Writing
about Selma this week, it felt very important to have the music reviews
connect with that as well. That was possible because there were two musicians
featured in the movie, Common and Ledisi.
After
having praised "Glory" highly yesterday, and seeing a kind of nasty
criticism of it today, that feels even more important. That makes it
frustrating that I didn't like Common more.
My opinion
should be taken with a grain of salt. Hip hop is not my favorite area and I am
not as well-versed in it. In addition, Common has such a long catalog that
while I have been able to listen to all 10 of his albums this week, I have only
been able to listen to each one once.
My feeling
from that listening is that he is not a great rapper. There is a somewhat
elementary feel to his rhyming and delivery, where it is not very complex. Also,
I thought I had read somewhere that he eschewed profanity or the N-word or
something, and while there is not that hateful feeling to the language that I
often find, the language is still largely traditional.
Based
solely on his rapping, I would say he is serviceable but not compelling. That
does not give the complete picture.
First of
all, he does have one song that I love. It is a collaboration, but he does a lot
of collaborations and he finds some pretty good artists to work with, who do choose
to work with him. Often the songs are really more R&B than rap, with strong
instrumental accompaniment.
Also, one
of the tracks that touched me most was "Pop's Rap Part 2/Fatherhood"
where his father, Lonnie Lynn, does essentially spoken word. There is musical
accompaniment, but the important thing is the sentiment, and it comes through.
One
perspective could be that maybe Common is better at acting and music and poetry
than rapping itself. There is nothing wrong with that. It's good that he can do
multiple things.
At the same
time, I can't discount that he does fit in with the larger movement. I was
listening in reverse order, and when I got to his 1992 debut, Can I Borrow A
Dollar, okay, that sounds like 1992. Also, that so many people are willing
to collaborate with him may indicate a regard for him that is shared by fans of
the genre.
I probably
won't be seeking out more of his music, but for fans of hip hop it probably
makes sense to check him out.
And of
course, everyone should listen to "Glory".
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