Why doesn’t Common get mentioned in more “Top MC” conversations?
Common has been in this game since ’92, look at all the bullsh*t he’s been through? So called beef with you know who, f*cked a fewfemalestars or two. But yet, as far as rap lists are concerned he is never mentioned alongside Biggie or any of the other greats.
Why is that?
The man has a 10 rap album catalog [yes, we are still counting Electric Circus], has recorded with everyone from KRS-One to Kanye West and he is responsible for one of the greatest Hip-Hop songs of all time, “I Used To Love H.E.R.”
But, if you were to go out and ask a Hip-Hop listener if Common is in their “Top 5” or even their “Top 10” you may just get a response saying that he’s not even in their Top 30. Or you may get a puzzled face because that person never even considered placing Common in a “Top” anything. He never gets mentioned in the same breath as Nas although he’s made music with him, and he’s lucky if he gets listed as better than 70% of the Wu-Tang Clan.
Can a case be made for Common to be put in your “Top” list?
Photo: Screenshot
Jay Z has complained about finding the balance between critical acclaim and commercial success. Hell, he even name dropped Common on “Moment Of Clarity” when he rapped about the problem.
If skills sold, truth be told, I’d probably be lyrically Talib Kweli
Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense
But I did 5 mill’ – I ain’t been rhyming like Common since
Granted, Common hasn’t sold five million records, but he has sold around 2.5 million though. And, in his 20-plus years in the game he has found the balance that Jay claims is so hard to achieve.
Common has recorded songs with people and companies like Rawkus Records, who at one time represented the epitome of backpacker Hip Hop.
Fast forward 2014 and Common is winning Oscars for “conscious” songs like “Glory” that was the driving force behind the movie Selma.
To go from being featured on “underground” Rawkus compilations to winning Academy Awards is quite a good example of balance. Dare we say that he proved Jigga’s theory wrong?
Back in 1996, in one of his many volatile interviews, 2Pac once told Sway that he advised Biggie to “rap for the bitches…Do not rap for the niggas…he bitches will buy your records, and the niggas want what the bitches want.” Obviously the formula worked as B.I.G. went on to make hits like “Big Poppa,” and “One More Chance,” becoming the “heartthrob never, Black and ugly as ever” guy that women grew to love despite his looks.
To keep things respectful moving forward, lets remove “the b*tches” and replace them “the women.” Now, let’s consider who actually makes up most of Common’s fanbase. DING! DING! DING! The women.
When he came out with “The Light” in 2000 rapping about his adoration of the fairer sex, Common went from respected MC to “cute rapper” in the ladies’ eyes. He wasn’t a shirtless sex symbol, but he was definitely someone that women didn’t mind looking at. He’s been playing that card when he had to and wanted to ever since.
Now, if The Notorious B.I.G. is considered an all-time great because of his ability to appeal to both men and women, and he got that advice from a fellow great in 2Pac, why can’t Common be considered great for pulling that off too?
When LL Cool J called himself the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) in 2000, he had the catalog and legacy to back it up. It’s hard to argue against a man who created Hip-Hop’s first love song with “I Need Love,” creating the template for the “for the ladies” song that is almost mandatory for every Hip-Hop album ever since.
Beyond that, it’s even harder to argue against a man who at one point was counted out and called washed up, only to make one of the biggest comebacks ever with “Mama Said Knock You Out.”
After releasing his Electric Circus album in 2002, Common found himself in a similar situation. The schizophrenic album was universally panned by critics and it took him three years to recover and comeback. That comeback album wound up being the best album of his career.
When Be dropped in 2005 Common was 33-years old attempting to make a comeback in a genre that has long been considered to be a “young man’s sport.” Crunk music was at it’s height, Southern Hip-Hop was running sh*t, and even Gangsta rap was still striving on the backs of G-Unit. There wasn’t supposed to be any space for a non-controversial 30-something year old rapper coming off his worst album. But, backed by production from a talented but not-yet-“Famous” Kanye West and J Dilla, Common delivered the grown man rap album that Hip-Hop fans didn’t know they needed yet. He could have went the route that most artists making a comeback go by linking with the “hottest” producers at the moment and riding whatever trend had the most momentum. Instead he rapped from the perspective of the person that he was at that very moment. He didn’t try to recreate “I Used To Love H.E.R.” and he didn’t try to make a Crunk song either. He did just what the album title suggested and tried is best to just “be.” Oh yeah, it was rumored that Be stood for “Before Erykah” hinting that dating Erykah Badu is what led to him creating the catastrophe that was Electric Circus. He denied that accusation, even though it would make complete sense if it was true.
LL’s comeback album Mama Said Knock You Out was followed by 13 more years of hit singles and Gold and Platinum selling albums, virtually cementing his spot as an all-time great. Common’s Be was followed by a solid 11-year run that brought him one Gold album and three #1 Billboard rap albums. This doesn’t sound like “Top” statistics to you?
Any competitor or artist claiming to be the greatest or being considered one of the greatest has to be tested. Either that or challenge whoever the greatest is themselves. While Common has never gone around bumping his chest demanding a crown or throne, he hasn’t backed down from a challenge either.
