Be

lovely flow of the raps, swinging arrangements

Common isn’t afraid to show his soft side but doesn’t want you thinking he’s a pushover. Thoughtful, considered, occasionally dull in his earnestness, at least Common is true to self and working hard to express himself as an artist. His lyricism is often on point; his flow a little laid back; and as such, he doesn’t grab your attention like a Jay-Z or Eminem. Occasionally the record fades into the background. But his choice of collaborator in Kanye West is superb, who brings his soul samples and beats to full effect - this is genius Kanye (instead of loopy Kanye) and the soundscape is gorgeous. Be (Intro) is one of his greatest productions - thrilling, heart soaring music with Common’s glorious musings on the future and fatherhood and potential - this, along with tracks like Chi City and Real People, is where the album really comes alive. One more note in the art of sampling - Kanye didn’t just take a stone cold classic and add a beat to it; Mother Nature by Albert Jones is a TERRIBLE track about rabbits and bees and how Mother Nature made you for me - it’s about as by the numbers as a soul record can get - BUT it has this horn section on the intro - super short - and that becomes the heart of this Be (Intro). To dig that out of obscurity, recognise its potential, flip it and make it something greater - well that’s the sampler’s art right there. Kanye is a genius.

Well produced and well written

Really good

This album should really be a 3.7. It is good, but I cannot say that any one song is an absolute hit. I was familiar with some of the songs.

A master of the genre, you can't fail to admire the polished production on this album.

Enjoyed this far more than I expected. Not my bag, but the guy's got skills.

Cool

Nice to see Common on here. He’s got great tone, flow and lyrical content. Did not know this was produced by Kanye? Nice beats, still not a fan of the chipmunks thought.

insane

Surprised me, not a big common guy

fav - Faithful gospelly, techno, nice storytelling i love the guitars in the very very intro

Not come across Common before. really enjoyed a lot of this album. Definitely worth another listen.

First hip hop album…not bad like the underlying beats…lyrics are beyond me

Not a massive rap/hip hop fan, so I am not familiar with Common or this album. I am familiar with Kanye West though and can hear his great production on this album. I enjoyed the album, not sure if it’s an all time great album or one I would go back to though.

Loved it, great to listen in one go, powerful positive message

Not for me

This is actually a nice album - thought "GO!" and "The Food" with Kanye providing supporting vocals was great and the best songs on the album. 8/10.

Another classic hip hop album from the 2000s. Lots of Kanye on this album as well

Caught between 90s and 10's hiphop. Not quite Biggie, not quite Kendrick.

Pretty good album. Kanye was a nice surprise, and his influence could be heard throughout.

Good shit.

I can understand why people might like Be. It's remarkably consistent and competent. The raps are never dumb or ugly, but neither are they particularly expressive or pointed. Common's rhythms fall comfortably within the mainstream of rap--he does this kind of thing as well as anyone, but that isn't saying much. Considering that the artistic raison d'etre of rap is clever phrasing, pointed commentary and rhythmic innovation, most artists aim pretty low. Sonically, producer Kanye West provides layered samples based on old-school R&B, and it's pleasant enough. There are no jarring samples or icky synths to stink the joint up. The transitions between tracks are seamless. On the other hand, there is little here that is innovative or exciting. Be is the equivalent of hip-hop comfort food. It's business as usual, but you could do a lot worse. The one deviation from the norm is the closing track, a spoken word benediction for the next generation, accompanied by the NuJazz piano stylings of James Poyser. It's both moving and soothing, a fitting end to the album.

Common is one of those under-rated (to me, at least, maybe?) artists. This is such a great album that I don't visit often enough. I little too slick 2000s production, perhaps, but damn...this album is representative of an era. Great stuff.

I was surprised I never sat down and listened to Common. This album mixed with sounds brought in with Kanye was amazing. I’m looking forward to exploring more his work.

Definitely some lovely things in this album. A few things I didn't love. I'm glad I spent some time with it.

Cool and smooth. Common's style on this album is easy to listen to. My favorite was The Corner with some other tracks very pleasing.

