Between the releases of his second album Resurrection and the third effort we'll be covering today, Lonnie Lynn Jr. went through what can only be described as an incredibly hectic period in his life. For starters, he became embroiled in a beef with West Coast legend Ice Cube over his track "I Used To Love H.E.R.", which admittedly resulted in him recording one of the classic disstracks in hip-hop history, "The Bitch In Yoo", but was no doubt draining nonetheless. Then, he inadvertently got his then-girlfriend pregnant, and went through the painful and long process of deciding whether or not to keep the child, a decision which would eventually be revealed on the project in discussion today. And, if all that wasn't enough, he was then sued by a bloody Californian Reggae outfit for accidentally swiping the group's stage name, resulting in the change from "Common Sense" to the "Common" that we all know and love today. 1995 and 1996 were pretty busy years for Com then, but thankfully, he was able to release all of his inner demons through the form of music, something he had proved to be quite good at on his excellent second album Resurrection.
Despite the album originally being slated for late 1996, it wasn't until late '97 when Common was able to finally release his third album through Relativity Records, the slyly titled One Day It'll All Make Sense, which contains a very subtle hint towards the change in his stage name - did you spot it? Having put out some reasonably successful and very well received singles in the shape of "Retrospect For Life" and "Reminding Me (Of Sef)", Common was probably expecting more recognition than ever to fall on his new album, especially what with the whole Ice Cube beef. Therefore, when it only hit no. 62 on the Billboard charts, he may have been a bit disappointed, but at least the album did end up in multiple magazine's "best albums of the year" lists (my Grandad actually has a couple of these particular magazines). And, judging by the tracklist, this thing was going to be an interesting listen. Whereas on his first two albums guest appearances had been kept to fellow underground MCs and his producers, on here, we get appearances from Lauryn Hill, already highly successful at this time thanks to Fugees' The Score, as well as Black Thought, Q-Tip, De La Soul and bloody Canibus of all people! Whoever thought Common and Canibus was a good match were probably blindly picked from a remote Pacific Island, but nonetheless, the pair came together anyway. Production-wise, the album was largely left to No I.D. once again, and this would be the last time that that would be the case until 2011's The Dreamer/The Believer album, so bear that in mind.
So, a promising line-up then, and the album proved to be a turning point in the career of Common, where he went from the jovial, fun-loving MC that we saw on his first two efforts to the conscious rapper and wise-man poet that he is renowned for being today. The project certainly had me excited to listen to, but would it deliver, and would Com be able to successfully capitalise on the various things he had been through over the past few years? It's time to find out.
1. Introspective (prod. No I.D.)
The album begins with a spoken word intro named after one of the very words that could be used to describe the man once known as Common Sense. Com actually comes across as quite innocent and vulnerable on here, with his stuttering and seemingly unprepared speech, quite an interesting and unique move, as most rappers would be eager to prove their strength and power on an intro. The music on here was nice too. One of the better rap album intros that I have heard in my time.
2. Invocation (prod. No I.D.)
Common brings the most poetic and thoughtful verse he had spit up to this point in his career, and No I.D. provides him with some beautiful jazzy production to back up the vocals. The pulsating sound that occurs before the beat drop (which happens twice!!) is also really, really nice. What an incredible opener. "Growing into my britches, out-growing the streets" - truer words were never spoken.
3. Real Nigga Quotes (prod. Dug Infinite)
Pretty interesting track, as Common effectively mocks the accepted idea of a "real nigga", which is odd, as there are similarly braggadocios tracks further into the tracklist that seem to hold no satire or irony whatsoever, making Common quite the hypocrite on here, wouldn't ya say? Anyway, this track is still great. Me, I like a good ol' bit of boasts-n-bullshit (as the hip-hop world has come to calling it) now-and-then, and when someone as usually humble as Common does it, it makes it that must more interesting, and he ain't half bad at the art either. Meanwhile, Dug Infinite provides some very hard, and yet still jazzy production, as well as a pretty catchy hook that also samples an element of Nas' "One Love" song. This track is nice, fellas.
