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Electric Circus cost and won Common some fans. It was very exploratory, especially so for a rap album released in 2002, containing developments -- some of which soared, some of which sank -- that few longtime followers could have foreseen. Listeners either felt Common was picking up fresh, new inspirations, or that he was just being distracted by a whole lot of ill-fitting nonsense. With Be, it seems the MC has realized that not every album that's sprawling and eclectic is as good as Electric Ladyland or Songs in the Key of Life. More notably, he might've been struck with the fact that a high percentage of excellent albums are around 40 minutes in length and are built on a unified sound. Be is highly concentrated, containing 11 songs and involving two producers and a small number of guests. It's a 180 degree turn from Electric Circus, and in a bizarre way it's both a progression and a back-to-basics move. Kanye West and Dilla are key to the album's steadiness, rooting the sound in '70s soul and soul-jazz. That's no shakeup, but the two producers deserve some form of award for stringing together a consistent sequence of productions that is never monotonous, dull, or all that flashy. Even lead single "The Corner," heard well before Be's release, falls into the fabric of the album on first listen, as if that were where it belonged all along. Lyrically, Common comes back down to Earth -- the narratives are sharp as ever, the gripes are more like observations than screeds, and the eccentricities need to be teased out rather than swatted away. Be isn't likely to be referred to by anyone as groundbreaking, but it's one of Common's best, and it's also one of the most tightly constructed albums of any form within recent memory.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
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Derrick Hodge, BassGuitar - Kanye West, Producer, ComposerLyricist - James Poyser, Keyboard - Andrew Dawson, MixingEngineer, RecordingEngineer - Common, MainArtist - Taylor Dow, RecordingSecondEngineer - Lonnie Lynn, ComposerLyricist - Choker Campbell, ComposerLyricist - Francis Forde, RecordingSecondEngineer
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Abiodun Oyewole, ComposerLyricist - Kanye West, Producer, ComposerLyricist, BackgroundVocalist - Jared Robbins, MixingSecondEngineer - MANNY MARROQUIN, MixingEngineer - Leon Moore, ComposerLyricist - Andrew Dawson, RecordingEngineer - Common, MainArtist - The Last Poets, FeaturedArtist, BackgroundVocalist - Umar Bin Hassan, ComposerLyricist - Lonnie Lynn, ComposerLyricist - Tayor Dow, RecordingSecondEngineer
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Linda Lewis, ComposerLyricist - Kanye West, Producer, ComposerLyricist, BackgroundVocalist - Jared Robbins, MixingSecondEngineer - MANNY MARROQUIN, MixingEngineer - John Mayer, ComposerLyricist, BackgroundVocalist - Andrew Dawson, RecordingEngineer - Common, MainArtist - Taylor Dow, RecordingSecondEngineer - Lonnie Lynn, ComposerLyricist - DJ A-Trak, Other - Francis Forde, RecordingSecondEngineer - Ric McRae, RecordingSecondEngineer - Num Amuntehu, Percussion
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
D.J. Rogers, ComposerLyricist - Bilal, BackgroundVocalist - Kanye West, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Jared Robbins, MixingSecondEngineer - MANNY MARROQUIN, MixingEngineer - James Poyser, Keyboard - John Legend, BackgroundVocalist - Andrew Dawson, RecordingEngineer - Common, MainArtist - Taylor Dow, RecordingSecondEngineer - Lonnie Lynn, ComposerLyricist - Francis Forde, RecordingSecondEngineer
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Angelo Bond, ComposerLyricist - Kanye West, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Jared Robbins, MixingSecondEngineer - MANNY MARROQUIN, MixingEngineer - Andrew Dawson, RecordingEngineer - Common, MainArtist - General Johnson, ComposerLyricist - Taylor Dow, RecordingSecondEngineer - Lonnie Lynn, ComposerLyricist - GREGORY S. PERRY, ComposerLyricist - Ric McRae, RecordingSecondEngineer
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Elgie Stover, ComposerLyricist - Anna Gaye, ComposerLyricist - Bob Power, MixingEngineer - Marvin Gaye, ComposerLyricist - James Nyx, ComposerLyricist - James Poyser, Other - Andrew Dawson, RecordingEngineer - James Yancey, ComposerLyricist - Common, MainArtist - Taylor Dow, RecordingSecondEngineer - Lonnie Lynn, ComposerLyricist - Dilla, Producer, RecordingEngineer - Luna E, BackgroundVocalist - Frank Hendler, MixingSecondEngineer
