Common - Black America Again

Common
Black America Again
2016
Spotify

Common has always had this calming sensibility to his music. Something about his voice just soothes what ails you and you can sit back and enjoy who has been one of the best MCs of all time. With the election swirling and a seemingly endless news cycle of racial discrimination Common's voice is the one that we likely needed to hear from. Kendrick Lamar, Solange and DeAngelo paved the way for the soulful protest album, but it seems that Common has perfected it. Not since the Kanye produced Be has Common's music sounded this lush and vibrant. "Love Star" which features a vocal from Marsha Ambrosius & PJ, sort of bops along but has such an incredibly comfortable sound. Modern soul music is clearly becoming the next big thing and is really changing the game on a genre that was really becoming quite stagnant. Chance's record was more of a celebration but Common is diving into the cerebral as well, really trying to get at the heart of issues rather than simply regurgitate another news headline. On the first track "Joy and Peace" featuring Bilal Common raps: "The King unseeen, one dream that I had/He said "Things ain't as bad as they seem"/Is this a God dream like way Ye sing it?/The dream seemed to go on as the day lingered" referencing Kanye's gospel "Ultralight Beam" and taking it to the next level lyrically.

For Common Black America Again has a lot of music without him rapping over it, yet it is still so chalked full of words that it is often hard to keep up. If we were to compare this album to his previous ones it would most closely align with Like Water for Chocolate, which that being perhaps the greatest Common record is high praise. However it fits because mixed in with the political stuff is also thoughts about love, life and everything else. Common has never been an artist to conform and throughout his career has tried on many different masks to match whatever his mood might be. Sometimes this served him well and other times not so much, but his willingness to go there is what makes him so special. The only time this breaks down a bit is on "The Day Women Took Over" featuring BJ the Chicago Kid which comes across as much more basic pandering than the rest of the record. The sentiment is great, but it just falls short of the nuanced message Common has. Black America Again is more than a triumph for Common it is a triumph for soul music. This is Common at his very best and right where we want him to be.

8.7 out of 10