Glad to see some rap finally showing up 53 albums in. And we got two days in a row! After Nas’ Illmatic yesterday, I was excited to listen to Common. But this didn’t appeal to me. I don’t particularly like Common’s rapping style. To me it felt disconnected from the music for the most part --- it's not that I want him to sing or anything but it almost felt like the lyrics and music were recorded independently so I had a hard time finding a groove. I definitely want to be exposed to more rap and hip-hop with this project but this just wasn’t my thing.

Well this is interesting - reviewed Nas yesterday and today this Common album opens with a reference to "Big Nas." I assume that is the same guy? It's interesting because these two have some pretty different vibes in their music. Not to mention this album is centered around Chicago while Nas' is all New York. I have seen Common perform live a few times at music festivals and really enjoyed it. So I was excited to have a chance to check out one of his albums I've never heard. I loved the album. The music and samples are fantastic, and Common is so good. I particularly love the warm and cozy music that accompanies most of the tracks, with the electric organ enticing you to settle in and listen to the lyrics. "Be (intro)" is a great opening. Other songs that jumped out at me included "The Corner", "Go!", "Love Is...", "Chi-City", and "They Say". But I guess I can say all the songs are quite good. My favorite I think is "Real People". I love the smooth easy-listening vibe with the saxophone. Yet Common's performance still tackles a lot of uncomfortable observations of the world around him. I listened to this three times in a row... just kept letting it repeat and was happy to hear the songs again. A beautiful album!

Don't like this production. He is v.good though.

This really isn't my genre. That said, this sounds pretty good. Fave Songs: The Corner, Food, Real People, They Say

Hip-hop rap. Escuchable, sin más.

As much as I viewed Like Water For Chocolate as an interesting curiosity, this album is just straight up art. Wonderful from start to finish. Warm, intense beats and thoughtful lyrics.

I can listen to this. Didn't set my world aflame.

Great samples, warm sounding album.

I'm guilty of profiling this one. I saw the parental advisory and immediately concluded it was rap. OK,  I was right, but I'm still guilty.  This rap is soulful and much easier to listen to than the gangster rap we were inundated with a couple of weeks ago. There are lots of ebbs and flows and sweet  melodies sampled into the tracks. If I were a big fan of the genre I can imagine having this on regular rotation. 

This was a more accessible hip hop album for me because the rapping is relatively subdued and the instrumental music is more melodic. I think if I could read the lyrics to follow along I would appreciate this record much more though because Common has a lot to say thru his musical poetry, although it does get a bit preachy at times.

Great hip hop sounds. LOVE the background vocals. Really nice.

This is really good. Definitely finds it's message, but the tracks themselves each have a pretty unique vibe that finds its groove and carries it. I think Kanye is a welcome contributor here and elevates his contributions. Maybe a little long by the end, but really enjoyable.

Solid but unspectacular album. Go and The Food are the highlights. Interesting to hear all the Kayne production from early in his career. 3/5

decent album. interesting that The Food is on the album, because it was originally on the Chapelle Show but then didn't make the DVD due to rights issues.

Second Listen. Gave it a 1/5 the first time. Not as bad this time

It turns out I like hip hop "OK." It's still not my favorite, but this is an album I would listen to again (despite it having strong Kanye influences). 3 stars.

Good songs, great lyrics and production. Kanye West clearly heavily involved.

Cool.

Overall the album pretty good with enjoyable beats. Faithful and They Say are the best songs on the album. 3.5/5 Stars

3.6 - Original, good and would listen again

Another enjoyable hip hop album. More smooth than others of the genre, both in the music and raps which have a warmth of subject line relationships, family etc... a nice mature soulful sound. Half way through and enjoying the generally positive message. Then comes Chi city which has what I perceive as more traditional rap theme's...life on the streets, police conflict, etc. Still a pretty smooth sound to the music. 3.75 🌟

Ihan letkeet biitit. Lyriikat jäi kuuntelematta joten hovissa saattaisi tuomio vielä muuttua....

Hyvällä maulla varustettu laadukas ja tyylikäs rap-albumi, mut motään ihmeellistä tunnetta ei saanut aikaan

Common on the mic and Kanye West on production is a powerful thing. This is on display throughout the entire album, but The Food is where it really shines, especially where it's a live performance with so much energy. The whole album is a spectacular showing of rap excellence at this time. Common has great lyrics and flow, and Kanye has great beats from early in his career. Majestic.

