The Secret to Common’s Comeback Album

This was an incredible conversation spanning his career, current projects, and talking very deeply about music.

Check out more from Derrick Hodge here:
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► Complimentary Interview Channel - @DiggingTheTalks
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SOURCES

TOPICS COVERED
Common
Be
Kanye
The Corner
The Last Poets
J Dilla
Marvin Gaye
Soulquarians
GOOD Music
John Legend
Derrick Hodge
#hiphop #musichistory #common

[Trrack]

Be (intro) will forever be in rotation

[richardpayton]

What I liked about this album is that there was no filler. Just 11 tracks, no army of guest rappers, just a concentrated 43 minutes of soulful quality.

[jennyneon]

Common's "Be" is just amazing. My favorite song on "Be" is so hard to pick but Real People is so underrated, the sample chop is so simple yet so effective. Kanye, J Dilla & Common did an incredible job on this.

[thomasnelson]

It's pretty crazy how two of my favorite hip hop albums of all time (Late Registration and Be) were released in the same year and produced by the same person on his own label running with the same creative circle. Seriously. GOOD Music forever

[bladerunnerx]

As a Chicagoan, “BE” is an album that is a time capsule of Chicago during the 70’s and 80’s. Common is talking about places, people and situations with soulful music, that where lived experiences. “The Corner” and “Faithful”, 🔥🔥🔥

[pervertedalchemist]

"Be" was huge comeback for Common. It was one of those projects that you had to have in your collection at that time.

[C-bz]

I always loved the spoken word Common’s father does on his albums. It’s Your World is one of my favorite tracks ever. So beautiful.

[fauxdauteur]

"It's Your World" is probably my favorite song of all time. The inspirational message, J Dilla's soulful production, and Common's lyricism are just so perfect.

And hearing the kids at the end saying what they wanted to do when they grew up always makes me smile. Love that unbridled sense of hope, which I feel can easily be lost in adulthood if you let it.

[paul-scanlan]

The John Mayer session that produced the “go” in Go also led to Bittersweet Poetry, a track intended for Late Registration that got altered and changed to a Japan-exclusive bonus track for Graduation. It’s on YouTube somewhere; one of my favourite Kanye songs, well worth a listen.

[arky_tech]

Totally underrated album, Kanye soul samples were so good during that period, common really felt lyrically refined and dope concepts/call backs to the songs.. hard to find albums that check so many boxes

[Ojace_mecca]

"Be" to me is Common's own Illmatic, both albums didn't exceed 12 tracks with songs that have great replay quality like a sequel, also there are couple of songs with relatable theme from two different artists telling their own experiences; (chi-city = new york state of mind), (it's your world = the world is your) (the corner = represent) there are couple of other songs with similarities, it is like the Bible and the Quaran, You can't say you truly appreciate one without appreciating the other for real...

[braadsaad]

Be is such a beautifully human album. The themes covered in songs such as “Faithful”, “Love is…” and “Real people” are explored in a heartfelt and earnest manner. It’s hard not to be moved or inspired by this album particularly the intro and outro tracks. Not to mention how the rhythm and atmosphere of the instrumentals match the lyrics. Everything about this just feels so soulful, deeply honest and passionate. I wish there was an instrumental version of this album. Anyway brilliant video as usual it feels like privilege to be able to view work, outstanding content.👍✌️

[dreambrother]

This album is borderline flawless. It should be mentioned more as a top 20 greatest hip-hop album ever made. Awesome breakdown video as usual 🙌

[JonathanConda]

Such a dope breakdown…but for true music heads we gotta preach how incredible Electric Circus is. Commons opinion seems to be motivated by record sales and public opinion. In 30 years we’ll be coming back to it like “Here, My Dear”

[thaxtonwaters]

Common has been my favorite M.C. since 1993. I kinda lost track with him around the Finding Forever album but he's still in my top 5.

[FormalFilmsProductions]

This is one of my favorite hip hop albums. The production throughout is just hypnotic and chill

[JohnnyBananas]

I listened to this album probably more than any other. It was on repeat for a year or two. It’s still one of the only albums that’s downloaded on my phone and plays in my car when I don’t start Spotify

[KingCalla]

One of the most underrated rap albums of all time. An absolute masterpiece.

[KJon]

Be is an album I feel gets overlooked at times. It's amazing and fits so well with Finding Forever.

[dmug]

When I heard Common say “Yes…” on the intro for Be, it was like an affirmation that this was the Common of old.

There’s so much I could say about this album but I’m gonna go listen to that interview now…