Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Common (rap vocals); The Last Poets (spoken vocals); James Poyser (various instruments); Derrick Hodge (double bass); Num Amun-Tehu (percussion); A-Trak, DJ Dummy (turntables); John Legend, John Mayer , Kanye West, Lonnie Lynn, Bilal, Luna E (background vocals). | | Electric Circus cost and won Common some fans. It was very exploratory, especially so for a rap album released in 2002, containing developments -- some of which soared, some of which sank -- that few longtime followers could have foreseen. Listeners either felt Common was picking up fresh, new inspirations, or that he was just being distracted by a whole lot of ill-fitting nonsense. With Be, it seems the MC has realized that not every album that's sprawling and eclectic is as good as Electric Ladyland or Songs in the Key of Life. More notably, he might've been struck with the fact that a high percentage of excellent albums are around 40 minutes in length and are built on a unified sound. Be is highly concentrated, containing 11 songs and involving two producers and a small number of guests. It's a 180 degree turn from Electric Circus, and in a bizarre way it's both a progression and a back-to-basics move. Kanye West and Dilla are key to the album's steadiness, rooting the sound in '70s soul and soul-jazz. That's no shakeup, but the two producers deserve some form of award for stringing together a consistent sequence of productions that is never monotonous, dull, or all that flashy. Even lead single "The Corner," heard well before Be's release, falls into the fabric of the album on first listen, as if that were where it belonged all along. Lyrically, Common comes back down to Earth -- the narratives are sharp as ever, the gripes are more like observations than screeds, and the eccentricities need to be teased out rather than swatted away. Be isn't likely to be referred to by anyone as groundbreaking, but it's one of Common's best, and it's also one of the most tightly constructed albums of any form within recent memory. ~ Andy Kellman | | After fusing hip-hop, rock, and soul on 2002's THE ELECTRIC CIRCUS, Chicago rapper Common returned three years later with BE. Like its two-letter title, BE is much leaner, consisting of 11 pure hip-hop tracks marked by Common's enlightened, contemplative, easy-flowing lyrics. Although the album is more streamlined, it's not predictable or unoriginal, as the beats unfold with the same combination of rawness and melodic energy that made Kanye West's debut so uncommonly engaging. This is no coincidence--West is present throughout much of BE, producing all but two of the songs here. West even appears on one of the disc's highlights, "The Food," with some expert freestyle rhyming as captured live on CHAPPELLE'S SHOW. | | Common's confident, yet constantly searching, demeanor and his poetic instinct for just the right words bonds him to the heritage of hip-hop, a point hit home by the presence of rap legends the Last Poets on "The Corner." Common is always slightly and endearingly unsure, and his self-deprecation seeps out on "Love Is..." and "Faithful." However, he has the inner power to garner attention, as evident on the smooth party jam "GO!" (featuring John Mayer). BE is Common at his unaffected, commanding best. |
Producer: Kanye West; DILLA; James Poyser |
Musical Guests | | The Last Poets | | John Legend | | Kanye West | | Bilal | | John Mayer |
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| Rolling Stone (No. 975, p.70)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "[H]is sixth and best disc....[Kanye] West is the producer Common has been waiting for all of his career: He makes Common both catchier and edgier at the same time..."Spin (p.63)
- Ranked #17 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2005" - "Bathed in throwback soul and lively drums, Common suddenly sounded like the seer he'd always hoped he was." Spin (p.102)
- "[With] '70s-soul string samples, store-front-church piano tinkling, chipmunk gospel vocal hooks....Common's remarkably hungry raps push it along." - Grade: A- Entertainment Weekly (No. 821/822, p.136)
- "[T]he marriage of [Common's] conscious rhymes to [Kanye] West's gritty, boho-inflected production boasts more organic freshness than a Whole Foods Market..." - Grade: A- Uncut (p.97)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "[The record] offers a rich jukebox of gospel-tinged R&B flavours over which Common scatters his gems." Mojo (Publisher)
(p.112)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "BE succeeds through its sense of focus and poignancy." |
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