Неплохо

No frame of reference going into this one. Which is refreshing. There probably isn't a popular American genre of music that I have less experience with than hip hop/rap. I've been listening to most of these records on days that I have time to listen while working (outside of meetings). Not sure it's a good way to pick up all the things happening here. Since the lyrics are everything. All I'm left with are the samples and rhythm. Still, those aspects of this sound great. I liked this more than I thought I could. I just don't feel qualified to evaluate this. But I enjoyed the record so I'm giving it 3/5. Just above average among the other records on the list. Highlight: GO! This had to be a single, right?

Ironically, Common is not common at all. In fact, he’s uncommon - a special breed of rapper/poet unlike most others. Maybe that’s what he was going for? Seriously though. This is a great rap album. One of my favorite. It’s also nice (and a little weird) to hear Kanye before he was crazy - or before we all knew for sure he was crazy.

not for me, can't relate

THIS CAT RAPS AS SMOOTH AS A PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICH.

Damn amazing album. Common has always been on point, but Kanye's participation reminds me of what made him so great.

Common's sixth album that happened to be produced by Kanye West. It's a hip hop album from the mid 2000's that charted really well. The beats and lyrics are both well produced, so they come together to make a well rounded album. I enjoyed listening to it, but I probably wouldn't seek out this album again.

Fine. It's Your World is a defonitive highlight of the album. The rest ranges from meh to fine.

Gotta love an opening with a double bass solo!

Really enjoyed the intro, “Be” and “Faithful” Didn’t expect the beat to be so swaying to the point where I am melting on the floor.

Meh. "The Food" was the only song I liked on this album.

in terms of prominent early 2000s hip hop i think it's pretty average. some of the tracks were dope and the whole "be" theme was kinda neat. i thought a lot of the word play was tacky. beats were tight enough.

Common over some Kanye and J. Dilla beats, it couldn't be bad honestly. I think it's a very stand out album, but it isn't super my speed. The whole Sort of R&b mixed with gospel sound is cool, but it isn't my taste. This isn't my first time listening to this one, I've heard it in the past. The experience more or less stayed the same. It's good, but it isn't something that is going to get put into the weekly rotation.

Started off so we'll, but dived a bit after that and as someone who identifies as a white male some of theyrical content got a bit awkward.

TWIST HIS DICK!

They don't make hip hop albums like this any more because a) Kanye finds it impossible to just let his productions do the talking and b) hip hop has subsequently discovered fucking auto-tune. I absolutely love this album but I do find Common's delivery dull at times compared to his '90s peak. Imagine how incredible Resurrection era Common over Kanye/Dilla beats would have been, sigh.

Классные биты. Love Is кайфовый ванильный рэп.

.

No.

Not bad

can here the kanye influence but not as good as kanye

Good, need to listen again

GOOD shit.

nigga this, nigga that...no thanks.

Similar to the last Common album in this generator, his storytelling is amazing. I enjoyed this album more than Like Water For Chocolate - it feels more refined. Really enjoyed this, will be listening to more Common in the future.

Enjoyed it but didn't stand out so much

15. a marginal ficou mais escura desde que de lá saímos. às palpitações sobrepõem-se pontadas. há alguém por cima de nós. alguém que nos guarda e fará o sol despontar entre as palmeiras. a qualquer instante, vais ver. já faltou mais. MotA: GO! "I wanna be as free as the spirits of those who left / I'​m talking Malcolm, Coltrane, my man Yusef"

Awesome rap album, not just about coming up, deep and has an array of nice sounding tracks

Straight fire, rhymes, message, music, production this is real hip hop

1 1/2

Fantastic.

Very tight, solid, jazzy hip-hop album that hits the spot very well but doesn't do anything particularly special. Definitely worth checking out if you just wanna chill to some 90s/early 2000s style hip-hop.

Not my genre but I can tell this is the good shit

1. slow start, but powaful finish, good stuff. 2. siiick 3. very catchy lmao, GO GO GO GO 4. oof, great lyrics & sampling 5. damn, another dope track, that sample ahhh 6. slaps 7. SLAPS 8. woahh live? FIIIRE, him & kanye goin off 9. shiiiet, another banger. lyrics man 10. intro was enough to make this a fave hah 11. i wanna be a duck. anyway, deep track overall thoughts: on first listen, i'd give it a 4/5. lots of good tracks to come back to, and maybe like 2 that are meh. not a bad track on here tho. has really great writing and sampling.