When he stuck out his neck on “I Used To Love H.E.R.” asking other rappers to “stop f*cking up” Hip-Hop, not everybody obliged. His bold statements were met with resistance from from West Coast legend Ice Cube who teamed up with Mack 10 and W.C. to record “Westside Slaughterhouse” and spew the lyrics:
All you suckas want to dis the pacific
But you buster niggas never get specific
Used to love her, mad cause we f*cked her
P*ssy whipped bitch with no Common Sense
Up to this point, Ice Cube was still one of the most feared MC’s on the mic. After all, this is the man who wrote “No Vaseline” and single-handedly defeated NWA on wax. But, Common didn’t back down from the fight that Cube was bringing and proceeded to drop the scathing 1996 diss track “The B*tch In Yoo.”
In just over three minutes Common completely destroyed Cube and made even the biggest Cube fans look at him differently. Just read the lyrics from the first verse alone:
A b*tch n*gga with an attitude named Cube
Stepped to the Com wit a feud
Now what the f*ck I look like dissing a whole coast
You ain’t made sh*t dope since AmeriKKKa’s Most
Wanted to cease from the Midwest to the East
On the dick of the East for your 1st release
Your lease is up at the crib, house niggas get evicted
In videos with white boys talking you get Wicked
Natural Born Killa, n*gga you natural born God
Read, rich, got the nerve to say you rob
Hyprocrite, I’m filling out your Death Certificate
Slinging bean pies and St Ide’s in the same sentence
Shoulda repented, on the 16th of October
Get some beats besides George Clinton to rock over
Rap career is over, better off acting
What trouble I see, you’re managing WC and Wack 10
You backed in to a four corner hustla
Lying on your d*ck, said you was fuckin her
Use Higher Learning, don’t take my words out of ‘text
Went from gangsta to Islam to the d*ck of Das EFX
It’ll take the Nation of Millions to Hold Me Back
From giving you mouth shots or hit wit the pipe Ralph got
Chris Tucker ain’t around, it’s your Friday, it was good
I wasn’t salty, she was wit the Boyz N the Hood
Cube never responded and it did indeed take the nation to hold Common back as the rising beef was squashed after both men met with Minister Louis Farrakhan.
Now, if shutting up the self-proclaimed “N*gga You Love To Hate” and co-founding father of Gangsta Rap isn’t worthy of “Top” consideration, what is?
Now, every great takes an L now and then too, unless you’re Floyd Mayweather. Then again, he likes to wear those Mary J. Blige boots ever so often, so that’s an L itself.
But, even though Common came out on top in his feud with Ice Cube, he didn’t fare so well later in his career when he found himself in a war of words with Drake.
When he released his 2011 single “Sweet” many took it to be a jab at Drake since the song mocked rappers who sing.
While Common would later insist that the song was not directed at anyone in particular, he still still offered the shoe to whoever it fit on. Drake took offense and decided to try those shoes on. He shot back at Common with his scene stealing verse on Rick Ross’ “Stay Schemin.'”
Common would respond two days after the song was released with his own “Stay Schemin” remix, proving that even though he was much older than Drake, he was still “with the sh*ts” as the young people say.
Even though Common wound up making two tracks, Drake still came away the victor based off the fact that you’re going to find more people who remember his “Stay Schemin'” verse than people who even know that “Sweet” and his “Stay Schemin'” reply even exist. Common would also later admit that he started the whole thing because of Drake’s relationship with his ex-girlfriend Serena Williams. While Common may have lost the battle, it was still dope to see that he was still down to enter the arena.
Storytelling has always been considered a necessary skill for any rapper that was to be considered a great. Biggie has “I Got A Story To Tell,” Scarface has “I Seen A Man Die,” 2Pac has “Brenda’s Got A Baby,” Jay Z has “Friend Or Foe” and Nas has “One Love.”
Common has “Testify.”
Don’t act like you weren’t on the edge of your seat the first time you heard this song. At certain points the intricate tale stops being a song and turns into a audio movie. Common flawlessly raps around Kanye West sampling the beat and lyrics from Honey Cone’s “Innocent Until Proven Guilty” creating one of the best lyric and sample synergies Hip-Hop has ever heard.
Again, the question is asked, is this not worth of “Top” consideration?
In order to be considered a “Top” rapper you have to have top notch beats from top notch producers. To get top notch beats from top notch producers, you have to prove that your lyrical skill is worth their time. Sure, they will take a nice check for their services, but at the end of the day greatness wants to be affiliated with greatness. That has to be the reason why Common is one of the few rappers walking the planet who can say he has worked with DJ Premier, J Dilla, Kanye West and Pharrell and actually made classics with each one of them.
How many rappers can you name that have made better songs than these with these producers separately or collectively? Not that many.
Lastly [for now], to be considered a “Top” MC you have reach back and work with artists who are coming behind you. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to start a label and try to sign them, but at least try to work with the youth. Common has done a good job at not becoming old head who thinks they are too good to rap with artists who aren’t from their era.
He went of his way to work with younger artists on his most recent album, 2014’s Nobody’s Smiling. Not only did he snatch up younger talents like Vince Staples and Big Sean to appear on the record…
…he even as far as to put fellow Chicagoans like King Louie, Lil Herb, Dreezy and Lil Bibby on the covers for the deluxe version of the album.
These are the reasons we came up with as to why Common should be considered in more “Top” debates. Do you have any more reasons why? Or do you have any reasons why not?
