Let Love - Common: Review
is a Los Angeles based rapper who was very influential in the world of jazz-centric conscious rap in the late 90's and early 2000's. Albums like Be and Like Water For Chocolate are sounds of a specific era in hip hop they are among the best in that era. Common has had a more difficult time recreating that success in more recent years, coming the closest on his last record Black America Again in 2016 but now that he is back many old school hip hop fans are hoping he has something substantial to say on this new record.
Review By Lavender:
Common has some great songs, albums and features in his back catalog that are among the best of his era in hip hop. Be is a fantastic record and if you've never heard it before I highly recommend it. Unfortunately since this great record Common has failed to really impress me and even when many were justifiably impressed by his socially conscious 2016 record Black America Again he was still sounding to me like a rapper stuck in his past and sounding very out of his place in 2016. I wasn't really excited for this album and ultimately the record is exactly what I expected it to be, but thankfully a few moments on the album really shine and prove that Common still has it, in some capacity.
The intro cut here Good Morning Love is a lowkey song with some sweet piano and rumbling percussion. Common is sharp and personal in his lyricism and while the flows are a little bit loose it's for good purpose as the words he's crafting stand more effectively as a result. The song is an emotional catharsis right from the start and sets a lyrical standard that the rest of the album can't keep up with. Forever Your Love contains what is probably the best feature on the album with BJ The Chicago kid singing an understated but fitting hook that I like quite a bit. Common himself has one of his better moments riding the smooth and jazzy beat effectively and sounding like he's really turning back the clock as well.
Leaders is probably my favorite song here as from a lyrical standpoint it is unmatched. The song opens up with references to Derrick Rose and Depeche Mode before diving into one clever bar after another referencing rappers new and old. This is just the kind of song that keeps me interested in what Common is doing as the years go by and I wish more of the album sounded like this. Leaders is immediately followed by Memories Of Home a sweet jazzy song with some solid guest vocals and a frontal and commanding performance from Common himself for yet another highlight. Finally God Is Love is a warm and rewarding closer that comes at the right time and glides the album out in a pretty effective way that makes it one of the more standout tunes here.
Unfortunately that is all I really enjoyed of the record and the list of underwhelming moments includes some of the records singles that forecasted the albums quality. Her Love is a super wack crossover of R&B and hip hop that couldn't possibly fall shorter given the seriously awful singing from Daniel Caesar and a mountain full of old man bars from Common. Plus at four and a half minutes this song is one of the more headache inducing singled I've heard this year. Hercules is another whiff of a song that sees Swizz Beatz and Common being on completely different pages in regards to the vocals and beat of this thing. Commong is dropping these inspirational bars and eye rolling corny lyrics over this bouncy and clearly dancy instrumental that sounds like something from The Carter V, it just doesn't work.
Fifth Story is an attempt at a really compelling story track and there are seriously some compelling moments to the song but it is surrounded by some incredibly whack bars that comes one after another after another, and on top of this Leikeli47, who also had a lackluster moment on the recent Rapsody record, handles what is comfortably the worst hook on the entire project here for a nauseating track. Show Me That You Love Me isn't a song I'm totally living for with the lyrics being delivered like they are telling a story but none of the lyrics are really that cohesive or connected in a way that justifies Common essentially talk-rapping over one of the weirdest and most out of place instrumentals on the record. Finally My Fancy Future Love features some very tough lows and bears despite a pretty decent beat. The hook is also decent and I just with Common was better on the song because it could have been solid.
Let Love is kind of what I feared would happen when Common announced he has a new record on the way. What attempts he makes to modernize his sound typically fall horribly flat on their face and even some of the moments where he sticks in his comfort zone feature struggle bars that would have never made it onto his best records. Ultimately the album has something to offer for fans that remember his heyday, but will be one of the more inconsequential releases of his career especially in the increasingly saturated world of hip hop. 4/10
For more conscious hip hop check out my review of Rapsody's Eve here