Nodded the whole time.

Excellent

Pretty good

Be is pretty much the definitive 2000’s hip hop album

beautiful hip-hop album, some hints of a classic 70s soul sound, love the overall sound. favorite tracks: faithful, the food,

The producer really knows how to make soul beats.

Solid hip-hop album. Feels like I'm watching Chappelle's show :) Very 2000's

Seems very well-made, but thematically didn't love chunks of it. I liked "The Corner".

I am not a huge rap fan. Overall had good beats, but it all ran together to me.

Easy to listen to. Addictive beats. Classic.

Not my type but ok to have in background

First time listening: 8/11 sings liked Very conscious album. It's no wonder Common is a "common" name in hip hop, pun intended. While I do like them for their lyrical content, I'm a beat lover first. Some of these bits can feel stale real fast. Not the best of Kanye production FOR SURE. 4 songs saved

Very cool rap album. Fun guest appearances by Kanye. Has a Chappelle Show track, which is always a good time.

Blah

Very well produced. Certainly a instant classic that shaped and defined a era.

Loved it. Didn't know Kanye would be on the album so heavily so it was a welcome surprise.

I haven't listened to a full Common album before, and this is not bad with a lot of soulful and funky beats and interesting topics. However, the slam poetry-esque delivery on many of the tracks is not very pleasing to me, and as a result I liked this much less than other tracks I've heard. Favorite Track: The Corner

I love Common, but really this is a Kanye album starring Common. And that's still ok. The production definitely benefits, but it's a trade off lyrically and wears on the concept as the album goes on. The Corner is an all-timer and Be is also fire. The rest of the album is really good but can't quite give it a 5.

I can vibe with this. I didn't get to listen to the lyrics a whole lot cuz of work, but the instrumentals were nice. I give it a 4.

I was excited about this. Had it on in the background on a couple of occasions so didn’t give it its full deserved listen but I enjoyed what I heard. Though his rapping didn’t get me up off my seat at any point if ya know what I mean.

another example of my need for half ratings. I liked this better than 2Pac's yesterday, but not enough for a 4... Definitely like the more musical tone that parts of this has.

Had this album on and it really passed me by, while it was easy on the ear really nothing stood out. A bit bland.

Not really a rap fun but cool beats

This album is smooth as hell.

It’s fine, it didn’t dislike it but it just really forgettable. The Kanye verses are probably the highlights and sadly there aren’t enough of them. There wasn’t single outstanding track. I mean, where are the hooks?

Eclectic in topic choices & theme. Yet contiguous in overall emotional impact.

Good tunes and enjoyable. Will check out his other stuff.

Listened to this twice through, and both times it became good and enjoyable background music. The element that pushes it over the top, and potentially justifies its place here are those J-Dilla beats, chopped up, bouncy, flowing like water following the natural lines of the earth. The whole thing feels very well constructed and probably warrants further attentive listening.

Very good album!

Very nice and chill album. Kinda feels like old school rap, but with a modern touch to it. Guy looks like black Binging with Babish.

-Good old fashion rap -Cool jazzy beats -Holds up

not bad but not really my style

I used to think of Common as the noughties rap Dementor, sucking the joy out of whatever song he popped up on, sounding like another rapper's dad come to the the studio to balance the bragging and naughtiness. I appreciate him more now, though I was kind of right. He is dad-ish--temperate, reasonable, calm--but not overbearing. Worst of all to bratty kids, he's genuinely open and empathetic towards people who aren't the same as him, i.e. he never pretends the street life his raps explicate was his own, just wants to understand and communicate it. So not a rap Dementor but a do gooder doing good for anyone not dumb enough to not want good done to them. Plus he's got poetry (more than that last sentence) and some pacified Kanye beats to boot.

Kanye features were solid, definitely a mid 2000s funk type album, bit includes a few solid verses and beats.

El álbum de hiphop que más me ha gustado hasta el momento.

Rapero y actor. Yo lo conocía por lo segundo, nunca por lo primero. El álbum está chulo, aunque sigue sin ser el rap americano mi fuerte.

