Is Common the most consistent artist in the game? The Artist Formerly Known As Sense has long proven his worth, constantly changing with the game, finding new ways to reinvent himself, but more or less always coming correct. With a career now spanning seven LP’s, it’s arguable as to which of his albums is best, but everyone can agree there’s more than one classic album in the bunch. 

   Two years ago, he came back with a vengeance with Be, a remarkable follow-up to the critically-acclaimed, yet fan-panned Electric Circus, under the watchful eye of fellow Chi-Town native Kanye West. The new direction on Be helped Com get back the lost ones who were disappointed with Electric Circus, crafting his best LP since Resurrection.  With his latest opus, Finding Forever, Com hopes to keep his core fanbase satisfied, not to mention bring in some new listeners as well. 

   Finding Forever is almost an official sequel to Be, as the production credits almost match it’s predecessor, with beats by Kanye West and J. Dilla, plus newcomers to the Common beat-set, Will.I.Am and G.O.O.D. Music upstart, Devo Springsteen. This album, however, takes a much more raw, back to basics approach than we’ve heard from Common lately. As evidenced on the first two singles, “The People” and “The Game”, Kanye is providing Com with classically structured hip-hop production, filled with fat samples and raw drum loops. The same can be said for previously leaked vocal duet with Kanye, “Southside”, here remixed with new vocals that half nothing to do with the Super Bowl. 

    But that’s not to say that Com hasn’t abandoned his usual cool, smoother persona. He’s got a handful of beautifully mellowed out joints here that allow him to show that side of his personality. Case in point is the Will.I.Am produced “I Want You”, where Will himself provides an infectious hook to Com’s breakup-to-makeup love rap. Here Will’s up-tempo drums don’t thwart the song’s bittersweet, melancholy feeling.  Later on the Devo Springsteen produced “Misunderstood”, which opens with the original Nina Simone sample, brilliantly stretching into a bluesy, Dilla-esque loop, as Common spits a narrative about a pair of lost souls.

    This topical side of Common shows up on several times on the album – for instance “Drivin’ Me Wild” is propelled by a dirty, broken piano loop, as Common spits from the third person perspective again about vanity. On “Black Maybe”, Common painfully speaks on defeating stereotypes, over another beautifully mellow Kanye track. He lightens the load on “Break My Heart” however, which finds him playfully spitting short, humorous eight-bar verses, even resurrecting his classic voice-cracking style from the early days of his career. 

    Common’s album is excellent, but not perfect. At only 12 tracks in length, the listener is left wanting for more, as the album clocks just less than 50 minutes long. With such a short LP, it’s a wonder why previously released songs like the Dilla produced “So Far To Go” were included, especially considering that many Common fans also bought (or stole) Dilla’s The Shining LP. On the same token, it’s nice to see that “Southside” was redone for this LP, but non-album tracks like the pair of elusive soundtrack / compilation songs “Play Your Cards Right” and “A Dream” would have been better additions, at least to beef the LP up a bit. Finally, the album’s closing track, “Forever Begins” is good – but hearing Pop rap once again – in perhaps his most cryptic, rambling speech yet – left us wanting more. 

     Granted, in the grand scheme of things, these minor, nit-picky details aren’t going to matter so much when we look back on this album ten or twenty years from now, especially amidst the sea of bullshit in stores today. With his latest, Common has delivered another scarily consistent LP, making sure his music finds its way into listeners’ ears forever.