I have been a hip hop fan for long enough that I should be able to freely express my opinions without concern about going against the grain of popular sentiment. So let me unload a few boulders off my ever-weary chest. 2Pac's two Death Row albums were weighed down by subpar production and get by on Pac's unbridled passion in his delivery. Dilla may have been a genius in his own right but as far as music I personally enjoy on a purely aural level, I do not dig a large majority of his musical catalog. Biggie made fantastic music and had an impeccable flow but as a lyricist, I just cannot see how he can be compared to 90's era Jay and Nas. And finally (for now)...
I am not a fan of the Okayplayer movement. Let's not get carried away with any judgment that goes beyond that single word "movement". I have been a fan of the Roots since I first heard "Proceed", "Illadelph Halflife" may very well fall in my top 25 list of classic albums, and Black Thought is one of my favorite rappers of all time. But that movement the Roots spawned... eh. I am long past the point of defending music I like on any moral grounds (I think Chris Rock granted me the audacity to simply enjoy music I like and let ethical criticism from the naysayers fall where it may). So ever since Bushwick Bill scrawled "Helter Skelter" on an unfortunate victim's walls, since Chuck D dismissed a letter from the government with Muhammed Ali-like disdain, since Cube tore his way through that map and kept on stompin'... I have liked my hip hop violent, nihilistic and grimy as Chinese restaurant grease traps. Thief's themes you play at night and don't act right. Suffice it to say that Okayplayer had an air of bohemian independence that did not comfortably squeeze into this category.
So there was a dude named Lonnie Lynn from the Southside of Chicago who made his name (to a more significant slice of the general populace) with a song bemoaning this very state of hip hop... or at least the unholy industry who took advantage of such artists in order to peddle profane music to starry-eyed suburban kids (*raises my own hand*). But when the beast within was unleashed, he could still tear a gangsta rap legend to shreds over a scathing diss track and go toe-to-toe lyrically with a Canibus who still reigned supreme on Lost Boyz guest spots and the Clue mixtape circuit. Even as he made his initial foray into Okayplayer territory with "Like Water for Chocolate", he still sounded rugged as ever... to the extent that hip hop nerds speculated what unfortunate rapper he was taking to task on "Doonit" while straining their convulsing neck muscles to the sounds of a premier lyricist finally gracing a DJ Premier masterpiece.
Then there was the debacle of "Electric Circus". Common could still bring it lyrically, make no mistake ("Soul Power" alone was evidence of that)... but something had inherently changed. I have a distinct memory of seeing Common in concert during the Electric Circus tour... and when he started waving his hands, chanting "Can you feel the love, y'all?" while multi-colored spotlights swirled behind him, I thought, pun fully intended... all common sense was truly lost. What was it exactly? Was Erykah Badu truly the emasculating force of nature that we had feared she was since Andre started donning blonde wigs and dressing like a Parliament reject? Many hip hop heads would start interjecting that Com reclaimed his hip hop pass with "Be"... but I've spewed enough venom in the way of unpopular viewpoints on already-deemed-classics so I'll save that for another rant.
Let's skip over the "Universal Mind Control" nonsense and fast forward to "Ghetto Dreams". I held my breath when I first heard it. It could've been a simple aberration... like when he showed up on Jadakiss' "Why" remix or wreaked havoc on the "Be" intro (one of the parts I did like on the album). Or could he be truly rejuvenated by reuniting with his former partner-in-crime, the suddenly-hot producer of the moment, No I.D.? And with each subsequent leak... "Blue Sky", "So Sweet", "Celebrate" and now "The Believer"... it seems Common Sense may have been restored to the world.
There is no such thing as a perfect album. And usually my sky-high expectations can never be met when they've been driven to such ridiculous proportions as they have currently been. But here's to hoping the rest of the album lives up to it. December 20th can't get here fast enough.