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Kanye West, Producer, ComposerLyricist, BackgroundVocalist - Jared Robbins, MixingSecondEngineer - Steve Tolle, RecordingSecondEngineer - MANNY MARROQUIN, MixingEngineer - Andrew Dawson, RecordingEngineer - Common, MainArtist - Taylor Dow, RecordingSecondEngineer - Eddie Cornelius, ComposerLyricist - Jason Agel, RecordingSecondEngineer - Lonnie Lynn, ComposerLyricist - DJ Dummy, Other - DJ A-Trak, Other - Jared Zastrow, RecordingEngineer
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Kanye West, Producer, ComposerLyricist, BackgroundVocalist - Sam Cooke, ComposerLyricist - Eugene Booker Record, ComposerLyricist - Jared Robbins, MixingSecondEngineer - Steve Tolle, MixingEngineer, RecordingSecondEngineer - MANNY MARROQUIN, MixingEngineer - Andrew Dawson, MixingEngineer, RecordingEngineer - Michael Chavez, Other - Common, MainArtist - Stanley McKenney, ComposerLyricist - Lonnie Lynn, ComposerLyricist - DJ Dummy, Other - Charles Hunt, RecordingEngineer
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Kanye West, Producer, ComposerLyricist - Jared Robbins, MixingSecondEngineer - MANNY MARROQUIN, MixingEngineer - Andrew Dawson, RecordingEngineer - Anthony Kilhoffer, RecordingEngineer - Common, MainArtist - Taylor Dow, RecordingSecondEngineer - Lonnie Lynn, ComposerLyricist - Caesar Frazier, ComposerLyricist - Ric McRae, RecordingSecondEngineer
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Linda Epstein, ComposerLyricist - Kanye West, Producer, FeaturedArtist, ComposerLyricist, BackgroundVocalist - Jared Robbins, MixingSecondEngineer - MANNY MARROQUIN, MixingEngineer - John Stephens, ComposerLyricist - John Legend, MainArtist, BackgroundVocalist - Thomas Bell, ComposerLyricist - Andrew Dawson, RecordingEngineer - Common, MainArtist - Taylor Dow, RecordingSecondEngineer - Lonnie Lynn, ComposerLyricist - Ric McRae, RecordingSecondEngineer
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Bob Power, MixingEngineer - Bilal, BackgroundVocalist - Karriem Riggins, Percussion, CoProducer, DrumKit - Kanye West, AdditionalKeyboard - James Poyser, Strings, CoProducer, Keyboard - Andrew Dawson, RecordingEngineer - Common, MainArtist - Taylor Dow, RecordingSecondEngineer - Lonnie Lynn, BackgroundVocalist - Lonnie "Pops" Lynn, SpokenWord - The Kids, BackgroundVocalist - Dilla, Producer, RecordingEngineer - Frank Hendler, MixingSecondEngineer
℗ 2005 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Album review
Electric Circus cost and won Common some fans. It was very exploratory, especially so for a rap album released in 2002, containing developments -- some of which soared, some of which sank -- that few longtime followers could have foreseen. Listeners either felt Common was picking up fresh, new inspirations, or that he was just being distracted by a whole lot of ill-fitting nonsense. With Be, it seems the MC has realized that not every album that's sprawling and eclectic is as good as Electric Ladyland or Songs in the Key of Life. More notably, he might've been struck with the fact that a high percentage of excellent albums are around 40 minutes in length and are built on a unified sound. Be is highly concentrated, containing 11 songs and involving two producers and a small number of guests. It's a 180 degree turn from Electric Circus, and in a bizarre way it's both a progression and a back-to-basics move. Kanye West and Dilla are key to the album's steadiness, rooting the sound in '70s soul and soul-jazz. That's no shakeup, but the two producers deserve some form of award for stringing together a consistent sequence of productions that is never monotonous, dull, or all that flashy. Even lead single "The Corner," heard well before Be's release, falls into the fabric of the album on first listen, as if that were where it belonged all along. Lyrically, Common comes back down to Earth -- the narratives are sharp as ever, the gripes are more like observations than screeds, and the eccentricities need to be teased out rather than swatted away. Be isn't likely to be referred to by anyone as groundbreaking, but it's one of Common's best, and it's also one of the most tightly constructed albums of any form within recent memory.
© Andy Kellman /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 11 track(s)
- Total length: 00:42:31
- Main artists: Common
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Geffen
- Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
© 2005 Geffen Records ℗ 2005 Geffen Records
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