If Marvin Gaye's What's Going On was a hip-hop album. It's a great combo of hip-hop and soul music

bueno

Liked this album more than I expected. Funny how dates the rap seems.

Summerfeeling im Intro

RAP CRAP - awful

Tunes. Lyrics. Flow.

so-so

First time listening to Common, totally passed by this phase of rap/hip-hop so a great introduction. Will definitely listen to some tracks from this again.

Not my style

It’s fine, it didn’t dislike it but it just really forgettable. The Kanye verses are probably the highlights and sadly there aren’t enough of them. There wasn’t single outstanding track. I mean, where are the hooks?

Did not like... not my jive...

A competent album with some nice production. Nothing standout.

Kanyes touch on production has pushed this to a four - brilliant stuff with great beats, strong lyrics and rapping. Will explore more

Nope!

No

I like this a lot, but would need to be in the right mood. It has a nice chill vibe.

Cool hip hop album!

I'm crap at reviewing hip hop, so I'll just say this is especially good. Covered some good topics lyrically and it all feels very genuine and moving.

Like an early kanye album, have loved the album for years

Kyle met Common. He was dope. I thought this album was dope. Hi everyone!

I like common

A couple of catchy rap tracks.

Voor dit soort muziek die mij eigenlijk nooit echt kan raken, was het goed te pruimen.

Hoewel ik wel iets met rap heb, kan ik hier niet zoveel mee. Iets te weinig smoel ofzo.

Best een paar aardige nummers, en muziekaal best ok. Maar toch is dit niet iets waar ik echt warm voor kan lopen.

In z'n soort best te pruimen.

The intro made me thing I was listening to an old 64 bit game soundtrack for a second. IT's catchy but hard for me to concentrate on the words while working. It's not bad but just not my thing. I am very picky about what kind of HipHop i like. Testify is kind of catchy with that hook

Meh

Easy to listen to. Nice rhythm and sound.

Pretty smooth album. Love the rhythm and bass intro and soul sampling and the hopeful messaging. I will definitely listen to more.

Advisory warning made me skip many of the songs.

Great tunes, amazing production from a Kanye in his prime.

Good

Cool album with good rapping but nothing too outstanding. 7-8

Loved it. 9

I’ve always thought of common as kind of corny but this is so smooth and soulful, he has one of the best voices for hip-hop ever and I’m so glad I listened to this. More hip hop albums should be 43 minutes long

No lo conocía, no está mal

8. Solid album

Rap con buena mediodía. Soft bueno para cualquier momento

4.5

Nice warm Beats String Old school Attitude Still mit my cup

Schöner warmer Conscious-HipHop aus einer vielleicht besseren und für eine hoffentlich wirklich besseren Zeit.

Ah, here we go. I love this album. I had seen it on posters and at stores for years and never listened until last year when I was catching up on hip-hop. This is an incredible album and I love every song on it. Kanye and John Mayer and a few other guests make this extra special and I love the beats. I think Kanye produced this album too which would explain a lot. The album cover makes it seem like it's a gospel album and in a way, this is the good news.

Muito boooom, adorei! Será que eu gosto de hip-hop e rap mesmo??

Nice, Tamy says it's very important

Good but Common’s delivery is corny and some of the beats sound a little canned. Still a classic and well-produced rap album. 8

Cool beats. Need to listen again, focus on lyrics.

Really liked it! Rap with some jazz and r&b influence.

Perfect.

Very good flow/lyrical content coupled with some timeless beats

great album, Kanye could not miss the mark back then. 5 stars

“The sweet taste of victory. Go ‘head, breathe it in like antihistamines.” I can’t tell you how excited I was to see this pop up. This is one of my favorite hip hop albums of all time, at least top five. It’s beautiful, it’s perfect. Produced almost entirely by Kanye West, save for two tracks produced by the late J Dilla. Features from Kanye, John Legend, and John Mayer—a galaxy of rising stars all together for this moment. Every track is immaculately produced, and Common makes a case for why he belongs in the pantheon of greats. “You love to hear the story, again and again, about these young brothers from the City of Wind.” It’s maybe the most organic hip hop album in existence. Hip hop almost seems like a misnomer, it’s pure poetry. The intro track is one of the best openers of any album ever. “I wanna be as free as the spirits of those who’ve left.” No matter how many times I hear it, the closing track always makes me cry. “Be amended....five fifths.” I would fight anyone for this album. I’d give this to the aliens. “I wish I could give you this feeling.” I’ll stop gushing but man, this is enough to make every two or three-star album worth it. Time to put the vinyl on and fall in love with it all over again. Favorite tracks: Be (Intro), The Corner, GO!, Faithful, Love is..., Chi City, The Food, They Say, It’s Your World. Album art: Iconic. Incredibly simple photo, but the contrast and colors immortalized this for me. I’m obviously biased, but this cover is imprinted in my DNA. 5/5

