Album Listening: Common goes raw on The Dreamer, The Believer
Chi-Town’s finest previews his forthcoming album in Atlanta at Jermaine Dupri’s studio
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Common started to unbutton his plaid shirt. So far he’s only previewed one track from his ninth studio album at Jermaine Dupri’s SouthSide Studios, yet the side of his head had already started glistening. “I’m about hip-hop,” he said, “and when I worked with No I.D., that was a reminder.”
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In 2005 he lamented, “When we perform, it’s just coffee shop chicks and white dudes.” In 2008, he enlisted the Neptunes and announced, “Broads say, ‘Are you a philosopher?’ / Yeah yeah, I’ll philosophize on top of ya.” He still calls himself a socially conscious rapper at his convenience, most recently in the midst of a conservative media fit. (Michelle Obama invited him to a White House poetry and spoken word event. Sarah Palin’s tweeted response: “Oh lovely, White House...”) Common’s tried for years to redefine what hip-hop means to him, and in the months leading up to the Dec. 20 release of The Dreamer, The Believer, he’s mainly offered one word: “raw.”
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And that’s how The Dreamer, The Believer sounded — at first. As his voice blared through the speakers, sounding as if he was paging from a two-way radio, Common lyrically navigated listeners in attendance — including Keri Hilson, Young Jeezy and Ne-Yo — through a party, from vibing with a girl (“She on the Bacardi / getting twisted like the lime”) to the outcome when another dude tries to interfere. His course of action? Smash a bottle on his head. The title of the track? Yup, “Raw.” He cut off the slightly ominous “Sweet” early, but not before he searched for anyone who’d meet his gaze and recited, “I’m hip-hop / but Obama is the politics.”