Common - Finding Forever

What Happened?

Fans of Common's earlier work will not be pleased with this release. From a lyrical perspective, I've always thought Com was just a bit sloppy with his wording, but he's definitely written plenty of good, clever rhymes throughout his career, and the subject matter of his music has been commendable to say the least. The lyrical content on Finding Forever is a far cry from the socially conscious, culturally relevant music we've all come to expect from Common. It sounds as though he locked himself in a room with a television set and watched VH1 for an entire weekend. Pop culture references like "Ryan and Reese" will leave you dumbfounded. I'm not one to throw around terms like "sellout," but it practically goes without saying on this album. A few catchy beats here and there are all this album has going for it in my opinion. I might recommend downloading some of the better instrumentals (I'm partial to "Break My Heart") and sparing yourself the painful realization that Common has developed a taste for mainstream recognition and there is no turning back. June 23, 2008

Whenever I'm on the prowl for a rap record or artist to listen to, I always look to Bill O'Reilly to pre-screen them for me!!!!!

Unlike the majority of reviewers who are rap sycophants, I don't enjoy the genre, and I haven't listened to much rap. My precious little exposure to rap comes from a ways back in the early 90s when rap music wasn't the ghetto-minded, violence-and-crime-endorsing cesspool that it is today. Remember when rap music was innocent and not sociopathic as in that group called Kriss Kross, where two young guys had a gimmick where they dressed in reverse styles???? Lately, my public awareness about rap has been awakened by the great FNC (Fair and Balanced, y'know!) host, Bill O'Reilly (who's looking out for YOU, y'know!), when he spotlighted the disconcertingly destructive lyrics that rappers abuse nowadays.

Wanting to see if his shocking-but-true reports about toxic rappers (such as Snoop Dogg/Nas) were true, I decided to purchase one of the biggest rap records out now based on sales, and that's Common's last effort. To my chagrin as well as realistic expectation, much of the great O'Reilly's warnings coming from exposes of the rap community were verified by my listening to Common's latest record!!!!

Despite that Common's last record isn't as shockingly profane and inciting as other, more anti-social records from Snoop Dogg et al, Common's misuse and misjudgment of lyrics really lowers the listening experience to the point of revulsion. Whenever I suffer hearing lowlife lyrics such these that Common's used, I always deride the artist for two evildoings: one, for profaning the culture and, two, for being too intellectually lazy to come up with better descriptive words.

Take the infamous song "Start the Show." Many of the reviewers here are already be hardened to the raw, abrasive references in rap, so, again, this song's lyrics are likely non-offensive to them, but to me--who practices decency--they're foul abominations. This slighting song features lines like "the PIMPS and the HOES, HOES," "Yellin (Fu** the police)...," "...brief these nig*az on who I be," and "...nig*az knew Rashid!" This is only in the first couple of minutes!!!!

When I hear these execrable excuses for "lyrics"--which black "activists" like Sharpton and Jackson tolerate while only damning white guys like Don Imus--I'm resentful and outraged despite I'm not a minority. I also sentence all the unduly glorifying reviews from earlier reviewers as being absolutely misdirecting as no person can find any of the trumped-up credit within these lyrics said reviewers have been claiming. In only the few snippets I cited above, Common has heinously managed to incite animosity to the police, demean black people, and disrespect women!!!! Again, where in Common's Finding Forever is the merit????

Let's move on to another nightmare: Southside. A few choice examples are: "Nig*as out in Georgetown," "A conscious nig*a with mac like Steve Jobs," and "With nig*as masked up..." Again, I dare any of Common's sheeple-fans to defend these lyrics and divulge what's so praiseworthy about them. Whenever Common uses racial slurs like nig*a--there'd also better not be a double-standard enforced that blacks can use that pejorative while anyone else cannot--he just hurts his own community and lowers decency in general. In addition to these racial affronts, Southside's beat is hypnotically redundant and the lyrics pitifully struggle to be imaginative and clever, but they fall short savagely.

Since he's a rapper, Common's also of the elitist ideology that he's got to address some social issues, and he does this in U, Black Maybe. In it, Common moans insincerely about the black community's problems ranging from discrimination to self-imposed black problems like gang violence and unwanted teen pregnancies. The irony here is monstrously uncontrollable as Common himself--with his gloating promotion of racial slurs, disrespect to women and animosity to the cops--is a part of the problems of the black community. Pathetically, though, he doesn't rap about himself, though he should!!!!

This was my first rap CD, and it made such a disparaging impression on me that it's served to repulse me to the whole rap genre. In a nutshell, the great O'Reilly's right: rap is largely destructive and obscene. What also has me provoked is how Common--and this goes for other rappers, too--sounds very illiterate when rapping; this is not helped at all by the fact that he raps in "ebonics" and makes up colloquial-but-not-official words in his inferior "poetry" that's disguised as rap.

Lastly, and this is calculated precisely for the Common-sheeple who brownnose him at all costs: according to Wikipedia, Common's an inglorious man who's got some character flaws. For one, he's a racist. In a Touch magazine interview, he actually derogated fellow black men for dating white women; secondly, in 2006, at an Emory University concert, he ineptly and discreditably rapped how certain he was that the three Duke Lacrosse players raped the black stripper (of course, all three white players were declared innocent). Further, he named his daughter after an infamous Black Panther!!!! At the risk of redundancy, what the hell do Common's fans praise him for? April 18, 2008

Incredible CD.... even for people who might not normaly explore RAP!!!!!

I head this in a friends car, and I couldn't believe how good this is! I am getting burnt on all the normal releases in the Rap world, more of a Hendrix, Al Green type of listner lately, or hard rock.... but this is fantastic....And of course that lead me to snoop around a bit more and I heard the new Devin the Dude 'Smoke Sessions' CD...that's even better! I don't know if this means I am having some sort of midlife crisis or not, but great, great CD's....check out that Devin the Dude Cd.....Brilliant! April 17, 2008

More than just a "conscious emcee"

Common is more than just a conscious emcee rapping over abstract beats. His highly anticipated, seventh album is a glorious tribute to the legendary hi-hop producer, J Dilla, who passed away in 2006 of complications related to Lupus. Finding Forever describes Common's desire to leave a legacy through his creative contributions to the world. Highly recommended an would also recommend Devin the Dude's latest release, Smoke Sessions Vol. 1 his first release since leaving Rapalot and his only release to ever hit the Billboard charts. April 10, 2008

Forever found.

A nice set of tracks on here with a good flow to the cd. This was my first Common purchase and I still cannot figure out why. I definitley enjoyed the cd. Good lyrics and great vibe to it. Track 11 is my favorite. It portrays Commons persona perfectly, "Misunderstood." April 2, 2008

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