Common
Finding Forever
Release Date: Jul 31, 2007
Genre(s): Rap
Record label: Universal Music Group
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Album Review: Finding Forever by Common
Fairly Good, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 7/10
In "The People," Common rhymes "My daughter found Nemo/I found the new Primo," yet it is the late J Dilla -- not DJ Premier -- who is emulated by Kanye West throughout Finding Forever. Dilla's 2006 death has had Common and Kanye not just grieving but further contemplating the making of music that outlasts their time on the planet. This lends a kind of heaviness, a level of seriousness, and a sometimes overbearing sense of "What we are doing here is intended to be important," not present on 2005's Be -- a taut and steady album with an unforced and seemingly less conceptualized liquid flow.
Based on rating 2.5/5
Review Summary: An imitative, soulful mess. Fans will probably forget this is a Common album by the third or fourth track and it’s probably for the better.It's pretty hard to come into this album without expectations. Common is an MC through and through; he's well respected, fairly renowned and, according to Gap, mildly fashionable. He solidified his place at the top of the Chicago hip-hop scene with Resurrection, Like Water for Chocolate and 2005's Be and, well, I'm sad to say it might be the end of an era.For those who don't know, Finding Forever is a highly lauded effort.
Opinion: Average
Think of Common's career as two acts, one before 2002's Electric Circus and one after. The first act was honest, introspective, and pure – a steady voice of morality in the middle of a confused rap world. The second is defined by Common's teaming with Kanye West, with the results being hotter beats, brighter style, and compromised lyricism. Finding Forever, Common's seventh LP and second on West's G.O.O.D.