1003. Common - Be (2005)

Track Listing

1. Be (Intro)
2. The Corner
3. Go!
4. Faithful
5. Testify
6. Love Is...
7. Chi City
8. The Food
9. Real People
10. They Say...
11. It's Your World
12. So Cool

Review

A quite good hip-hop album that starts really well and then becomes a bit boring all the way to the end. Another unworthy update to the list. Fortunately we'll be getting some good ones soon.

There is not much new here, it is quite similar to the previous Common album on the list, the lyrics are above average but musically it doesn't bring much new. The collaborations are, however, quite good, they instil the album with some much needed variety.

So another middle of the road hip-hop album, with the great great stuff being done in the 80s and 90s it seems that now only rarely can hip-hop albums excite me, with the exception of Outkast and Cee-lo Green very little of the 00s was really good in term of hip-hop. This isn't confrontational or beautiful enough to be great.

Track Highlights

1. Be
2. It's Your World
3. Go
4. Chi City

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Many of the beats created by West, and which Common rejected for the project, later appeared on West's studio album Late Registration.

Be: