A.T.I.

Common
Finding Forever
G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen
(8.6)

Having delivered six full length albums in a career spanning over fifteen years, Chi-town's most notable lyricist, Common, decided to record his seventh LP with a certain goal in mind- Finding Forever. This aspiration, to make timeless, memorable music, is one shared by many veteran artists hoping to cement their place in music history. Common's classic-esque Be (2005), certainly displayed his eagerness to create music for the ages, and if not thoroughly better, Finding Forever continues Common's trend of making genre-spanning music at a level rarely seen in hip-hop today.

Back on board to handle most of the production duties is Common's fellow Chi-town native, Kanye West, who duplicates his role from Be, producing roughly 3/4 of the album. This in itself sets apart Common's latest offering from the batch of under-whelming music flooding hip-hop in 2007; West equals the high standard of beat-making from Be, constantly pushing Common to deliver high-quality bars to match the smooth production. The blasé introduction and the subdued "Start The Show" make way for the album's current single "The People," where West flips a previously used Tupac sample ("All Bout U" from The Game's "Wouldn't Get Far") to compliment Comm's introspective lyrics, "at the Grammys, yo they tried to India Arie me, got backstage, and I bumped into Stevie, he said no matter what, the people gonna see me//Can't leave rap alone, the streets need me, hunger in they eyes, is what seems to feed me." The jazzy tones of "Black Maybe" are a stark contrast from the funky synths on "I Want You," where Common's seductive lyrics don't quite do Will.I.Am's beat much justice with lines like, "thoughts take me, to when we were close, addicted to your love, feel I need another dose."

The Lily Allen-assisted "Drivin' Me Wild" is a surprise highlight, as the UK vocalist meshes a dreamy hook with West's piano-dripping production and Common's thoughtful commentary on individuality and relationships. However, the sampled falsetto vocals and mediocre love-story-raps on "Break My Heart" are somewhat under-whelming, but Common then launches into the hard-hitting "The Game," which features the legendary DJ Premier providing cuts that help Kanye set the tone for the dark verbal assault: "They tried to back me in like Cassius, Clay, hey I'm like Mohammad when he fasted//opposing the fascists, made cuts and got gashes, scratches over third eye-lashes//punchlines are like jab hits to rappers, who's careers are now ashes, they’re too many slashes, in his name."

Kanye's co-producer of "Diamonds From Sierra Leone," Devo Springsteen, smartly utilizes a Nina Simone sample on the moody "Misunderstood" before Common effectively closes things out with the uplifting gem "Forever Begins". Here, West rehashes the gospel stylings of yester-year, complimenting the reminiscing lyrics of Lonnie Lynn, the man behind the rapper, "It was in the wind when she said Dilla was gone, that's when I knew he'd live forever through song." The great effort with which Common and Kanye West create music is crystal clear on Finding Forever, as they craft an album that exemplifies just why they will be remembered for years, perhaps even generations to come.

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'Let's get it clear like eucalyptus, if you conflicted'

gin8u

dope review.
I like the album too.

Rocky

finally we get ur review..great post

Nokturnal

good stuff. However, my comp is acting gay and won't let me open any folders that I have extracted from .rar files lately. All the files I have extracted won't open. This is dumb as fuck on acccount of I can't listen to any albums anymore.

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1.2.3

i thought it was a solid release. i would have given it a 4/5. he had a few wack verses on the album but the rest was very consistant.

A.T.I.

yeah I was torn between 4 and 4.5, gave it the latter on account of a 4 doesn't really seperate it from the rest of albums coming out

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'Let's get it clear like eucalyptus, if you conflicted'

InFiNiTiZeD

very good review cant wait to buy it in a few days

Pineapple

kanye west completely runined the album......can somone teach him to say south?????????

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YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!:supersh ocked:

Back before they turned hip-hop to rap
It was always a place to party at, remember that?- Rakim

A.T.I.

I thought it was the "side" part he had most trouble with

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'Let's get it clear like eucalyptus, if you conflicted'

Pineapple

south was the part and he single handedly ruined the album any unreleased tracks???????that i can exchange with that song????????

__________________
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!:supersh ocked:

Back before they turned hip-hop to rap
It was always a place to party at, remember that?- Rakim

mEatwaD

lmao, i cant stand that south side song.... but the rest of the album i thought was dope.

Better Than You

Just bought the album, listening to it for the first time now.

Sounding very dope so far...but im only on track 3

Rebel INS {CF}

^ ur a fucca for having it today ....... im goin up the road to get it on like wednesday ... thursday

did u get it in hmv ? how much u fuccca ?!?!

Better Than You

Yeah i got it at HMV. £9.95!!

f4ng

well-done review. good read ATI. And yea surprisingly, the song "Driving Me Wild" grew quickly on me. I might have given it a 4.5 just because it was a refreshing album in an age of commercialized rap.

Just_Blaze

now that i've purchased the album i can read this review and this review does the album justice. good review. i enjoyed the album.

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"tell blaze to stop it wit the embarassing posts.....he's making everything die" - Grandmaster G

thestreets

props on da review....

Outlaw

dope album most is good

moniquethe1

nice review

Brolic

How come this is in underground reviews. Its not an underground album

Nice Album btw.