit my tastes better? Overall I think it's a middle 3/5

I enjoyed this. It feels like it maybe needed another 6 months cooking to be truly great but was rushed out when College Dropout went crazy but Common has bars and interesting subject matter.

Some songs are kind of forgettable. The lyrics are good throughout. The beats are good throughout.

This is a solid rap album. Common has some great beats on this one and lyrically he does a solid job. He has some awesome features too with a young Kanye and mos def. This album is about as good the last one. Both of his albums aren’t typical violent rap or overtly sexual which is a nice change of pace since he does a good job production wise. 7.6/10 of his albums are generally positive and

I might have not been in quite the right mood for this, but it was still good. Definitely more musically interesting than some hip hop on this list. I could see this potentially being a 4 star album upon relistening. I think my favourite song was Real People.

I am one happy dude right now. Why, you ask? Well, because I just listened to Common's 2005 album Be, and let me tell you, listening to this album is like getting dapped up by the man Common himself. I mean, seriously, this album is the hip hop equivalent of getting a home cooked meal at your mama's house and a "you got this, man." from your dad who's sitting across from you. Listening to Be is like getting to know Common on a personal level. The album feels like a window into his soul, with lyrics that are introspective, reflective, and often deeply personal. You get a sense of who he is as a person and where he is from. Hell, by the time you finish listening to Be, you feel like you've just had a beer with the guy. And you can't talk about Be without talking about Kanye West whose producing skills helped elevate the album to the next level, and whose old school sound (yeah I like the old Kanye) can be felt throughout the album, which he helped produce. And he even appeared on a couple of songs - which, in my opinion, are some of the best of the album. The Food, is an upbeat song which is all about enjoying the simple pleasures of life with a catchy hook and a sound that feels like a celebration. And then we have They Say which is a bit more introspective. It's a reflection on the pressures of fame and success, and it features Kanye West and John Legend on the chorus. The beat is moody, the lyrics are thoughtful, and the whole thing just hits you right in the feels. Be is one of the truly iconic hip hop albums of the 00's, and it's one of those albums that'll make you actually feel something instead of just going "skrrt" and making you want to eat tide pods. So put on your aviator sunglasses, throw on a leather jacket, and get ready to listen to some GOOD Music. This album is a must-listen.

This is a bop.

Fine

Amazing!!!

Fine album.

Rap,some more interesting underlying music

Be (Intro) - first listen: 1.8/3 The Corner - fl: 1.6/3 GO! - fl: 1.5/3 Faithful - fl: 1.5/3 Testify - fl: 1.4/3 Love is.. - fl: 1.5/3 Chi-City - fl: 1.6/3 The Food (Live) - fl: 1.7/3 Real People - fl: 1.5/3 They Say - fl: 1.8/3 It's Your World - fl: 1.7/3 Final Verdict: Amazing from start to finish. Banger

fine

Never listened to Common before but I really dug this. No particular songs stood out but the album as a whole solid mid 2000s rap. Bouncy but had heft. The vintage Kanye is an added bonus.

When does an artist get more than one release included on this list? That is an important question. For me, Be is yet another very solid album. He doesn't really push the envelope - so to speak. Nothing groundbreaking. Simply very well constructed and produced songs (not an easy thing to do over and over again. I am not penalizing him for the consistency. I would include Like Water for Chocolate and limit Common to one slot. All that said - this is a solid four-star effort.

A little less violent and dangerous sounding than some other the others of the genre on this list.

When people say they “miss the old Kanye” THIS is what they are talking about, even if this album is technically Common’s. The soulful production sounds great rather than dated and the social commentary and songs like “Love Is” give us the opposite experience from the Marshall Mathers LP. Hip hop can be a beautiful genre as this album, and later work by Chance the rapper (clearly inspired by this and samples it) shows. Would give 4.5 if I could but what the hell.

I’m probably not the intended demographic... so unfair of me to judge if it’s ace or awful.

Very good. Loved the vibe, overall composition. Definitely an artist to explore more. 1 - bad 2 - average 3 - good 4 - great 5 - outstanding

4/5

Not a rap listener, but this was nice and chill I liked it.

Backpack rap. I love it. It sounds like early Kanye West and is a successor to the first Talib Kweli solo record.

8/10

7/10

Not listening to this. Electric Circus was a flawed but adventurous and sometimes very good album. This was closer to music by committee. "So, Mr Common, we have to tap back into the zeitgeist of 'One Day It'll All Make Sense' etc. You don't have the material? Worry not! We have you, and we have the incentive..." Yes, Be made lots of money. Still doesn't change the fact that it is a poor shadow of Common's first albums, and locked him into a creative cut-de-sac that I doubt he'll ever get out of now. yes, I am bitter. Can you tell?

In general, I don't enjoy most rap music. Occasionally, something gets to me though. I thought this might be one of those albums after the first two tracks. After that, it descended into the cloud of general rap, then eased into r&b for the end of the album. Also, I'm only an occasional fan in that genre and this didn't quite move me either. But overall, it's ok to me.

Not a genre I usually listen to, but this album is definitely solid. I must admit it was a little weird hearing a track with Kanye on the Dave Chappelle show considering the modern climate around those two, but the track itself was pretty alright. Best tracks: Be (Intro), The Corner, Testify, and It's Your World.

Scrobbled 1 time Artist #4820 Nice vibes, like the jazzy backing tracks

Yaaas. Not my favorite by Common, probably some of Kanye's best work though.

Liked a good part of the album. Some good stuff. Would add a song or two to a playlist.

I love this album. "Go" is on heavy rotation in my playlist.

Very nice hip-hop album. Kind of Kanye-Westey production style, which I like

Meh, standard rap type album, not bad, not especially good

Oh wow a guest appearance by Kanye West... That did not age well

Notable bars and beats are few on this LP – Common has a few great lyrical insights to share, but is easily outclassed by each and every guest feature on the album when it comes to wordplay. Instrumentals aren't helping given they're firmly stuck in the mid-gear of the early aughts, some blandly positive commercial vibes transposed into music.

Top album of 2005 for sure. Kanye’s presence/influence is starting to appear

Como já tem sido mencionado Rap é das coisas que menos gosto de um ponto visto musical. Quando o álbum começa e é algo mais instrumental fiquei agradavelmente surpreso. Contudo, quando cantam deixa um bocado aquém pelo estilo musical. Por fim é agradável de se ouvir, mas não algo que goste, o álbum ganha pontos pelo arranjo musical. Nota:4/10 18/05/2024

- Heard this before - Really good album, just find some of the tracks seem to blend into one - Great Kanye/Dilla production - Intro is a classic - Fav songs: Be (Intro), They Say, GO!

I had never really listened to Common but I really enjoyed the sound of the album - modern rap and classic soul at the same time. I'm interested in reading the lyrics and better understanding his connection to Chicago.