Common Sense - Resurrection

Following the release of his promising yet problematic debut album, Relativity Records surprisingly commissioned a follow-up album for the man once known as Common Sense, which happened despite the complete lack of any success the first record had experienced. Com, unhappy with the way that his first record had flew over the heads of every consumer like an Airbus A380, decided that, for his next LP, he would have to, much to the pleasure of the listener, lose the misogyny and that random squeaky voice, and reinvent himself as a so-called "conscious rapper". Common probably didn't know at the time that he would later become the poster boy for this sub-genre, but then again he still didn't know much - not even the fact that he had accidentally stolen his name from a Californian Reggae Band (although, in all fairness, literally no-one knew that). He titled the album Resurrection, which, in his own words, was because he "felt like (he) was being born again to people who weren't familiar with (him). (He) felt like (he) was coming up from the dead, the dead of not being heard". Interesting fact: I do not own a normal CD of this album, but rather the Shop Get On Down box set put out in 2010 (which obviously has the CD inside). The booklet of that is where I got that quote from.

Resurrection is widely regarded to be the first of three classics that Common released over the years (the other two of which we will inevitably get to later). Unlike the last album, which was, production-wise, largely split evenly between producers No I.D. (who was, on that album, known as Immenslope), Twilite Tone and some other guy called "2pc D.R.K.", this project was almost entirely done by No I.D., with small amounts of input from Twilite Tone. Similar to the last release, however, guest spots are kept to a minimum, something that we wouldn't see again for a while in Lonnie's catalogue, so appreciate it while you can. This project is most known for spawning the classic single "I Used To Love H.E.R.", a track where Common uses a woman as a metaphor for the ever-changing state of hip-hop. This song was released much to the dismay of Ice Cube, which led to the first of two high-profile beefs that Common became involved in (the other being with, in a strange turn of events, a mister Aubrey Drake Graham). But that's a story for another day. 

This is an unquestionable hip-hop classic for most people, but in a year as stacked as 1994, does it hold up? Let's take a peek.

All songs are produced by No I.D., except where noted.

1. Resurrection

The title track, and second single, and it's a dope one. The piano beat (which, if you read my last review, you'll remember I compared to the beat on Nas' "The World Is Yours") is quite wonderful, with the scratching working into the beat very well - who says DJ Premier is the only man who can scratch and produce? This beat actually sounds quite similar to the opener on the last album, "A Penny For My Thoughts", only this one feels slightly more innocent than that one (I don't know why, it just does). Common Sense, meanwhile, drops a mix of thoughtful and braggy bars on this one, and the results are excellent. The rhyming on the first couple of bars is immediately impressive, and this trend continues throughout the track. Shame they changed the verses up for the video version and later remixes, but oh well - it just makes this original track that much more special.

2. I Used To Love H.E.R.

I feel that it was a strange decision to include the two singles as tracks 1 and 2, something that might have cause listeners to turn off immediately as this song runs out of the door. However, if they had any sense at all (see what I did there?), then they would stick around, as Common proves himself to be one of the greats of all time with this track. The beat is calming and easy-going, yet also with a slightly eerie tone about it, and the metaphor is arguably the best ever deployed in the history of rap. There are so many later tracks that have done something similar to this concept too (e.g. Pharoahe Monch's "Rape" and Tech N9ne's "Cursed"), and this just goes to show how much of an influence this song had over this genre. I'll stop singing its praises now, although the fact that Redman later sampled this on his track "Yesh Yesh Ya'll" must have been pretty gratifying for Common, given Red's clear influence on his early music. Undisputedly classic song right here.

3. Watermelon

Funny title, and it might surprise you to learn that this is not the last time that there is a song with fruit in the name on here. The simplistic beat on here is groovy, and Common appears to have just been having a bit of fun on this one, as the joy in his voice conveys. The line "if I was a Michelin I wouldn't tire" takes things a little far, but otherwise this is just a joyous and mindless song, which is all I can ask for really.

4. Book Of Life

Common seems to be going for a "fun-serious-fun-serious" pattern here, with this track being actually quite gloomy, as Common speaks from the perspective of someone who had chances at a good life, but simply couldn't be bothered to take them, instead just laying about at home. I try to be as proactive as possible, spending my time writing, drawing, cycling and generally being fairly productive, but when Common says "What makes it bad, I wasn't dealt that bad a hand, and I had a plan, but things didn't go through the way they were supposed to", that even makes an on-the-ball person like me feel guilty. Jesus, man, what the hell? This track actually cuts deep, and feels very real and not exaggerated - in other words, a brilliant track, and one of my favourite conscious songs EVER.

5. In My Own World (Check the Method) (feat. No I.D.)

After a short instrumental interlude that sounds like it should have been rapped on, but sadly wasn't, the first track with a feature kicks in, and thank God it's a lot better than whatever the hell these two were going for on their last rap collaboration, "Two Scoops Of Raisins" (STILL hate that song). This jazzy beat feels a lot more smooth than anything we've ever Common rhyme over before, and despite No I.D. not being a particularly great rapper (it's a good thing he normally sticks to producing), he still churns out a fairly serviceable verse. At this point in the album, Common will be the most relatable and most likeable person on Earth to you, so you're bound to enjoy his verse too. Great track.

6. Another Wasted Nite With...

Looks like Common has decided to succumb to putting skits on his albums. Ugh. But, hey, at least this is kinda funny, unlike most skits (looking at you, Reggie Noble).

