Throwback Thursday: Common

For my second Throwback Thursday article I’ve selected Chicago rapper Common’s second studio album Resurrection.

For those of you who are new to my blog, Throwback Thursday is a weekly review of an album made by a Chicago artist from a previous decade.


Common
Resurrection- Relativity
Raiting: 9/10


Common Sense, as he was known for most of the 90’s, was a rapper with an old-school flow at a time when a new generation of hip hop was dominating the airwaves. For a relatively unknown rapper like Common, making an album like Resurrection was a pretty big risk to take. On his first album, Can I Borrow a Dollar?, Common’s lyrics dealt, in large part, with Chicago street culture. However, the lyrics on his second effort Resurrection, took a far more serious tone.

The album is split into two sections. The first half of the album is entitled East Side of Stony, while the remaining tracks are labeled West Side of Stony (As a reminder to all of you geographically-challenged Chicagoans, “Stony” refers to Stony Island Avenue, a street on Chicago’s South side). Throughout the album, Common has spoken word segments that, when pieced together, depict the story of life on Chicago’s troubled Southwest side.

While the album technically begins with the title-track Resurrection, it is birthed thematically through the second track, I Used to Love H.E.R., a track that compares the rise of modern hip hop to Common’s relationship with a woman. Lyrically, I Used to Love H.E.R. is an extraordinarily eloquent and informative depiction of the rap music industry.

I met this girl when I was ten years old
And what I loved most, she had so much soul
She was old school when I was just a shorty
Never knew throughout my life that she would be there for me

As the song opens, Common establishes how he began his relationship with rap music. In the second verse, Common describes the climax of his relationship with music. Specifically, he illustrates how hip hop culture led him to discover his true identity as an African-American.


Did a couple videos and became afrocentric
Out goes the weave, in goes braids, beads, medallions
She was on that tip about, stopping the violence
About my people she was teaching me
But not preaching to me but speaking to me

This is where the true impact of I Used to Love H.E.R. truly sinks in. For Common, music is more than just something that he enjoys listening to. For him, as it is for many of us music junkies, music is a means by which a person finds their identity. Specifically in regards to Common, hip hop introduced him to black culture- its history and its people.

But as is the case with most romantic relationships, the break-up is the most emotion-filled part. In Common’s case, his break-up with music came with his favorite rappers who, according to the lyrics, are west coast rappers. Essentially, Common is concluding that while many popular rappers may have achieved mainstream success, they were only able to do so by shedding their former identities in exchange for a fake gangster culture.


Now she’s a gangsta, rolling with gangsta bitches
Always smoking blunts and getting drunk
Tellin’ me sad stories, now she only fucks with the funk
Stressin’ how hardcore and real she is
She was the realest, until she got into show-biz


Let’s face it, whether you’re a hip hop fan or not, these are sentiments we can all relate to. We’ve all had that experience of losing a friend because of outside and uncontrollable sources-like, for example, popularity. But for those of us who do listen to quality hip hop, I Used to Love H.E.R. conveys ideas that we have all experienced personally.

There are 13 tracks that follow I Used to Love H.E.R., however, while it is near the beginning of the album, I Used to Love H.E.R. is truly the centerpiece of Resurrection. On the album, I Used to Love H.E.R. is the track that most accurately depicts, through humanizing music, the theme of personal identity.

Throughout the rest of the album, there are several stand-out tracks. One example can be found in the beautiful poetry of This is Me, a track near the end of the album which features a looped sample from rapper KRS who in the background of the song sings; I love the way I am, can’t nobody out here change me. In the context of the record, this track works in perfect harmony with the opening tracks of the album which deal in large part with the struggle to find one’s identity. The lyrics in This is Me provide a conclusion to the struggle. This is Me conveys a sense of confidence not found on the album’s earlier tracks.

A final track worth noting is Chapter 13 (Rich Man vs. Poor Man) which features two rappers portraying different characters; Common represents a poor man while his partner YNot raps on behalf of a rich man. Back and forth throughout the song, the two MCs trade barbs including this hilarious exchange which refrences Chicago’s section 8 housing program:

Common:

See I make money, money doesn't make me
I'm a reflection of my section and my section 8

Ynot (in response):

I own 8 sections of the world, where I'm sexin' 8 girls
To have them comin' in 8 seconds

While the track continues on with humorous one-liners, the broader meaning of the track really symbolizes what Resurrection is all about: Overcoming personal struggle, outside influences and other distractions to be an individual.

According to Common, he named his second album Resurrection because his first album was hated by hip hop fans and music critics alike. Supposedly, the album was intended to symbolize Common’s rise from the dead and climb to the top. But for Common, Resurrection was really more of an induction. After its release in 1994, Common began to attract a broader nationwide fan base. But unlike the rappers that came before him who sold their souls to the record companies, Common stayed true to his roots.