Great production

Buenos sampleos, bien hecho pero nomás no.

Really enjoyed this, despite not generally listening to hip-hop/rap. Felt like a chill summer day in the 90s/00s. Words like smooth, chill, groove, soulful etc come to mind. Favourite song is The Corner. Makes me wanna go discover more hip hop.

Cooler Old-School-Vibe, aber nicht so mein Ding, zu Gangsta und zu FTP.

It was okay

first time listening to the full album. i LOVE it.

Really liked this album. Have any listens to Common in a long ass time. That was a mistake.

Common

Solid album

An absolute hip hop classic. Common and Kanye simply made magic on this album.

I thought this was excellent, I would like to come back to this one.

I knew I was going to love this album just based off the first bass-line. The introduction of the synths and strings hit like a truck, and the lyricism right out of the gate showed that this was going to be a mind-blowing experience. I love how this album has classic Kanye all over it, it gives me so much joy to hear that unique production style, given that I haven't heard this album before, I feel like this is the closest I can get to what a Kanye "revival" would feel like. I know it's cliche, but I do miss the old Kanye. Common's voice is so commanding on each song, his flow is like syrup, slow and heavy but it packs a punch. The story telling and poetry on this album is astounding. I love so much about this album and it makes me reminiscent of a by-gone era in hip-hop, probably one of the best ones in terms of mixing intelligent lyrics with catchy and bombastic production.

Decent beats on a hip hop album. Felt like a slower more raw kanye album

I've never really listened to Common before, though I've seen plenty of his movies :). I really like this album.

I’m 100% not the intended audience for this album. I’ve never really been a fan of rap but I can appreciate when it’s good. I feel bad giving it such a low rating. I like the background to the lyrics and can understand the rhymes which quite often I can’t in most rnb. I felt like it was thought provoking. Favourite track was testify. Just not my style of music

Can't get enough of this one

La rola uno empieza con un 5, y a partir de las segunda el disco es de cartón. Qué pena. Todo mal hasta la segunda parte de la última canción, que lo que dice está chido pero no le alcanza para más de un 1.5

Rap usually isn't for me. I have a difficult time relating to the lyrics, my experience typically doesn't match with theirs. I end up judging rap by the how the music and vocals combine. This was a pretty good album. I have heard of Common, but never listened.

En efecto comenzó bien solo para rápidamente irse en picada. --...____

Wow. This was unexpected - I've never heard of Common before, but his style is square in that intelligent lyrical/spiritual/social questioning style that really does it for me. Sounds east coast style, but Chicago in origin. Really enjoying this. Going to listen a 2nd time and then branch out to his other albums. This will be going into the liked songs for future rotation.

1.5

Underrated

Ok. Hip hop, similar to Jazzmatazz in some ways

Inspirational--especially given the times now (Jan 2021).

I liked Kanye's production, but was pretty meh on the songs themselves.

This... was not as bad as I expected... it even has melody. I might look into rap more.

The lyric flow and DJ work are very evidently first rate but I didn't give this close enough attention. Very shallow in the genre, I'll need to revisit this.

Didn't do anything for me.

My favorite track might be "The Food" live from Chappelle's Show even though the fidelity is lower.

great hip hop album

Not bad. Apparently a big switch back to his "roots" after he previous album dabbled in other genres. I think I am more curious on that one! I like the samples on this, the drums especially.

First time hearing of this artist. Not my jam. I listened to the entire album.

What an absolute jam! Creative, varied, passionate, and original--definitely one of the better rap albums I've heard. And to have Kanye and John Legend in there? Awesome!

Every track is masterful, beats fantastic. One of my favorites.

