The phrase “finding forever” carries a laundry list of connotations — perpetually finding something, finding the endlessness of time, etc. — none of which are very concrete and none of which can be said to be wrong. But the rendering that seems to describe Chi-town mainstay Common’s latest release Finding Forever is much more ominous: death. Not that the self-proclaimed conscious rapper harps on the subject or seems infatuated with the idea, but this collection of referential love songs and vacant lines plays as a eulogy for his long-since fading career.
It was only a matter of time after the first airing of his shameless GAP ad that Finding Forever would arise. With the image of the bearded, backpacker confidently strutting in front of a snow white backdrop with twenty-somethings hawking the latest cargo pants indefinitely engrained in Common’s image, he transcended the traditional rap game and become something of a pop icon. Not that other artists haven’t become similarly canonized, but it was this ad that had a serious and palpable impact on what Common subsequently could and could not do in his career.
Common can no longer appeal to the hip hop community. Not that he doesn’t want to, but because he simply can’t. His legitimacy seems all but lost and it’s his own conscious doing. On Finding Forever, he has become the equivalent of “adult-rock” for hip hop: Common is the Barry Manilow of hip hop. He’s immediately laughable with little hope for redemption, loved only by soccer moms looking to connect with their kids on a hipper level.
As this comes from one of the more serious and socially conscious emcees of the past decade, this degradation is especially bothersome. Touted as an artist above the rest — smarter, quicker, more aware — Common’s sudden pitfall into the holds of mainstream sales and urgent product placement is the sharpest nail in the conscious hip hop coffin. He’s almost completely abandoned his fans for the sake of profitability: hypocrisy above most in recent music history. And not that Billboard ratings aren’t important, but a divergence this immense from an artist who claims to be so powerfully steeped in his art is simply ludicrous.
Rarely does a track spin on Finding Forever that doesn’t carry an outlandish pop culture reference. He is willing to forfeit all lyrical and sonic quality in order to make an off-handed pun about the latest Disney film (“The People”), Bobby and Whitney (“Drivin’ Me Wild”), or Mac products (“Southside”). He’s not trying to make good music anymore. He’s trying to be appealing. He’s trying to sell records to GAP patrons, and connect with them on the most base level. He’s trying to sell GAP clothes.
Years past his prime and a time when he had something interesting to say, this comes as no surprise. Common has been recycling the same lovelorn description of his significant other in a smoky bar on every disc he’s released: golden brown skin, hazel eyes, 36-24-36, appeals to his intellect. Finding Forever’s recycled chapter is the blandly entitled “Drivin’ Me Wild.” The track does boast an admittedly catchy hook sung by British songstress Lily Allen.
Most disappointingly about Finding Forever is that it seemed like Common had finally found a pair and was ready to really speak his mind. The proper opener “Start the Show” finds the soft-spoken emcee seemingly calling out the hip hop he so diligently preaches against. Lines like, “Twelve monkeys on stage / It’s hard to see who’s a guerrilla / You were better as a drug dealer” finally show Common’s true feelings towards his more ill-mouthed contemporaries. Finally, he’s opening up and saying what he’s only implied in the past but been too afraid to come with (due to the possible beef he’d create): Common thinks his brand of hip hop is better than what’s in the mainstream.
But the disc quickly devolves into the aforementioned mass of product placement and mind-melting puns. Worse still is the horrific production throughout Finding Forever. “The People’s” elevator-music keyboards are immediately grating while the rest of the record rides similar, lukewarm, airy beats.
Common’s said what he has to say and Finding Forever is just reinforcement. Such is the life of conscious rappers though. Mos Def went the way of Hollywood, focusing less on his music and more on his acting. Talib Kweli is barely staving off insignificance with sporadic releases. And Kanye West stands as the only one of the lot more afraid of obscurity than Common, hence the antics. Whether intentionally or not, Common really did find forever, but not quite the way he had hoped.
by Chris Gaerig
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COMMENTS
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You obviously know nothing about REAL hip-hop. Finding Forever proved that Common can still stay current and it was definitely a great album. What credibility do you have anyways?? like ur opinion even matters…
This has got to be the most fucked up review i have ever read. Is the guy who reviewed this one of those cats who’d give someone like Dem Franchise Boyz 10/10? I agree with the guy above, he knows NOTHING about REAL hip-hop, dude probably doesn’t even know what hip-hop is!
That has to be one of the worst reviews I have ever read. It is a great CD. Common may not appeal to those listening to recycled tracks about rims and bitches, and the same old southern garbage, I think that you need to start listening to some better music.
Harsh. It definitely wasn’t his best. But god damn
Are you serious . . . I read this obnoxious attempt of a review prior to listening to this album . . . after 2 tracks I realized that I had to totally disregard this idiot and his pathetic attempt to derail this iconic symbol of hip hop . . . Common is the epitome of hip hop and to say that he is “past his prime” shows the same disrespect shown by Nelly to KRS-One . . . Common is now putting out tracks that show the knowledge that comes with age . . . and as far as the GAP commercial . . . at least he is showing people that lyrics dont have to be one tracked and he HAS to keep in the spotlight so that people hear what he says . . . dude ur an idiot . .
