At this point, we really have to consider Common as one of the great MCs of all time. Rankings aside, the guys has had an insanely fruitful career: twenty-three years, a bunch of acting stints, and let's not forget the ten albums (a few of which, at least, are classics).
It all started in 1992 with Can I Borrow A Dollar? The Chicago MC enlisted an unknown No I.D. to produce the 13-track LP, and it's definitely considered a classic.
In the early 2000s, Common reached a higher level of success by working with the Soulquarians, a collective of musicians including J Dilla, Questlove, Erykah Badu, Q-Tip, and many more. The soulful hip-hop group helped to create some of his best material.
And he's still going. Last year's Nobody's Smiling was a solid addition to his discography, and proof that he can still rock the mic. However, today we aren't going to focus on the 2014 LP, instead channeling in on the material that's a little older. Throw it back to Common's classics.
Common - Take It EZ
"Take It EZ" is the first single off the first album Can I Borrow A Dollar? The sound is so '93 as Common works around a sound similar to A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul.
Common - I Used To Love H.E.R.
Common created a jazzy rap classic with "I Used To Love H.E.R.," an ode to hip-hop.
"I might've failed to mention that this chick was creative
Once the man got to her, he altered her native
Told her if she got an image and a gimmick
That she could make money, and she did it like a dummy
Now I see her in commercials, she's universal
She used to only swing it with the inner-city circle
Now she be in the burbs, looking rock and dressin' hippie
And on some dumb shit, when she comes to the city
Talking about popping Glocks serving rocks and hittin' switches
Now she's a gangsta rolling with gangsta bitches"
Common ft Erykah Badu - All Night Long
Enlisting Erykah Badu on the One Day It'll All Make Sense single, Common created another jazzy cut that would double as one of the first time he worked with The Roots, who produced the track amongst mostly No I.D. production.
Common - The Light
What can we say about "The Light"? It's a perfect, classic hip-hop track. From the chorus to the verses to the sample to the message, Common really unleashed a beautiful beast with "The Light."
Common - The 6th Sense
The first single off Common and J Dilla's collaborative album, Like Water For Chocolate, was everything you could ever expect. It remains a classic 15 years later as he drops this kind of knowledge:
"Somedays I take the L to gel with the real world
Got on at 87th, sat by this little girl
She recited raps, I forgot where they was from
In 'em, she was saying how she made brothers cum
I start thinking, how many souls hip-hop has affected
How many dead folks this art resurrected
How many nations this culture connected
Who am I to judge one's perspective?
Though some of that shit y'all pop true it, I ain't relating
If I don't like it, I don't like it, that don't mean that I'm hating
I just want to innovate and stimulate minds
Travel the world and penetrate the times
Escape through rhythms in search of peace and wisdom
Raps are smoke signals letting the streets know I'm with 'em
For now I appreciate this moment in time
Ball players and actors be knowing my rhymes, it's like"
Common ft Mary J. Blige - Come Close
"Come Close" could be the best love song that hip-hop has ever produced. Complete with a tear-jerking music video, this one is straight up beautiful.
"I'm gettin' tired of the fast lane/I want you to have my last name."
Common - Go!
Be was Common and Kanye's masterpiece. Amongst the 11 tracks we would call classics is "Go!," the John Mayer-assisted single that is every bit as catchy as it is chill and musical.
Common - The Corner
With a beat that'll break your neck, Common takes you on a lyrical journey around the Chicago corners that raised him. The cut has no shortage of classic lines...
"Got cousins with flows, hope they open some doors
So we can cop clothes and roll in a Rolls
Now I roll in a Olds, with windows that don’t roll
Down the roads where cars get broken and stole
These are the stories told by Stony and Cottage Grove
The world is cold, the block is hot as a stove"
Common - I Want You
Be worked out so well that Common and Kanye decided to do it again on Finding Forever. "I Want You" was a sexy, dancy cut where Common spits words that appeal equally to men and women.
Common ft D'Angelo - So Far To Go
This one never became a proper single, and we're not really sure why. Common and D'Angelo over J Dilla production sounds like a match made in heaven -- and it is! "So Far To Go" is absolutely a classic.