Classic early 2000s Chicago productions, poignant messages

Good r&b album. I like the beat.

rap um pouco melhor... primeira faixa é razoavel, mas a maioria é tosca.

Ich müsste mir wohl die Texte genau durchlesen, um wirklich urteilen zu können. Musikalisch macht es Spaß. The last poets waren gesampled, und die haben direkt eine sehr starke Präsenz in ihren Texten.

Solid album. Testify was my favorite skit song.

Fantastic hip hop record with Kanye in the back.... what more do I need to say?

This was awesome, great music, great rap. Liked the Kanye parts too

4.2

Common's real good but I can't see myself listening to this frequently. That being said, it's well made, definitely enjoyed.

First few tracks are great. Faithful was annoying as chipmunks were singing. Best track is The Food. Lots of good stuff here. Not really my normal sound but high 3.5

I actually like Common's varied works, but a couple songs on here that are impossible to listen to (Testify) ruined the experience of a whole album. The highs simply don't outweigh the lows.

Great album, and worth multiple listens. The beats are great and Common is out in full force on this one.

I'll admit-- I've never listened to Common. But, man, am I glad I did. Soulful, direct, this collab with Kanye is truly symphonic.

Dope Record, Great flow and beats

Eh...

not my usual, but very engaging

Love this shit. It makes me love Chicago rap even more. Common talks about real shit as cringy as that sounds, and features Kanye all over the album, notching it higher in my book. Bars are smooth as hell, beats are the same. Be, Chi-City and They Say are the best songs. There is probably heavy bias here because of how much I love this kind of music, but fuck it it's my rating, 8/8, a hip hop classic.

Impressive accessible hip hop

Impeccable, peak production from Kanye West. Contains the track performed live by Common and Kanye on Chappelle's Show.

Meh. Alright, I suppose.

Bro. Fuckin perfection holy damn!! Mad I’m so late to the game but happy I finally got to hear !!

He so real about being soft af and I love him for it

Looks very strange, my mom asked my to pause the music cause is too dark

Really good beats and raps.

A hidden gem of an album, I’m not even a hip hop fan but this surprised me!

The intro is a classic

Was fine

really good low-swear Christian rap. Good stuff.

Faithful and Go and The Corner are the only songs yu need to know. cuz of the sampling obviousllyyytyyy

This is a solid album. Like, legitimately great. The only reason it didn't get a 5 is because there's a significant amount of batshitcrazy on display that detracts from the overall goodness. Also, as a point of personal preference, I'm not a fan of the overly R&B tracks. So, yeah. Great record docked a star because "it's me, not you."

Common and Ye in their primes. It doesn't get much better than this.

I really don't get rap, and I am completely aware of why. I'm a STEM guy, specifically a Ph.D. student in mathematics. Although my verbal intelligence is quite high, it's still about a standard deviation below my quantitative intelligence. Therefore, it should not be too surprising that I prefer melodies to lyricism, and that a genre based on the latter doesn't wow me. I know I'm pretty far out of step with public opinion on this one, but that can easily be attributed to the fact that hipsters with humanities degrees (i.e. extremely verbal-dominant people) are considered the ultimate arbiters of taste for some reason. (Side note: this also explains why prog rock is seen as being for losers.) Best song: Be (Intro), which had a decent instrumental part at the beginning. Everything else just sort of ran together.

Common is skilled, but a huge part of this album being as good as it is owes itself to Kanye's gorgeous production. Love the actual Chapelle's Show rip on "The Food". Album slows down from "Testify" to "Love Is...". Favorite tracks: "The Food", "Go!", "

I liked it, but it wasn't groundbreaking. A few songs stood out, though.

Classic kanys production, decent lyrics

2005. Key Songs: Be(Intro), They Say

Common with Kanye production. Classic soulful samples over hard hitting conscious lyrics about everyday Chicago tales. Can get a bit too positive for me at times but it’s all superbly done nonetheless. Standout Tracks: The Corner, Testify, Chi-City, They Say, It’s Your World

Great artist. 'Testify' got an amazing tune

Kind of boring - didn't really get it, like 99% of highly rated hip hop records.

Excellent production and lyrics that help bring about empathy

Rap / Hip-hop 2005

Not quite sure what this album is doing here. It’s generic and just cheesy!