July 31, 2007 @ 11:13 am

Common - Finding Forever (G.O.O.D./Geffen)

Oliver Wang

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Common's seventh album, from our August 2007 issue. Plus: listen to the entire album, front to back!

Like 2005's lauded Be (Geffen), Common's seventh album Finding Forever is a study in efficiency - barely a dozen songs, less than an hour in length, no gloss. But don't mistake Common's thrift for lack of ambition. Getting on in years, he's got less time to waste. Kanye West (who handles all but three songs) and the late J Dilla build sophisticated arrangements that patiently unfurl, owing as much to freeform explorations of rock, soul, and jazz as they do to hip hop. Common and company still pump out jeep-beat anthems - "The Game" is his and Kanye's homage to the brusque sonics and braggadocio of Gang Starr and Black Moon's heyday. More often however, Forever noodles with acoustically driven textures. "Misunderstood" transitions from Devo Springsteen's loop of Nina Simone's raspy voice to a meditative, spiritual interlude built on little more than Bilal's vocals and Omar Edwards' piano. Common's been playing with these organic, aural segues since Like Water for Chocolate (MCA, 2000). And here, more than ever, they make his album a unified listening experience, rather than a jumble of shotgun songs. Even as he evolves musically, though, Common stays on familiar ground topically. He is conscious without embarrassment, penning morality tales like the reflective, uplifting "Black Maybe." But his best preaching comes on the comical "Drivin' Me Wild." Over an infectious Kanye beat, abetted by British lite-soul princess Lily Allen on the hook, he clowns US Weekly groupies and Internet players: "Pathetic on his MySpace page / Half naked / It's a shame what they do for fame." Here, as ever, Common's on firmer ground sociopolitically than romantically; his love songs have long been uneven. The will.i.am-produced "I Want You" is a plodding, cloying retread of 2000's "The Light" and 2002's "Come Close," especially compared to the frolicking, lyrically dexterous boy-meets/loses-girl story, "Break My Heart," where he quips: "She said, 'I don't be dating rappers' / I said, 'I got my SAG card, baby, I'm an actor.'" Forever captures Common maturing gracefully into his - and hip hop's - middle-age at a time when many peers are either talking retirement or being forced into it. Instead of fantasizing that 30 is the new 20, he's embraced his as a 35-year-old. Kids, open your ears - there's grown folks talking. To stream this album front to back, click here - and let us know what you think! Post a comment.

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