Common - Like Water For Chocolate

After releasing his third LP One Day It'll All Make Sense in late 1997, Common experienced more recognition and success than ever before, success that permitted him to leave Relativity Records and move to the more established MCA Records in order to record a fourth effort. Com, apparently sick and tired of bigging up Chicago by now, decided that he would spend his new wads of cash on a home in the far more upmarket Los Angeles, where he moved to in order to work on his next pieces of music. Unfortunately, after forking out the extravagant down payment, he only had enough dough left for one plate ticket, meaning that he was forced to leave his longtime producer and friend No I.D. in the lurch back in Chi-Town, where he would go on to nurture the reasonably successful Kanye West (who also made connection with mr. Sense later on - funny, that). No matter, though, as Common was able to hook up with the established production group The Soulquarians for this new project, a collective made up of J Dilla, James Poyser, D'Angelo and ?uestlove, all of whom had quite the hand in making this album work. Like with One Day It'll All Make Sense, it took Common three years to write and record this album, and also like that project, this one was bloody long, clocking in at almost 80 minutes despite only featuring 16 tracks.

So, was it worth the time? Well, the fans and critics would answer that question with an almost unanimous "yes". This project was met with praise for its experimentation, its diverse soundscape and its powerful political messages, one of which was seen right on the excellent album cover. The project was promoted by one major single, "The Light", a song that was incredibly successful, and saw a lot of people saying that Com was going to see platinum sales with this record - he didn't, but surely gold was good enough for him considering the reception his disc had received. The album was filled with long, experimental and interesting cuts that came together to make one of the most unique rap albums ever released at the time. Even the features were strange - yes, we had Mos Def, Slum Village and MC Lyte for the rap fans, and Bilal and Cee-Lo to add the necessary craved R&B type of artists, but we also had a load of artists no hip-hop head would have ever heard of before - Vinia Mojica, Roy Hargrove, Jill Scott, Rahzel - the list goes on. 

This looked from the scratch like it was going to be an exciting and powerful listen then. And did it deliver? Well, I don't like to give my endings away, but-

YES, IT DID.

1. Time Travelin' (A Tribute To Fela) (feat. Vinia Mojica, Roy Hargrove & Femi Kuti) (prod. D'Angelo, ?uestlove, James Poyser & Jay Dee)

Immediately, that song title and guest list lets you know that you're not in for a normal hip-hop track, as would the 6+ minute runtime for those on streaming (track times are not listed anywhere on the CD). After a crazily long but terribly intriguing build-up, which features some interesting African-sounding background vocals and the introduction of a banger of a drum beat, Common finally steps to the mic, and spits two verses (interrupted by a short break) with a distorted, echoey filter right over his vocals, which kind of annoyed the shit out of me the first time I heard it, but now it just sounds perfect within the beat to me. Com's opening bars of "Yo, I was a piano player in my last lifetime, now I write rhymes, sip white wine and let my light shine" just represent his philosophical outlook on things so well, and the rest of his bars are equally well written. This experimental masterpiece is an excellent way to begin such an album. 

2. Heat (prod. Jay Dee)

Having a chorus that refers to your own work as a steaming pile of poo probably isn't the best show of self-confidence, but it is what it is. Overall, this fairly typical boast-n-bullshit track is probably not what listeners expected after the opener, but as a braggadocios banger, this track does work well, and Common rides this beat as professionally as his horse that he takes out on the country lanes of a weekend. I do wish he wouldn't rap ridiculous things such as "deep as a skinny girl's cunt", though - I mean, that's the sort of thing a rapper who very much wasn't deep would say, surely. Anyway, this is still a big time banger.

3. Cold Blooded (feat. Rahzel, "The Godfather of Noyze", Roy Hargrove & Black Thought) (prod. D'Angelo, ?uestlove, Kelo & The Roots)

Don't jump out of your seats in excitement quite yet, hip-hop fans - Black Thought does shit all on here, perhaps providing one word in the background throughout the track's 5 minute runtime. No idea why he's credited as a feature, then, but nonetheless, this song is great as hell. This brings a more jazzy vibe than the afrobeat opener and the straight up hip-hop "Heat", and while the backing is different, Common brings equally potent skills to the table on this, despite apparently having significant back pains as he states during the first verse. It's crazy how this album can be so diverse yet so consistent at the same time. It defies belief. This is great.

