Common, Like Water For Chocolate (MCA) 9+
On his fourth release, Common is confident enough not to rely on the guest star power of Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, as he did on 1997's One Day It Will All Make Sense. The Chicago native and current Brooklyn resident continues, however, to feature a slew of other slightly less famous musical collaborators with enriching results. The album kicks off with "Time Travelin' (A Tribute to Fela)" featuring the deceased King of Afrobeat's son Femi Kuti, and some eerie post-Bitches Brew trumpet playing by Roy Hargrove. At 6:37, however, the song is about eight minutes too short to properly pay homage to Fela's massive afro-funk grooves. The majority of the album is produced by The Soulquarians, including D'Angelo and executive producer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson from The Roots, providing an earthy, soulful sound that perfectly suits Common's typically righteous raps. It's a tribute to A Tribe Called Quest's lasting influence that an organic, 50s-era hard bop jazz vibe permeates the album. The funk groove extends on the James Brown-worthy "Heat" and the syncopated "Cold Blooded" with imaginative background vocals by The Roots. The album settles into an easyflowing, loping cadence, highlighted by strong appearances by Mos Def ("The Questions") and MC Lyte on "A Film Called (Pimp)," an audacious and hilarious look at how men simultaneously pander to the latest popular feminist discourse while still trying to hold on to their mack daddy images. The album peaks at the end with "A Song For Assata," a moving, harrowing tribute to the Black Panther revolutionary Assata Shakur, who was shot and beaten by police and had her daughter taken from her before being exiled to Cuba. Goodie Mob's Cee-Lo provides soulful backing vocals. It's encouraging to see the supportive, collaborative spirit between hip-hoppers that harkens back to the golden age of jazz when individual egos took a back seat to the love of music. This could be a sign of a second golden age of hip-hop. While Like Water For Chocolate doesn't quite deserve the hype of its package sticker, "The first must-have hip-hop album of 2000" (heLLOOO, Blackalicious?!), it certainly measures up to the passionate, magical-realist book by Laura Esquivel it took its title from.
