Hip Hop
artist Common released Like Water for Chocolate in 2000 with songs like
"The Light," "Geto Heaven Part Two" and "The 6th
Sense."
Common is known in
the hip hop genre as a solid lyricist whose music is always fresh and brings a
different flavor. Common's real name is Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr. and he was born
in Chicago in the 1970s. He released Like Water for Chocolate in 2000 and had hip
hop fans mesmerized with songs like "The Light," "A Song for
Assata," "Nag Champa (Afrodisiac for the World)" and "The
Questions."
Common's Albums
Common's debut
album was Can I Borrow a Dollar? in 1992 with the song "Take It EZ."
Common's follow-up was Resurrection in 1994 with the song "I Used to Love
H.E.R." One Day It'll All Make Sense was released in 1997 and Like Water
for Chocolate in 2000. Common then released Electric Circus in 2002 with the
hit song "Come Close" featuring Mary J Blige. The video for
"Come Close" aired on BET and other music networks where Common's
leading lady was hearing impaired and he would write signs to her expressing
his love.
Be was released in 2005 and then Finding Forever in 2002 which was
executive produced by Kanye West. The Universal Mind Control album was released
in 2008 with the title song "Universal Mind Control." A compilation,
Go!: Common Classics, was released in 2010 with hit songs "The
Light," "Come Close" and "Testify."
Like Water for
Chocolate is a Great Hip Hop Album
Like Water for Chocolate has sixteen hip
hop tracks on it and some do have explicit lyrics. This album features artists
like Jill Scott and Bilal in "Funky for You," Mc Lyte (http://www.officialmclyte.com/)
in "A Film Called (Pimp)," Rahzel in "Cold Blooded," Mos
Def in "The Questions", D'Angelo and Cee-lo. All of the songs on this
album have lyrical input from Common who is listed as Lonnie Lynn. Common's
father, Lynn Sr., also orates on this album in "Pops Rap III…All My
Children."
- Common's Version
of "Geto Heaven Part Two": Common's "Geto Heaven Part Two"
contains a sample from The Family Stand's "Ghetto Heaven" which was
written by group members Peter Lord, V. Jeffrey Smith and Sandra St. Victor. D'Angelo
sings the hook and portions of the original "Ghetto Heaven" in this
song where Common raps about life in the 'ghetto.' Common emphatically raps
"A thug is a lost man in disguise" and "Find heaven in yourself
and God" in the lyrics of this powerful song.
- Common's Love is
"The Light": "The Light" has an infectious instrumental
that Common raps with a poetic flow. It was produced by the Soulquarian's. He
starts off "I never knew a love, love, a love like this / gotta be
something for me to write this." This song can considered one of the best
hip hop love songs. "It's important we communicate / tune the fate of this
union to the right pitch" begins the second verse. The music video has
Erykah Badu as the leading lady and begins with the glare of light shining from
a spinning record and the image a red lava lamp.
- "A Song for
Assata": Another heavy poetic song by Common is "A Song for
Assata" featuring Cee-lo (http://www.ceelogreen.com/). This song brings to
mind strong images of the Civil Rights Movement. "They said she robbed
places that didn't exist" and "I wonder what would have happened if
that would have been me / all of this just so that we could be free" are
minute portions of the strong lyrics. This is the longest track on the CD and
features strings played by Larry Gold. It ends of with a woman's voice speaking
"Freedom…You asking me about freedom… I know a whole lot more about what
freedom isn't than what it is…."
- Common Hits Hard
in "The 6th Sense": "The 6th Sense" is another of Common's
songs that features Bilal's voice in the background vocals. DJ Premier produced
this song and implemented the scratches and cuts. "The 6th Sense"
begins "the revolution will not be televised / the revolution is
here." While the song contains elements of Mobb Deep's "Allustrious,"
the first line comes from Gil Scott Heron's poem
"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." "If the revolution had a
movie / I'd be theme music" and "I just wanna innovate and stimulate
minds / travel the world and penetrate the times" are some of the lyrics
of "The 6th Sense."
Common's release of
Like Water for Chocolate in 2000 brought hip hop a fresh new voice and style.
With the tendency of hip hop artists of that time to lend their voice to
materialism and sexual perversion, Common stood out with his tight and distinct
poetic lyrics. Like Water for Chocolate featured other fearless and innovative
artists like D'Angelo, Jill Scott, Bilal and Cee-lo who always bring a fresh
message in their music. Songs like "The Light" and "The 6th
Sense" will entertain and inspire generations of future hip hop fans.