7. Nuthin' To Do

Features a sample of Ol' Dirty Bastard's vocals on Wu-Tang Clan's "Protect Ya Neck", which shows Common was paying attention to the NY rap scene (were the Wu-Tang Clan that well known in 1994? I don't know). The beat features some horns, and is once again pretty jazzy, and the horn melody in the beat is actually really nice. The hook is a little dull though, and I'd say that if there was a bit more energy in the drums, this one would have more replay value for me. Still good though.

8. Communism

Over yet another very smooth instrumental, Common manages to spit one of his most technically impressive verses ever, which says a lot. His vocals sound very nice on this one too, and the fact that it is so short just makes it that much more impressive. Very good song.

9. WMOE

Another skit. Unlike the last one, this does not instill any joy in me whatsoever.

10. ThisIsMe

Common's 2007 greatest hits album was actually named after this song, and it wasn't even a single! Must have been pretty important to his career, and indeed-ereedo, it was. Point one: the jazzy beat is one of the best Common ever laid his vocals over - the melody and piano chords are incredible, and the drums keep a great energy going that a song like "Nuthin' To Do" was somehow missing. Point two: the KRS-One sample sounds incredible, and just places those goosebumps on your skin individually, man. It's that good. And point three: Common kills it. His verses are powerful, and explain just why he isn't going to succumb to what the norm was in rap (which is kind of what he was doing on a lot of his debut, so I guess this song almost disowns that project in a way). The lines "I ain't shoot nobody, I ain't shank nobody, I ain't kill nobody: it wasn't us, it was them!!" are hilarious and yet poignant at the same time, and this song is memorable as hell too. One of the best songs Common ever made.

11. Orange Pineapple Juice

When I first listened to this album, this song was somehow my favourite. I don't really know why, as it doesn't hold a candle to the last track or many songs before it. This track is really hilarious though, and brings back Common's sense of humour that he attempted to place a little more on the back burner for a lot of this LP. I also just really like the title - I feel I should reveal now that (Hot take!!!) pineapple juice is better than orange - just my opinion! Anyway, this was a dope song.

12. Chapter 13 (Rich Man Vs. Poor Man) (feat. The Late Show's YNot Never The Less) (prod. The Late Show's YNot Never The Less)

For those wondering, The Late Show's YNot Never The Less is just Twilite Tone's ridiculously stupid rap name, which means that the only featured rappers on here were the producers: in turn meaning only three people were needed to make this classic! (Well, yeah, you could say that about a few albums, but still). After "Orange Pineapple Juice" went out of the picture, I started to think this was my favourite on the album, and I could still argue that, although now I might lean towards "ThisIsMe" instead. The standout moment of this is Common's rather odd and slightly racist story that he tells during the third verse. Dissing white people is just something you'll have to get used to in Common's lyrics, but I don't know why he had to bring in the Chinese as well. For a "conscious rapper", Common was one hell of a racist, wasn't he? Anyway, this song is still really good, and that beat is brilliant. The weirdness of that story does take me out of the rest of the song, though.

13. Maintaining

Easily the least interesting song here, this track is merely OK, with Common apparently making up a song at a house party, with all his friends surrounding him and chipping in, which could explain why the lyrics are so unfocused. This could work as a street single, but on this album, it's very out of place, let's be honest.

14. Sum Shit I Wrote (prod. The Late Show's YNot Never The Less; why is this his name??)

Would be a pretty hilarious blog title, come to think of it, but also would be fairly unspecific about the topic. Apparently, Common wrote the first version of this song, and it was so bad that all of Common's yes-men sat him down, and told him very clearly that he wasn't supposed to write actual shit - that was just the title of the song. Common then re-wrote it into the track we get here, and it's not bad, although it does end the album on a bit of a low-energy note if I'm honest. "When I'm alone in my room sometimes I stare at the wall, and in the back of my mind I hear a wack-ass rhyme, and I catch Alz-rhymers, then forget it" is one of the stupidest things I've heard in a while, and my job is answering the phone to idiots at a Chinese takeaway (I'm only 16, get off my back!).

15. Pop's Rap

The first in a long line of outro speeches from Common's father (R.I.P.), which I'm sure most people hate, but I actually usually enjoy. They were better when he separated them into different track though, which he stopped doing once the very interesting Electric Circus dropped. This one reworks the instrumental from "ThisIsMe" into something a little more relaxed, and as such, it's one of the better Pop's Rap tracks.

Overall, Resurrection is, to put it simply, incredible. This is the fourth album I have reviewed from 1994 so far, and it definitely could stand as the best (although both Illmatic and Dare Iz a Darkside make strong cases for themselves too -I would stand this firmly above Tical though. Sorry, Wu stans!). The amount of improvement in rapping, production and general cohesion that this album makes compared to Can I Borrow a Dollar ? is quite incredible, and the amount of classic songs that appear on this LP is huge - I still don't really know what my favourite song is. The fact that this ain't even Common's best album just goes to show how incredibly consistent the man's catalogue is, and I honestly am very much looking forward to covering the next few projects in his discography. Resurrection is easily worth a listen. Despite a few weaker tracks and the odd skit, this stands as one of my favourite albums of the '90s, and is easily a classic album. This, then, is where the Lonnie Lynn discography really gets going.

Best Tracks: Resurrection, I Used To Love H.E.R., Book Of Life, Communism, ThisIsMe, Chapter 13 (Rich Man Vs. Poor Man)

Worst Tracks: Maintaining

You may also enjoy:

Common Sense - Can I Borrow A Dollar ?