Resurrection: Use your Common Sense and get it ASAP

Common Sense, now know as Common, released his incredible sophomore album in 1994. Resurrection definitely left Common's mark on the hip-hop scene, and he is still the only Chicago rapper to achieve some sort of fame. While the G-Funk and West Coast rappers were dominating the game, and the East Coast gritty rhymes and street poetry were coming up, Common released this classic from the center of the country, unlike any other. The jazzy production and original lyricism make this album a classic..

Track List and Ratings
1. Resurrection (*****)
2. I Used To Love H.E.R. (*****)
3. Watermelon (*****)
4. Book Of Life (*****)
5. In My Own World (Check The Method) (*****)
6. Another Wasted Nite With...
7. Nuthin' To Do (*****)
8. Communism (*****)
9. WMOE (N/A)
10. Thisisme (*****)
11. Orange Pineapple Juice (*****)
12. Chapter 13 (Rich Man Vs. Poor Man) Feat Ynot (*****)
13. Maintaining (*****)
14. Sum Sh*t I Wrote (*****)
15. Pop's Rap (N/A)

Starting off the album is the title track, Resurrection. This witty braggadocio track, filled with great production from No I.D., showcases Common's great poetic and clever rhymes. Following the first track is the classic I Used to Love H.E.R.. If you have heard of any song by Common, most likely it was this great. Here, Common describes a woman who he loved, and how she slowly degraded to someone who did everything for money. With the last line explaining the whole meaning of the song, you realize it is one incredible metaphor for hiphop. He even explains how she goes to L.A. and makes money. She's only "Rollin' with gangsta b*tches", and "now she only f*cks with the funk." This song just completely blows my mind, how realisticaly he compares this female to the degradation of rap. Over the simple beat from No I.D., this track is Common's defining moment in his career.

On Watermelon, Common drops the seriousness and lays down a funny and unfocused freestyle. Don't let the word "unfocused" scare you, this freestyle is definitely good. No I.D. puts down some great production here, putting this at the same level as most of the tracks on the album (5 stars). Following this, Common gets more serious again on Book of Life. He raps about the trouble he has been through in his life, with a sampled chorus, while No I.D. drops the jazzy beat for a hard drum on the beat.

I may not be the darkest, brotha/
But I was always told to act my age, not my color

No I.D. himself joins Common on In My Own World, a battle/braggadocio rap, over a beat produced from xylophones and drums. Later on, we get a great jazzy beat, in Nuthin' to Do. About the lifestyle in the "Southside of Chicago," the production is fantastic and Common's lyrics are amazing too. This is the jazziest track on the album, and its very relaxing, something many other rap albums can't give you. Communism has Common showing off his rhyming skills and lyricism. He raps with many words starting with "Com," using wordplay of his name and the track name. A clever track, with more brilliant lyrics, something we've come to expect from Common by this point in the album.

After a brief interlude (WMOE), Common gets introspective and personal on Thisisme. Common describes and analyzes his niche in the game of hip-hop, and himself as a person and a performer. All of these detailed, wonderful lyrics over a lighter-mood type beat from No I.D., featuring pianos and drums. Very nice track. The next track, Orange Pineapple Juice, is filled with brilliant and witty lyrics. Common stuffs this song with so many wordplays and puns its hard to keep track of whats going on. Although their is no real subject matter on this track, Common's sense of humor and puns are just amazing. Chapter 13 (Rich Man vs Poor Man) is my second favorite track on the album (after I Used to Love H.E.R., almost everyone's favorite). Here, the producer Ynot joins Common to portray two different men, Ynot as the rich man, and Common as the poor man. Humorous lyrics, great bassline, and all-around classic-ness. Ynot takes the mic, and although not to the level of Common, he manages to hold his own and spits some pretty ill verses. This is a great track that could be appealing to fans from all genres, much like Common's other tracks on this CD:

Ok there was a black man, a white man, and a chinese man
The black man of course he was po'
THe white man. He was rich
And the chinese man, he owned a sto'
Ok the black man lived on Beech Street
The white man lived on Wall Street
And the chinese man's store is where they all meet
Not really on the good foot
Because the white man kept steppin' on the black man's toes
And in his shoes there were holes
But the white man didn't care, sh*t he didn't have to wear it
He scratched that pad he got from his parents, with his tight @ss
He would have been poor white trash, but anyway
Everyday the black man would ask for some spare change
But Adam, the white man would stare strange
So the black man got fed up
'Cause wasn't nobody feedin' him and feedin' him
And took red by his neck and started beatin' him and beatin' him
The chinese man got 'noyed and broke out like a peon
And now the black man owns the store and the name of it is Leon's
Barbeque that is. Rib tips hotsuace, mild sauce, fries..


Following this track, the album finishes in a strong fashion. The tracks Maintaining and Sum Sh*t I Wrote are both great braggadocio tracks, the latter of the two over a deep jazzy, funky beat by Ynot. Sum Sh*t I Wrote is Common at his freestyling finest, and is a terrific way to end the musical part of the album. To close out the album, we get Pop's Rap, where Common's father himself discusses his son over 100% jazz. Perfect way to end the album.

With Resurrection, we get Common as an intelligent, witty, and all around amazing emcee. From the humorous Watermelon, to the rather sad I Used to Love H.E.R, to the introspective Thisisme, Common shows skill that has rarely been matched in hip-hops history. Its hard to do justice to an album this good. If you don't have it, I suggest you go get it. You won't be disappointed.