Common "Be"
I had heard some good things about Common aka Common Sense and on my latest CD-spending spree, grabbed a copy of his album, Be. I found much of what he said to be thought-provoking so I’ll lay it all out there and hopefully generate a bit of discussion. I know my tastes usually lean toward “rock,� as has much of what has been reviewed here, but let’s take a look at a rap/r&b look through the eyes of this Chicago rapper.
Opening with the title track, Common raps that “I want to be as free as the spirits of those who left/I’m talking Malcolm, Coltrane, my man Yusef/Through death, through conception,/New breath and resurrection.� Wow, not a bad socio-religious start: inferring political and religious heroes, with art and creativity thrown in, Common is looking at the big picture. He continues with a desire to see the Lord rise, recognizing truth in the eyes of his child. His religious leanings are broad: he quotes Matthew 21:21 in the notes and closes out this album’s thoughts in the name of Jesus, Allah and the ancestors. So we know he’s steeped in socio-pluralistic religion but isn’t nailing himself down yet. Still, by the end of the title track, he wants the world to know he’s exploring the present for what it’s worth, and pushing aside any worries about the future.
With the help of Kanye West and the Last Poets, Common tells the story of “the Corner,� where as a city kid he grew up, knowing that the only way to get by was “on the corners, robbing, killing, dying/just to make a living.� This is a city apologetic from Common’s point of view, as the details of the street life drove them to “write songs about wrong cause it’s hard to see right/Look to the sky hoping it will bleed light.� This troublesome background could have been a final testament, but these men rap to show how the corner represented freedom, peace and politics that they now exhibit. There’s a dichotomy here between what they say the city represents and what they say they experienced there—it’s a dichotomy that will continue throughout the album.
“Go� is too explicit for my tastes but it’s explicitness is especially confusing in light of the following “Faithful� with John Legend and Bilal. Common raps “What if God was a her?/Would I treat her the same?/Would I still be runnin’ game on her?/In what type of way would I want her?/Would I want her for her mind or her heavenly body?� Interesting thoughts, definitely in light of any reading of Matthew 25’s proclamation by Jesus that “if you have done it to any of the least of these, you have done it to me.� Common may be on to something, but where does the previous song’s explicit and manipulative nature or the following (“Testify�) fit into that theology?
Common’s rap “Love Is� with Luna seems to speak to that discrepancy by remarking that love is beautiful but hard to see on the streets, where young men aren’t encouraged to love freely. Now, as an older man, Common raps, “If love is a place I’ma go again/At least now, now I know to go within/At times it can take you for a spin.� Here, his experience has softened him—as one who has seen a friend lying in a coffin dead may reflect on what is really important about life.
Getting back to more specific religious references, “Chi City� claims to rap with the passion of Christ without pushing a theological message that hurts others. “Real People� blends the city-kid upbringing with the religious theme: “Whatchu expect from one who smoke a joint with his mother/Anointed hustles in a fatherless religion/Through the pain wish they know that God was just teachin’/We want decent homes.� When confronted with breaking the law, Common raps back to the cops that they’re the “children of a better God searchin’ for better jobs.� So Common wants everyone to know God loves them—but pushing your own agenda to better yourself is okay? What happens when you end up on the short end of someone else’s free will? Common claims that some relate his life to Christ’s in “They Say,� because he’s sacrificed and been resurrected twice. Wow, definitely not short on confidence here, we’re using our artistic license well.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some good messages mixed throughout the album and “It’s Your World� certainly closes on a positive note. It’s a testimony to mistakes and to persevering, pushing positive achievements of some as reason for hope. Common raps that listeners should “be invited, be long-living, be forgiving, be not forgetful…be peaceful if possible, but justice always.� Urging others to be positive and filled with love, he later adds, “Be loved by God as God loved Gandhi and Martin Luther King/Be the last one of the 144,000, be the resident of that twelfth house/Be…eternal!� Common’s numerical allusion there can be taken a few ways but the main encouragement lies in the peaceful role models that he presents here.
