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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4 1/2 stars - "Your career is a typo, mine is written like a haiku.", July 30, 2007
In a recent interview, Common explained the title; he wants to try to "find a place in music where you can exist forever. Music can be forever if you make it from the heart." I can only imagine the pressure on Common's shoulders after such a critically acclaimed album, Be, but it seems that he's up to a challenge to try and create an even better album that will go down in the history books.
The album begins with a mellow and heavenly intro, which abruptly fades into the hard-hitting, Kanye West produced "Start The Show." With ominous strings and a fierce snare to back him, Common makes it clear that he is not your average "hot-for-a-minute" rapper. Triumphantly, he disses the wack rappers by telling them their "live show is hollow" and that they were "better as a drug dealer." Ouch! Up next is the first single, "The People." Common makes it clear that he's in this business to touch people's lives. Dwele's entrancing vocals add a nice touch. The next track, "Drivin' Me Wild," has to be one of the most odd combinations in a hip hop song that we've seen lately, but it actually works well. Lily Allen, the UK songbird, has a high and clear voice that blends perfectly with the production and adds a whole new dimension to the song. The songs' lyrics are my favorite part, however. It tells stories of people who have driven themselves crazy "like the astronaut lady" by being a slave to pop/hip hop culture, worrying so much about appearance, trying to be famous, trying to impress others and product placement. The will.i.am produced "I Want You" is a classic tale of you don't know what you've got until it's gone. Over the dreamy, spacy production, Common tells his story of love lost. "I spent many years trying to be a hearthrob/ I guess it's only right that I'd get my heart robbed." (Could this song possibly be about Erykah Badu?) The electric guitar heavy "Southside" is a great cut. Common and Kanye play rhyme tag team to a great, energetic effect. "The Game" takes it back to good old school hip hop with scrathes from the great DJ Premier. The song speaks on how you've got to be "in it to win it" and you have to put your soul in what you do if you want to succeed. On "Black Maybe," Common speaks on how African Americans must endure certain obstacles, whether it be themselves, others or the temptations that surround them. Bilal, who has been gone for quite awhile, delivers some good vocals for the hook. Speaking of neo-soul singers who have seemed to disappear off the face of the earth... D'Angelo appears on the next track, "So Far To Go." The song has sweeet, old school soul-inspired production by the late, but great J. Dilla. (I found it to be reminiscent like "Come Close" from Electric Circus.) The next track, "Break My Heart," is a humorous and funky track. Upon first meeting a new love interest, "she said you look like you rap/ but where's bling-ay/ and your clothes is tight/ but you don't seem gay/ I said nah/ that's the dude from N'Sync-ay." (Haha.) "Misunderstood," a story of lost dreams and a need for the one above, sounds like it's straight out of a live jazz bar and uses a sample of one of my favorite songs from the late Nina Simone. It fits perfectly. The final track, "Forever Begins," is a perfect way to end. The production is a little reminiscent of the experimental instrumentation on Electric Circus. There is a heavenly piano loop and it takes you to a faraway place. Perfect way to end a great album.
At a time when rappers are in the business just for the money and now that BET has become an even wacker version of MTV, (yeah, I said it) it's nice to hear a refreshing and positive album from a lyricist who truly has love for the game. The album has great production and Common's rhymes are incredible. Almost everything that he says on this album is quotable, whether it be extremely deep or just funny. The only real flaw here is that sometimes the tracks are a bit too mellow. Otherwise this album is perfect. I won't compare it to Be, you should decide yourself. I hihgly recommend. This will definitely be in my CD player for close to forever!
