MovieChat Forums > Common Discussion > I want the 90s and early 2000s back!

I want the 90s and early 2000s back!

posted 11 years ago by pleckbo
2 replies | jump to latest

What happened to this guy? He carved out a niche in the world of hip-hop all his own in the 'conscious' rap subgenre, which has plenty of loyal listeners and folks tuned in - but it's not Kanye money. Oh yeah, money happened.

Electric Circus is a great album that takes many risks, yet it was mostly shat on because the majority of rap culture is empty and commercialized.

One Day... is one of my favorite rap albums, but I'll never hear that Common again. The Common of the next two albums is great as well (and different in a good way), but since he got on Kanye's tit, I don't know. I need to give that last one a chance, but after Universal Mind Control... oy.

His acting. No.

Get back to Islam, Mr. Lynn, or whatever part of that mindset made you a better artist.

[–] usernumber655321 9 years ago

I'm with you. His first handful of albums were great. Now he has sold his soul to the devil.
I remember a song of his (when he was at least arguably good) where he said something along the lines of "you rappers talkin bout cars and clothes/ ... soundin like hoes". Three years later he appeared in a Gap advertisement. Now I am embarrassed that I have to admit to having liked him back in the day.

[–] RedSimba 9 years ago

Universal Mind Control was the rock bottom. He tried something different there and it didn't work. Funny enough, he also went outside the box with Electric Circus and that's my personal favorite. However that album had substance; UMC on the other hand felt beneath him and out of character.

His followups The Dreamer/The Believer and Nobody's Smiling, while not as great as his 90s and early 2000s albums, were vast improvements over UMC in my opinion. He parted ways with Kanye, and teamed up with No I.D. again for both records.