4. Retrospect For Life (feat. Lauryn Hill) (prod. No I.D. & James Poyser, add-prod. Lauryn Hill)
5. Gettin' Down At the Amphitheatre (feat. De La Soul) (prod. No I.D.)
After a long but necessary phone call from Common's father closes out the last track, this song, while still being very long, serves as a sort of come down to let the tears induced by the wonderful previous song finish flowing out of your eyes. On this track, we have a pretty simple drum beat which only really builds up in the hook, and this leaves the MCs to flaunt their lyrical prowess, which they all do amicably, if not astonishingly. Opening the song with the words "booger bitches" was a rather strange idea, but still, I don't mind this one, don't mind it at all.
6. Food For Funk (prod. No I.D.)
Potentially the most aggressive song on this entire album, and one that doesn't really incorporate a "funky" feeling at all - this track could more be described as hardcore hip-hop, something Common failed to do as often as he should after the release of this album. Even though it can be slightly grating at times, this track is still nice, and Com's vocals come across almost as if they were written and recorded around the Resurrection era, and then had a new beat put on them, as he has more of an unsure flow here than on the previous few tracks. This can't be the case though, as he finds the time to diss Foxy Brown (and he excessive use of make-up) on this track, which was pretty funny, and also dates the track to 1996 or after. Overall, a good one, if not something you might've expected to find on this album.
7. G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition) (feat. Cee-Lo) (prod. No I.D. & Spike Rebel)
Going into the album, I was less than excited for this song, as the feature from Cee-Lo (a vocalist I've never been a great fan of - feel free to contradict me in the comments) along with the terribly pretentious title made the prospect of listening to this about as enjoyable as eating a bowl of blue cheese. So you can imagine my surprise when I found that this is actually one of the best tracks on here. Common's opening verse is pretty interesting, and his idea of accepting all religions to be believable is nice as well. Cee-Lo's hook isn't great, but we are subjected to a surprise rap verse from him, which is all the more surprising because it actually sounds good. Also, Cee-Lo effectively checking Common on his idea of the devil being white and God being black was good as well - I do hate the casual racism that you often see in rap music. This track is really good, guys, and interesting too.
8. My City (prod. Spike Rebel)
Five minutes of spoken word poetry by Malik Yusef, who was later signed to Kanye West's GOOD Music label, along with someone else... . Normally, I would despise these types of songs, but this one is really good, mainly due to the incredible jazz music in the background. We have gone about 7 or 8 minutes without hearing Common now though. I hope he isn't dead or nothing...
9. Hungry (prod. No I.D.)
Oh, never mind, he's back!! And for a short one verse track that's pretty good - nothing more, nothing less. The production from No I.D. is slightly intense, making this song far more aggressive sounding than most of this LP. The closing line is the best on here in my opinion - "what you should have known from day one, you will on day seven". Now that's a diss! Battle rapper Common is a good Common, but there are probably better modes for him to be in.
10. All Night Long (feat. Erykah Badu) (prod. The Roots)
11. Stolen Moments Pt. I (prod. No I.D.)
After a lengthy skit that admittedly sets up the next few tracks in a very good manner, Common raps one verse over some movie-style production that explains to the listener exactly what just happened in the preceding skit. Oh, you want me to explain it now? Fine then. So, Common had just been on tour, and when he came home, he found the door unlocked. He carefully stepped inside to find that the place had been robbed clean. The idea of the robber cooking Common's chicken breast in his own kitchen is pretty funny as well - who leaves a chicken breast in their fridge when they're away for a while anyway? Looks like the next few songs will be an interesting experience.
12. Stolen Moments Pt. II (feat. Black Thought (Tariq)) (prod. No I.D.)
Why they felt the need to list Black Thought by his stage name and real name is a mystery to me, but whatever. Thought only contributes repetitive intros and outros on here anyway (the "Frantic Situation" interpolation carried over from the last track, and then an interpolation of A Tribe Called Quest's "Sucka Nigga" in there as well), leaving Com to carry out his detective mission alone, trying to find out who it was that broke into his apartment. Common also sneaks in the billionth "fuck the police" sentiment in a rap song on here, with his final line "'cause telling the law, Joe, is worthless", a statement that was sadly quite true I imagine. The first one felt more cinematic, but this track is equally interesting, and builds on the story well.