4. Dooinit (prod. Jay Dee)

The title looks a bit stupid, yes, but that doesn't stop this from being arguably the biggest banger of Common's entire excellent career. After starting things off with the aggressive words "motherfucker, move back", a word Common usually strays away from, the track continues to heat up from there, with the scratched up chorus (that takes vocals from the non-album single "Car Horn") blending in perfectly with the beautiful instrumental. Com says a plethora of interesting things throughout this track, including his reasonings as to why he doesn't want to follow the "bling" era rap stereotypes of the time, and also some shouts to Dug Infinite and No I.D. - bet they were happy to hear him bring their name up (just kidding - I'm sure Common parted with Dion on good terms). The beat from J Dilla on this song is also crazy, with the piano keys being just beautiful - and the transition from this into "The Light" is probably the best I have ever heard. Literally.

5. The Light (prod. Jay Dee)

This love song was selected as the lead single to this album. Notice how I said "love song"? Because that's right, this is an actual love song, something that was pretty much unheard of in rap in the year 2000. Sure, there were plenty of tracks referring to "bitches" and "hoes", but on here, Common specifically states that he would never refer to his girl as his "bitch", or even his "boo", as there is so much more to her than just being HIS girlfriend. That's perhaps one of the most self-aware and humble things a rapper has ever said on wax, although admittedly there's not much competition (even from himself). The production on this track is stupendously good (bet you've never seen THAT term used in a rap review before), showcasing another example of Dilla's incredible skill behind the boards, and the verses from Lonnie are spectacular and heartwarming too. Great single. 

6. Funky For You (feat. Bilal & Jill Scott) (prod. Jay Dee & James Poyser)

I'm unsure as to why Common keeps referring to himself and/or his songs as "funky" (remember the decidedly not-funky "Food For Funk" off the last album?), as this song doesn't come across as anything of the sort, as this is more smooth and soulful than funky - "Heat" and "Cold Blooded" would be more deserving of this title. Despite this small amount of misleading information, this track is still absolutely beautiful, and one of the best on the whole album. Dilla and James Poyser both contribute to this wonderfully atmospheric beat that stands as the second best (sorry, it'll take a bloody lot to beat "Dooinit") instrumental so far, and Scott and Bilal both provide interesting vocals to the track. Common is lyrically excellent as always, and the sampling work on here is nice as hell too. What a track.

7. The Questions (feat. Mos Def) (prod. Jay Dee & James Poyser)

Despite the fact that the rapping on here is creative, and the concept is very unique, I was always more underwhelmed by this track than the rest of the music on here. The song is clearly a lot simpler than the rest of the tracks here in terms of production, so I guess that's it. Still, it's another great piece, with a positive vibe and some actually great rapping from Common and the man formerly known as Mos Def, aside from the latter's not-very-self-aware final line. Despite this not being an entirely "John-blazin'" track, I still find it a solid banger

8. Time Travelin' Reprise (prod. D'Angelo, ?uestlove, James Poyser & Jay Dee)

A short interlude to revisit the opening track, only this actually has quite a different vibe to it. A nice, short musical interlude - rappers should do these more often, instead of stupid skits.

9. The 6th Sense (feat. Bilal) (prod. DJ Premier)

Probably the second most popular track here after "The Light", and the listener would already be rather excited about this one due to that producer credit - DJ Premier working with Common? That could only be a recipe for greatness. And indeed it of course was, with Common taking one of the best beats Preemo ever created, and rapping his ass off over it about various injustices in society. Bilal also ties things together with an absolutely beautiful chorus that sounds like it fell straight from heaven, intertwined with some scratches taken from Mobb Deep's track "Allustrious" (yes, that is how they spelled it). Com does drop the overly self-confident bar "if revolution had a movie, I'd be theme music", but other than that his rhymes are poetic and typically well thought-out. This is easily one of Common's best songs, ever.

10. A Film Called (Pimp) (feat. Bilal & MC Lyte) (prod. Jay Dee)

Introduced by a fairly amusing skit that does render the album unplayable as a whole around family members, which is a shame. This track contains one of the least energetic Dilla beats I've ever heard, but thankfully Common and MC Lyte make up for the musical defects by creating an argument between a socially conscious rapper (who is the "pimp") and the rap game who he is trying to improve (the "ho"). Remember, Kendrick wasn't the first rapper to create an argument on wax (and neither was Common, in fact)! The argument here is pretty funny, but sadly the beat and dull Bilal hook make this into arguably the weakest track here.

11. Nag Champa (Afrodisiac For the World) (prod. Jay Dee)

Probably most famous for Common's strangely homophobic bars during the third verse (Com finally lost his homophobic views around 2009, so better late than never I suppose). I was personally more disgusted by the line "eyes on the thighs of Mary J. Blige, imagining how good the cat must be" - apparently she forgot about this track when she made "Come Close" with Lonnie a couple of years later. Aside from this short portion (yes, both questionable moments occur at the same point), this track is actually a really smooth listen. Dilla provides some chilled out production and surprisingly beautiful vocals on the hook, meanwhile Common does actually deliver on the rest of the track. Ignore the weird lines, then, and you've got yourself another classic track.