Like it or not, Common’s raps are pleasing to the ears and there is plenty of message to unpack. It won’t work for everybody—and may vary from song to song, but this socially conscious rapper is on his way.
Opening with the title track, Common raps that “I want to be as free as the spirits of those who left/I’m talking Malcolm, Coltrane, my man Yusef/Through death, through conception,/New breath and resurrection.� Wow, not a bad socio-religious start: inferring political and religious heroes, with art and creativity thrown in, Common is looking at the big picture. He continues with a desire to see the Lord rise, recognizing truth in the eyes of his child. His religious leanings are broad: he quotes Matthew 21:21 in the notes and closes out this album’s thoughts in the name of Jesus, Allah and the ancestors. So we know he’s steeped in socio-pluralistic religion but isn’t nailing himself down yet. Still, by the end of the title track, he wants the world to know he’s exploring the present for what it’s worth, and pushing aside any worries about the future.
With the help of Kanye West and the Last Poets, Common tells the story of “the Corner,� where as a city kid he grew up, knowing that the only way to get by was “on the corners, robbing, killing, dying/just to make a living.� This is a city apologetic from Common’s point of view, as the details of the street life drove them to “write songs about wrong cause it’s hard to see right/Look to the sky hoping it will bleed light.� This troublesome background could have been a final testament, but these men rap to show how the corner represented freedom, peace and politics that they now exhibit. There’s a dichotomy here between what they say the city represents and what they say they experienced there—it’s a dichotomy that will continue throughout the album.
“Go� is too explicit for my tastes but it’s explicitness is especially confusing in light of the following “Faithful� with John Legend and Bilal. Common raps “What if God was a her?/Would I treat her the same?/Would I still be runnin’ game on her?/In what type of way would I want her?/Would I want her for her mind or her heavenly body?� Interesting thoughts, definitely in light of any reading of Matthew 25’s proclamation by Jesus that “if you have done it to any of the least of these, you have done it to me.� Common may be on to something, but where does the previous song’s explicit and manipulative nature or the following (“Testify�) fit into that theology?
Common’s rap “Love Is� with Luna seems to speak to that discrepancy by remarking that love is beautiful but hard to see on the streets, where young men aren’t encouraged to love freely. Now, as an older man, Common raps, “If love is a place I’ma go again/At least now, now I know to go within/At times it can take you for a spin.� Here, his experience has softened him—as one who has seen a friend lying in a coffin dead may reflect on what is really important about life.
Getting back to more specific religious references, “Chi City� claims to rap with the passion of Christ without pushing a theological message that hurts others. “Real People� blends the city-kid upbringing with the religious theme: “Whatchu expect from one who smoke a joint with his mother/Anointed hustles in a fatherless religion/Through the pain wish they know that God was just teachin’/We want decent homes.� When confronted with breaking the law, Common raps back to the cops that they’re the “children of a better God searchin’ for better jobs.� So Common wants everyone to know God loves them—but pushing your own agenda to better yourself is okay? What happens when you end up on the short end of someone else’s free will? Common claims that some relate his life to Christ’s in “They Say,� because he’s sacrificed and been resurrected twice. Wow, definitely not short on confidence here, we’re using our artistic license well.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some good messages mixed throughout the album and “It’s Your World� certainly closes on a positive note. It’s a testimony to mistakes and to persevering, pushing positive achievements of some as reason for hope. Common raps that listeners should “be invited, be long-living, be forgiving, be not forgetful…be peaceful if possible, but justice always.� Urging others to be positive and filled with love, he later adds, “Be loved by God as God loved Gandhi and Martin Luther King/Be the last one of the 144,000, be the resident of that twelfth house/Be…eternal!� Common’s numerical allusion there can be taken a few ways but the main encouragement lies in the peaceful role models that he presents here.
Like it or not, Common’s raps are pleasing to the ears and there is plenty of message to unpack. It won’t work for everybody—and may vary from song to song, but this socially conscious rapper is on his way.
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