Shop Boyz- 5.0
Common- 3.0
yes, this is clearly the spot for dead-on hip-hop reviews (Note sarcasm here).
not to mention that Common seems to be the first pop icon EVAR to never have a platinum album.
this review comes off as pure hate, pretentious writing from a reviewer who is clearly unaware of the opinions of actual hip-hop fans (I’m gunna assume those hip soccer moms are the closest you got to finding an actual rap fan)
try harder next time, chalk this one up as a loss
In agreement with the review, Common has fallen to the wayside. One is not straying from “real hip-hop” to believe so. Other’s commenting that a hater of common would be into more of the “gansta” or “hard” rap… that’s not true. Many are looking for what Common used to provide, not this commercial washed out baby-boomer LP. Perhaps if the review didn’t spend so much time crucifying common for GAP ads and more time explaining exactly how the numbers for the review work out, his fans wouldn’t be so upset.
I agree with this review fully, Common has slipped hard, and those of you that speak so highly of this album should go back and listen to his older music, then compare. The author here isn’t trying to discredit Common’s career as a hip hop artist at all, instead, he’s just making the simple point that Common is now washed up, he’s not what he once was. If you think that this album is “real Hip Hop” you’ve totally overlooked Common’s past albums at the height of his career, that, my friends, was true hip hop. This album does have 3-4 decent “sounding” tracks, but the lyrical content is only average..this album is like that one Auntie you have that’s pushing 45, and yet tries to act like she’s in her 20’s. Common went from “grown folks music”, to teeny bopper hip pop on this album.
I’m not so sure, it seemed more like this album should be titled Be and Be should have been titled Finding Forever. I feel that more than anything else on this album, he has just become very comfortable in just being and that’s what I think is the most memorable part of this album. It forsure aint one of Commeleon finest work and I can’t say I was truly excited about his experimenting with being a lyricist but I would not give this album anything less than a 7.0/10
Now all the Gap ad bashing just sounds like a backpacker taking the artists growth a little too personal. Common is one of the few artists in the musical world, let alone Hip-Hop, who can manage to juggle a honest rap career, do a Gap or RED commercial and not lose any integrity. I don’t really think anyone believes that Mr. Lynn has changed all that much just because of a few commercial appearances. As a true Com fan through and though, I was geeked to see him perform on New Years 06 and when he did those “Knowing is beautiful” commercials had me scanning BET waiting for them to come on just to hear some 30 seconds of spoken word.
The issue here is coming to accept that the man is just growing more and expanding as a human being, I still remember people making noise about how Nas had no consistency but I dont think anybody on these forums is ready to agree that I Am and Nastradamus were crap albums, just different. Than why aint Com aloud to experiment and try new things and just do what feels right to him? Hell, Image is a bitch, take it from an emcee and spoken word artist, it’s not becoming to have to wear two different hats to each occasion, one Soji fits all. Some days I feel like I feel to rock a Pirandello to a grimy local hip-hop show and other days just throw on a hoody to a mahogany tabled, candle burning spoken word gig and just Be… but here I am right where I started, Finding forever is just Becoming
So let the man Be…
-The Anuubian
I can’t say I’m thrilled with the album myself. But hey I’m not gonna complain about it. I think the review was really harsh. I would give the album no more then 5 honestly though… And I think the whole paragraph about the GAP though it may have some relevance to the state of Common in terms of his career, I feel that it was off kilter. Focus on the breakdown of the album. There’s better ways to do a critique of this album without totally sounding like you have a personal thing against Common. Write an article on your opinion of his career if you’d like to do so. Stick to the album. As much as I’m unhappy with the record. I wouldn’t trash it either… But that’s just me…
This is the worse review I’ve ever read
I’m glad some people in the hip hop community agree that Common is a piece of shit MC.
let the dude be man, if he feels it time he wants to talk about things he’s never talked about before he shud man. i’ve never listened to the whole album myself but the way your critics are it’s really as if you’ve got some beef with the dude.oh by the wayi think the track “the people” is dope.
Oh, you again. You’re the dude who trashed Pharoahe Monch. Now you’re trashing Common, Mos Def, AND Talib Kweli? There’s obviously something wrong with you. Finding Forever may be one of Common’s worst albums… I’ll agree with that, but this is an ALBUM REVIEW, not a place for you to write your whack opinions of the artist. You spent way too much time talking shit about Com and not enough time explaining why you dislike the album. If you got some beef with the man, write him a letter, but don’t waste 75% of you ALBUM REVIEW trashing the artist.
Here’s what you should have done: Take out all the shit-talking and you’d have about a paragraph of actual usable material in which you’re completely entitled to your opinion. But then instead of posting it, you should have kept it to yourself in your “Asshole Archive” and then let someone else who actually knows about hip hop write the review for you.