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24 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Finding Forever" cements Common's legacy in "The Game" as kickback records get kicked to the back., August 6, 2007
I have followed Common Sense ever since I heard the track "Take It EZ". Originally, I didn't purchase Can I Borrow a Dollar?, but I definitely enjoyed "Take It EZ", "Breaker 1/9", "Soul By The Pound", "Heidi Hoe" and "Charms Alarm". Once I heard "I Used To Love H.E.R.", Common's dedication to hip hop, I knew that his next CD, Resurrection, would also be worth checking out, but for some reason I didn't purchase the CD right away. When I saw the video for Common's track with Lauryn Hill, "Retrospect For Life", once his 3rd disc had already dropped, One Day It'll All Make Sense, that's when I decided to make my first Common purchase. Tracks like "Gettin' Down At The Amphitheater" w/De La Soul, "G.O.D." w/Cee Lo, "All Night Long" w/Erykah Badu, "Stolen Moments Part 2" w/Black Thought from The Roots and "Making A Name For Ourselves" w/Canibus ended up being my favorite tracks. Common's 4th CD, Like Water For Chocolate, may have just been his best CD. The DJ Premier produced 1st single, "The 6th Sense", "Dooin It", "A Song For Assata", and one of his most successful singles to date, "The Light" ended up being my favorite tracks. Electric Circus seemed to be more of an experimental CD for Common. Although I did enjoy the 1st single, "Come Close" which featured Mary J. Blige and the CD's closer "Heaven Somewhere", Common definitely lost me within the experiment of this CD. However, Nas had "Nastradamus" and Jay-Z had "In My Lifetime Volume 1" so just because Common made 1 CD that I didn't enjoy didn't mean that I would stop supporting Common.
However, at the right time, it seemed as if Common had his own "Resurrection" after some of his fans were disappointed with "Electric Circus" with his verse on Kanye West's "Get 'Em High", which also featured Talib Kweli. If any of Common's fans thought he had lost it after "Electric Circus" he definitely proved them wrong after just one verse. I later found out that Common had signed with Kanye's G.O.O.D. music imprint and while I was hesitant at first, I figured that if anyone would steer Common's career back in the right way that Kanye could. When I first heard "The Corner", that was definitely the Common that I had missed on Electric Circus. Common seemed like he had a passion to rhyme again and with Kanye West on the boards it seemed as if Common had a point to prove all over again. Be was in the CD player for a long time. My favorite tracks ended up being "The Corner", "Testify", "Chi City", "Go", "Real People" and "The Food", which was originally featured on The Dave Chapelle Show.
The first track that I heard off of Common's 7th solo offering "Finding Forever" was "The Game". The Kanye West track definitely had an old school feel to it and Common sounds like he is trying to make sure that people didn't believe that "Be" was a fluke. He also wants to make sure that if you are tired of listening to the hip hop of today, which has no substance at all that you have a CD that you can put in your stereo or in the CD player in your car that you can actually learn something from. Common's 2nd single "The People" which features Dwele is an excellent example of that. Common could have easily went with "Break My Heart" or "I Want You" as the next single. However, he dares to be different. He doesn't want to follow the trends of the rapper who is just motivated by selling units and selling his soul to "The Game".
"Finding Forever" was released on July 31, 2007. After a short instrumental intro, Common and Kanye West's hook does a good job to "Start The Show". Common's lyrics are just as potent as they are on "The Game" and Kanye has one of his best beats on "Finding Forever" on this track. You will definitely be able to tell that Common has some subliminal messages in the track for a certain rapper or rappers in general. "Drivin' Me Wild" may take awhile to grow on you because, in my opinion, it's not a track that you will like after just 1 or 2 listens. This is track 1 of 4 that Common has on "Finding Forever" where he is talking about a woman or women in general. While it may not be one of Finding Forever's best tracks, "Drivin' Me Wild" will grow on you after awhile. Will.I.Am stops by to produce what may be the 3rd single in "I Want You". While I have never been a fan of The Black Eye Peas, Will.I.Am has definitely impressed me with his production work on the latest offerings from Mary J. Blige, Nas, Game and John Legend. He also produced another track that should be on "Finding Forever" in "A Dream" that was featured on the "Freedom Writers" soundtrack. One of the best production moments on this CD is when Will.I.Am. changes the beat of the track before the 3rd verse begins. Track 2 of 4 for the ladies is neck and neck and may even be a tie with "Break My Heart". Will.I.Am has a nice hook and Common's lyrics take care of the rest. "Southside" features Kanye West and the 2 rappers do a good job of going back and forth together with their verses like they have been in a group for years. The track appears to be a freestyle with a nice Kanye beat and you can never go wrong with that combination. Common even goes as far as saying, "You in the building, but the building's fallin', you wouldn't be ballin', if your name was Spalding". It appears Nas isn't the only one that has words for fly by night rapper of the moment, Jim Jones. Common is a teacher spreading his lessons on "U, Black Maybe". On the track, Common makes you think as he raises the question of Blacks always trying to blame the next man, which is usually another race, for their problems. However, in some cases we bring our own people down and we don't even recognize that fact or we in our own system of denial. Common features track 3 of 4 for the ladies in "So Far To Go" which features D'Angelo and is produced by the late, great J Dilla. The track was originally featured on J Dilla's "The Shining" CD. Common was also featured on another track on "The Shining" entitled "E=MC2". "Break My Heart" may be the song that will stay in your head just because of the Kanye West sample. However, Common's wordplay on this track is simply phenominal. He describes a situation where a woman is hesitant to get invloved with him and Common uses his lyrics to get the woman to "come on and go with him". This track is definitely one of my favorites on "Finding Forever".
