When I heard that Common, the hustler who been supplying the “underground” with potent product, was hooking up with the baking soda manufacturer, Kanye, I knew we were in for some stepped-on merch. And here I thought the collaboration with ?uestlove was a bad idea. What the hell happened to the artistic production values of Water for Chocolate? Just because Kanye and m&m get grammys doesn’t mean that’s some shit to emulate. The man who used to love her now grabs the mic with about as much passion as Spreewell felt when he grabbed PJ. That ain’t love that’s a clear sign of an abusive relationship.

The Come Close video was cool. I wish there were more like it. The remix was all right. I thought they achieved what they set out to do. But I didn’t really see the point. If you are going to remix it then twerk it on some next tip. Don’t just put the same vibe in a different bag and call it WMD. It ain’t the bomb, it’s the same shit. I thought them adding Mary to the joint was straight up marketing. I saw Mary in concert at Essence. I didn’t realize how many women worshiped her as if she were, well you get where I’m going . Live, her songs start off like any other; they reach a climax and just when you think it’s safe to release your fingernails from the arm rest she goes higher and higher. Mary does have a sound and it is unique. I couldn’t take it anymore. I left. I needed to exhale. But while I was there the women present bear witness to the sight of the Mary on the verge of levitating right off the stage. So, from a marketing aspect I guess I can understand why Mary didn’t weep and Badu didn’t worry. As a classic, Come Close does.

AumRa

the words in red in the common write up (in the section where i am looking at the videos, those words are links to an online source to see the videos. click on the link and it will take you to the video and then you can see the imagery i discuss and judge for yourself the appropriateness of my reading of the videos.

like i said, this is a discussion, not a lecture. it’s good to have your comments.

In the past, there’s that which I like and that which I am indifferent. This piece by Common, and hip hop in general, I am rather indifferent.

The lyrics are not only syrup but shallow. Its saving grace, as noted by Kalamu is the exhibit of the developing artistry of Mary, whose looks as well as her phrasing, have over the years been refined, which I’m not certain is all together a good thing for a soul singer.

The business of semiotics, I have no idea what either of you are referring to. My knowledge of linguistics is rather shallow though I have had several courses on the subject. And I’m still in the dark.

Even if Kalamu is right in his descriptive outline of the songs, that still says little about what Common is and Common is doing. I suspect in music production promoters try to cover all the bases in gathering an audience. Thus it seems if we are to do a “semiotic interpretation,” we would have to look at the overall presentation of the rapper’s songs, in which we must conclude that this cat has no integrity–he stands for nothing more than selling albums and getting as much money out of suckers as he can.

Rudy

Why is mary j. on the hook, when badu is the boo with the “green eyes” common spews about?

I understand mary was contemporary fans favorite hoopin’ and hollerin’ around the way girl at that time (as well as common’s label mate), but anyone who copped “essence”, or skimmed through any online rapzine, knew erykah was the subject of this particular hip hop song.

Common subtly referencing phrases associated with badu songs (i.e. bag lady: “put down your bags girl” was the only thing that made this song somewhat interesting. I would have preferred verses more detailed and testimonial like the one he rapped on the remix: “shit I held up signs in the street for you.”

Erykah hands and vocals are all over the “electric circus” album. Why not bless the listeners on the lead single?

Badu sautéing a dish that was cooked for her would have been really adventurous, especially if she was the sister in the video behind the window.

Mtume says:                                                        

Hey Nadir, I think the remix was intended for folk like you. That’s Erykah on the hook. And my guess on the whole ‘Mary instead of Erykah’ thing is there were some contractual hijinks going on behind the scenes. A lot of times, artists or labels or managers or producers (etc., etc.) make these deals with each other where one artist gives up a track they had the rights to in exchange for the other artist doing a cameo on their next remix or whatever. Other times, an artist just happens to be in the same studio as another artist and the shit just works itself out. Or maybe Erykah was getting her hair done. Who knows? One thing I learned from my wasted years in ‘the industry’ is a lot of stuff that seems mysterious is actually just business.

And one other thing: everybody’s commenting on the (relative) triteness of the lyrics; am I the only one in love with that Blackbeard groove? They stretched it to ten minutes and that’s cool, but they could’ve done another ten for me. I can’t lie: there’s been a few evenings around these parts where the Blackbeard remix has been on ‘repeat’ for more than an hour. (And before y’all start with the jokes, yes, I have about 3,000 other CDs I could be listening to. You do you.)

As far as the ‘GO’ Video, I see that as a continuation and a statement of Common’s mindset- he was in a certain place in regards to his relationship when he made ‘The Light’ and ‘Come Close’. Now, its 2005, he is ‘single’ again, at least without the high profile other half, so he is back in ‘mack’ mode. I think ‘GO’ was a simply a statement of where he is at now, as was the first single ‘The Corner’. The Corner is a throwback type of beats and rhyme, boom-bap cut, which was Common’s way of stating he had moved away from the ‘experimental’ phase he displayed in ‘Electric Circus’. If you check out the gear he wears now compared to what he was wearing when he was with Erykah, you see the same patterns. Now, he is dressing classic button downs, dockers, etc…whereas a couple of years ago, he was wearing everything but a kente cloth kilt. Its all good, cuz regardless of these changes he has gone through, the flow is intact, and for an emcee, that’s what really counts.

I would like to see him delve into a full blown jazz or even Blues album, because I think his flow could support it, and in doing so he could continue to expand and erase boundaries between Hip-Hop and its predecessors.