Common – The Dreamer/The Believer
Universal Mind Control, while with a few good songs, was not a great album from Common, especially following Be and Finding Forever. With The Dreamer/The Believer, Common is back. The album sounds a lot more like his earlier work (pre-Kanye West). It is exclusively produced by No I.D. giving it both a modern and old school sound melded well together, which is a nice change given what most hip hop sounds like right now. No I.D. producing the whole album gives it continuity, and yet each track still has its own unique sound. Not normally one to haves tons of features, Common shares the album with only one other MC – NaS. Their track together Ghetto Dreams is fantastic and hopefully a preview of their rumored album together. John Legend also is featured on the album. Lyrically, Common asserts himself back into hip hop, having focused on movies and TV mostly in recent years. He makes a case for himself to still be one of the most revered and relevant voices in hip hop. It is a must for fans of Common, both of his two albums with Kanye West and (especially) his earlier and iconic work, as that Common is back. 4/5
Editor’s Essential Tracks:
1) Ghetto Dreams – Produced by No I.D., featuring NaS
2) Blue Sky – Produced by No I.D.
3) Sweet – Produced by No I.D.
Available on CD and Digital Download
No comments:
Post a Comment