12. Thelonius (feat. Slum Village) (prod. Jay Dee)

Of course we couldn't let a rap album run it's course without the obligated posse cut track, which here comes in the form of a song with J Dilla's crew Slum Village, who consist of T3, Baatin and of course Dilla himself. While T3 appears to be completely obsessed with sex and the word "dick", and Dilla spits an absolutely awful verse to start things off, the track builds up from there over the heavenly beat, with Common and Baatin doing great jobs with their verses, and Dilla redeeming himself at the end. I will say that this probably should have found a home outside this album, but nonetheless it's still a great banger.

13. Payback Is a Grandmother (prod. Jay Dee)

Apparently feeling (rightly) that the "Stolen Moments" series from his last album was a complete success, Com decides to spit another showcase of his detective antics, this time attempting to track down the men that robbed his grandmother while she was at a poker match. Com starts off by actually relating this to his previous track of a similar nature ("it was a hardy boy mystery I had to solve again, dude that broke in my crib, it wasn't involving him!"), and then tells the story with such fluency and attention to detail that the man should probably get to writing a crime novel already - the intense beat from Dilla that sounds decidedly more playful than the majority of the rest of this thing is appreciated too. The ending is quite unexpected as well, which further shows Com's adeptness for this type of track. He should do more of them! 

14. Geto Heaven Part Two (feat. D'Angelo) (prod. God, co-prod. D'Angelo, ?uestlove & James Poyser)

Credited as being produced by "God" - I'm sure the Soulquarians were happy about having their credit taken away from them (at least the producer isn't a young Kanye West - now that would have been a weird bit of foreshadowing to a certain pretentious era). This track was later replaced by a remix to the song featuring Macy Gray, and while I can see why - this is one of the weaker tracks here - I still enjoy this, even if I find D'Angelo's vocals to be a bit unpleasant. Com actually makes a callback to his older track "G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition)" at the end, what with the repetition of the final line, and that makes sense, as there are many parallels I can draw between the two tracks. This is pretty smooth stuff.

15. A Song For Assata (feat. Cee-Lo) (prod. James Poyser)

Throughout this project there are many songs that could be considered some of the best in the entire hip-hop genre. So it's interesting that this one manages to better them all - this is the greatest Common song ever. EVER. From James Poyser's violin-laced production, to the vivid storytelling in Common's verses, to the wonderful singing from Cee-Lo on the hook that stands as the best vocal appearance he has ever done, everything on here is perfect. In case you didn't know, this track tells the story of the arrest, unfair incarceration and finally escape and gaining of freedom of Black Panther activist Assata Shakur (who is actually 2Pac's step-aunt, apparently). The track is unbelievably powerful, with the outro speech and music being such an incredibly heavenly listen. This song is unbelievably good, and there really isn't much out there to match it. Then again, you could say the same about this whole album.

16. Pop's Rap III...All My Children (feat. Lonnie "Pops" Lynn) (prod. The Karriem Riggins)

Common's father is back to provide the usual long-winded outro. This does kind of feel like we're sitting at the campfire at the end of a long-winded and wonderful journey, though, chatting about good times, and for that I give it an easy pass.

Wow... words can't really express how incredible this album is. The project manages to be 78 minutes long, and yet at the same time, it remains absolutely perfect for the entire runtime - even the songs I was more critical of still managed to be largely excellent, perhaps just not as good as the rest of the stuff on here. This album has the best transitions, the best cohesiveness, the best production... the list goes on and on. Let's start with the production, because my God are the beats good on here. You get funky hip-hop tracks from Dilla such as "Dooinit" and "Payback Is a Grandmother", you get experimental masterpieces such as "Time Travelin' (A Tribute to Fela)" and "Cold Blooded", and you get incredibly heartwarming instrumentals, such as "The Light" and "A Song For Assata". And that's just naming some examples. The moods throughout this album are very diverse, but they always work for me. Secondly, we have the guest appearances. While the rap guest features all deliver well, especially MC Lyte, we also get incredible singing from Bilal, Jill Scott, Cee-Lo and more, all of which allow this album to have a huge amount of replay value, which is just great. And then we have the man of the moment himself, Common, who just bloody kills this album - he proves himself to be easily one of the greatest MCs of all time throughout this project, whether he's storytelling, bragging, being uplifting or simply being a funny chap. This album is easily worth your time, all 78 minutes of it, and it's placement in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is unquestioned - heck, I would probably put this in my top 10. What an incredible experience.

Best Tracks: Every song contributes to this equally.

Worst Tracks: no.

Read up on more Lonnie by clicking here.

Images for "Dooinit" and "Funky For You" singles taken from Discogs.