Common: Resurrection

After releasing his debut album, Can I Borrow a Dollar?, Common Sense was overlooked and the project garnered very little recognition. But like every great emcee, Common, didn’t let that hinder his growth.

Right off the bat you can hear the difference in the 2 releases and you can hear the growth in the Chicago emcee. While, Can I Borrow a Dollar?, was rugged and raw; Resurrection is extremely laid back and jazzy, a la A Tribe Called Quest. This was the beginning of the Common style we have grown to love and admire even 14 years later. Wordplay that is out of this world and smooth beats to die for make this project a must have for Hip Hop fans cut from any cloth. “I Used to Love H.E.R” is by far the track on this release with the longest staying power, for the simple fact that it is still relevant today, maybe even more now than ever. However, don’t be fooled into thinking this is the lone hit. Whether he is discussing inner thoughts and fears or discussing politics, street and national, Common, showed extreme growth from his debut. Common has the ability to make you listen to his music over and over again, based on lyricism alone. His wordplay and metaphor’s are matched by few emcees and his intelligence bleeds through the speakers. “Pop’s Rap” is an interesting number, which features his own father, assisting on a spoken word session. This seemed so out of the box but in every way it worked perfectly.

It always baffled me that such an uncommon emcee goes by the name Common. Not only is Resurrection one of Com‘s best albums, I could argue that it was one of the best Hip Hop releases of the 90′s. After hearing, Can I Borrow a Dollar?, I would have never thought this was the same rapper on tracks. The exponential growth and maturity should have been a sign that a star was in the making. Despite catching some hate from Ice Cube for, “I Used to love H.E.R”, there is nothing anyone can find wrong with this release. How many emcees can make a track about, “Nothin to Do” and actually make us care?

4.5/5

Stand Out Tracks

“I Used to Love H.E.R”