13. 1'2 Many... (prod. Dug Infinite)
To my sincere confusion, Com takes a break from the steadily unfolding "Stolen Moments" narrative, in order to drop this reasonably basic but still fun track that I do enjoy listening to. I guess this track shows Common taking a break from the mystery, and getting back in the studio to clear his mind of the detective work he had been doing. This song falls with "Food For Funk" and "Hungry" under the "boasts-n-bullshit" category that this album has going, only this one sounds a lot more fun and innocent than those two, and I do like it. But can we get back to the story, dammitt?
14. Stolen Moments Pt. III (Intro/Outro: Q-Tip) (prod. No I.D.)
Even though Black Thought handled just an intro and outro too, he isn't credited as such on his appearance. Weird. Anyway, this track concludes the tale, as Common continues his search to find the criminal, and he actually finds him at the end as well, albeit with an ending that comes up on you with speed to match that of Tech N9ne's album output. This track contains the most innocent production of the trilogy, but it's still nice as hell, and the storyline is filled out with efficiency and professionalism. Nice work, Common.
15. Making A Name For Ourselves (feat. Canibus) (prod. No I.D.)
The aforementioned Canibus collaboration track, most famous for its terrible attempts at mathematics during the hook ("I'm your worst nightmare squared, that's double for niggas who ain't mathematically aware"). This song bangs despite this, though. Even though Common's soft vocals mixed with Canibus' raspy shouting would seem to be like blending strawberry yoghurt with barbecue spare ribs, the combo actually works as well as jam on a digestive, which is to say very bloody well. The intense production makes this almost seem like a battle rap song, only with Common and Canibus teaming up and going in on unnamed MCs, rather than each other. This is a great track, and one of the hardest of Com's long career.
16. Reminding Me (Of Sef) (feat. Chantay Savage) (prod. Ynot)
17. Pop's Rap Part 2/ Fatherhood (feat. Lonnie "Pops" Lynn) (prod. Karriem "Mad Rhythm" Riggins)
Common's father of the same name as him pops up (see what I did there?) for the second time on a Com album, and speaks an interesting story of having to break into the studio just to see what his son was up to. Nice and soothing instrumental on here too, provided by Karriem Riggins, who collaborated more and more with Com as the years went on. Annnnnd, we're done.
While at times it can feel a bit too long and bloated, One Day It'll All Make Sense still stands as the second excellent album from Common in a row, and, while I don't like to spoil anything, it wouldn't be the last either. This album is really, really good, being a mix of braggadocios and aggressive songs such as "Hungry" and "Real Nigga Quotes", powerful and introspective songs such as "Retrospect For Life" and "G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition)", and an incredibly inventive three part storytelling piece as well, which is definitely one of the best and most interesting things Common ever did musically. Even though it is long at over 70 minutes, it remains consistently entertaining throughout the runtime, with the production having aged excellently, and Common almost always bringing it on the mic, something the excellent array of guest stars do as well. The only song I didn't like was "All Night Long", and even that wasn't terrible - just a bit dull. I think this album could have lost that song, and perhaps some of the other less fitting songs could have been saved for a different project, but even then, this is still a fun and very, very entertaining experience, and I think that it deserves a listen from every hip-hop fan. This album is very forward-thinking, and one of the best conscious rap records of the 1990s. It's a great LP, and while it's not as good as Resurrection, it's still a hell of a lot more creative. What a great album.
Best Tracks: Invocation, Real Nigga Quotes, Retrospect For Life, G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition), Stolen Moments Pt. I, II & III, Making A Name For Ourselves
Worst Tracks: All Night Long
If you would like to see what else Common has been up to, please click here
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