RSSCommon/Pete Rock
- The Auditorium Vol. 1 [Loma Vista, 2024] A−
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The Auditorium Vol. 1 [Loma Vista, 2024]
For well over three decades, the rapper christened Lonnie Rashid Lynn whose rap name evolved from the simultaneously humble and dull Common Sense to the simultaneously simple and grandiose Common has lived up to both claims, and although crediting producer Pete Rock in the slug line would seem a nice show of humility it's also a by now a commonplace—as Common has said himself on Instagram: "A Dream to let the world know I've been here. A dream to be part of Hip Hop. A Dream to MC at a level where De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, KRS One and Ice Cube knew who I was." Musically, he doesn't get there, because that's just not who he is flow-wise. Instead he nails a hip-hop of the everyday, a rare thing just because it sounds so ordinary. Daydreamin' of Gladys nights, he's proud to "use the microphone for a rhyme and a staff," to celebrate "the birth of the Nation of Islam," and at 52 still wants to know why "my endless love always comes to an end." Because he never actually brags on this attempted masterwork, he personifies the common sense he started off by claiming. Just for that you have to respect the guy. A−