Devo Springsteen must have gotten access to Kanye's stash of samples because he cleverly uses a sample on "Misunderstood". The clever use of the sample, the production and Common's lyrics make this track a nice combination. Bilal does a good job on the hook and Common does his best to make people understand that the problems in the world today are real problems and not just things that you can ignore because it isn't happening to them. "Forever Begins" ends "Finding Forever" on a nice note especially with Common's verses and towards the end of the track with the powerful words. The chorus is fine but it seems as if Kanye had an "overproduction" moment when the singers started singing the hook.
Overall, "Finding Forever" is a CD that will be in your CD player for awhile just as "Be" was. I would give a slight edge to "Be" as far as what CD I like better but "Finding Forever" is just as nice as "Be" was. Common's 2nd CD on G.O.O.D. music will also end up being a classic to most of his fans and fans of real hip hop music. There are some moments that Common will have you wondering why are you talking about Jen and Vince Vaughn and Ryan and Reese Witherspoon, however, his attack of the 2007 "I must sell unit" rappers on "Start The Show" and "The Game", his lessons on "U, Black Maybe" and "Misunderstood" and his wonderful tracks for the ladies with "Break My Heart", "I Want You" and "So Far To Go" will make you forget about any disappointments that you may have with this CD. If this CD doesn't cement Common's legacy in rap music, I am not sure what else he will have to do in order to convince you of his skills. If you liked "Be" and if you are a fan of Common's previous CDs, then you would be a fool to pass up on "Finding Forever".
James' Top 5
1) The Game
2) Misunderstood w/Bilal
3) The People w/Dwele
4) Break My Heart
5) Start The Show
Honorable Mention:
Southside w/Kanye West
I Want You w/Will.I.Am
So Far To Go w/D'Angelo
Forever Begins
U, Black Maybe
Ranking Common's Discography: (This was hard)
1) Resurrection
2) Like Water For Chocolate
3) Be
4) Finding Forever
5) One Day It'll All Make Sense
6) Can I Borrow A Dollar?
7) Electric Circus
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too soon after his classic album, "Be", November 10, 2007
Common is a far more talented lyricist than this album indicates. It's possible that the recent mainstream success of the classic album "Be" influenced his change in style and perhaps even developed some complacency in his creating this newest project, but this is definitely a sub-par effort on his part. As someone who has been a fan since the late 90s, I recognize his talents and what he is capable of and this is not an accurate representation of the artist Common has portrayed himself as over the years. If the majority of your exposure to his music is "Be" then you may be quite pleased with "Finding Forever." If you have a greater reference point to which you can compare his latest music, you will most likely be disappointed.
This line from "I Want You" illustrates how lame some of the lyrics are:
"A dreamer so I'ma keep dreamin' on, it's kinda like the break up of Jen and Vince Vaughn"
What the hell is that about? Jen and Vince Vaughn? That relationship should never be referenced in any song let alone a song by one of the premier hip hop artist of his time.
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