FIRST TIME HEARING- Common - Be ALBUM REACTION/REVIEW

[@TheCre88tor]

"Let's Get It!" 1. 1:48 - Be (Intro) 2. 4:33 - The Corner ft. Kanye West & Umar bin Hassan of The Last Poets 3. 8:31 - GO! ft. John Mayer & Kanye West 4. 12:24 - Faithful ft. Bilal & John Legend 5. 17:23 - Testify 6. 20:40 - Love Is... 7. 24:39 - Chi-City 8. 28:26 - The Food ft. Kanye West (Live from Chappelle's Show) 9. 31:43 - Real People 10. 33:49 - They Say ft. John Legend & Kanye West 11. 37:44 - It's Your World Pts. 1 & 2 ft. Bilal & Lonnie "Pops" Lynn Songs #1-5, #7-10 & #11 (Pt. 2) Produced by Kanye West Songs #6 & #11 (Pt. 1) Produced by J Dilla

[@carlosrp23]

It's Your World is that song for me. Gets me in my feelings every time, especially since Pops (Common's dad in the outro ) is not here anymore, RIP to him. Also, the album after this one, Finding Forever, is fantastic as well.

[@lovehate8286]

Facts… same here..

[@g4bbn149]

That song makes me sad because due to the nature of the ghetto some of them kids in the outro might not have had the chance to be what they said they wanted to be🥲

[@RAakaCHI-191]

It's one of those rare perfect albums! It has one of best Intro and Outro ever, the sequencing is perfect, the production and lyrics are immaculate! I always listen to this album straight through. I still have my vynil sealed and misplaced my CD since i started streaming many years ago. Another great reaction!

[@tomashorvath6323]

"The Present is a gift, and I just wanna Be". Common´s word play is out of this world.

[@gabone324]

One of the best intro tracks

[@RAakaCHI-191]

💯 and one of the best Outro!

[@Magnanimousman]

Big facts!!!

[@fsociety7494]

Been waiting on it. This album is a Classic. No skips!!!

[@Joeydaclown]

11 tracks, zero skips. This album had a mf feeling proud to be from the south side of Chi! Great album!

[@hughfuller8416]

Classic! No skips!

[@safs_dk]

You gotta do Lupe Fiasco's Food And Liquor, next!

[@Polostar79]

Since you reviewed Be you should also review Finding Forever. It’s basically a continuation of Be. Great album.

[@loyallfc7239]

Solid album but wasn't as good as Be. Although 'The People' is one of my favourite Kanye instrumentals of all time!

[@cibida1]

@@loyallfc7239People was insane. All those singles were fire.

[@jamalgrant1091]

Finding Forever is 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@th3rd3arplan3tradio]

​@@jamalgrant1091dudes sleeping on that album for real

[@tenyciashepherd951]

This album is a masterpiece.

[@reynaldogb]

FACTS!🔥

[@D3viceX]

Man I forgot how legendary this album is. Putting this back into rotation asap.

[@ljc7935]

Same here.... superb

[@dapluva1]

All we old heads ask is this make timeless music meaningful music that will inspire positive vibes and give hope that’s real hiphop Common Sense is definitely the sureshot🎯🎯🎯

[@FromThe36thChamber]

Naw a lot of yall don’t ask that lmao bc there’s an endless amount of it, and many of you just throw dirt on it. You ignore them and say the game is trash, basically telling these hardworking MCs who love old school Hip Hop, they shouldn’t even bother with dense lyrics and forward thinking production, bc what’s the point when yall just ignore it and loop them in with drake anyway? Common still makes music, I think a lot of old heads should really take notes from what El-P and Killer Mike said on Hot 97 or whatever like a decade ago. He said if you just like 90s hip hop, but nothing past that or today, you aren’t a Hip Hop Fan. If you’re a true fan, you’re for the ADVANCEMENT of the culture, which the fake fans ignore by saying “it’s not advancing it’s going backwards” but when you actually give them like a JPEGMAFIA album, a RTJ album, a Kendrick or Little Simz album, a Griselda or Earl Sweatshirt album etc etc they can’t give you ONE reason it isn’t quality Hip Hop, or how it isn’t pushing the genre forward. Like their reasoning is basically “it isn’t boom bap” 😂 they say the 90s just had sooo many MCs with different styles and now everyone sounds the same. That’s an embarrassing thing to say, none of those artists I named sound remotely similar and I could name another 50 that don’t, and I’m not exaggerating I did a top 50 hip hop albums for last year. What’s so annoying is there’s modern insanely talented, hardworking kids who ARE inspired by this music, like for some reason people my age seem to utilize this technology where you can listen to ANY amount of hip hop from any era at any time. I’ve used that to learn about all kinds of Hip Hop from all sorts of times and areas. The people who just know and or enjoy 90s Hip Hop, or just old school NY Boom Bap, aren’t there for the culture. It’s more like they had a phase, where the music felt special bc they were teens and whatever music you hear then hits you harder. But some of them don’t realize it’s nostalgia, and then embarrass themselves by saying how that time was better and we should go back to that. We don’t need to lmao you can listen to any of these albums whenever, and every single person who says they wish we went back to old school boom bap, haven’t even HEARD all the classic boom bap albums from then. There’s still people who do that sounds like the Griselda dudes but even that isn’t enough, they got co-signed by Jay and Eminem, yet half the people who complain about the lack of quality in current hip hop are Eminem Stans 💀 an old head who only enjoys Hip Hop from like 88-98, is not a Hip Hop head or true fan. Like El said, it’s more that they were just fans of how the music made them FEEL at that younger age. Maybe they were even a fan THEN, but if at a certain point you just stop checking out the new stuff bc “the old stuff is better” that’s when you’re no longer for the advancement of hip hop. Those people will genuinely put that forth, as if you can’t listen to old and new Hip Hop concurrently. Even with the advancements going from having to go buy a physical copy from the store, just to hear it for the first time and even find out if you enjoyed it, to being able to hear an entire artist’s discography in half a day for free without leaving your bed. You can see the irony of older people complaining about the state of Hip Hop, when there’s way more 20 something year olds my age, going back and checking out all the classics, then old heads actually putting on a new album and going “alright let’s give this a chance, maybe this too can be timeless” my ex girlfriends dad was like this, he didn’t actually know any solo Wu tang albums, and I could tell he couldn’t actually have in depth hip hop convos, but he carried himself like he knew way more then me because he was a teen in the 90s and I wasn’t. But like I said, it was very clear it came from a place of nostalgia for how it made him FEEL as a teen. There’s songs from my high school like that, but many of them I can feel nostalgia for yet still acknowledge they kind of suck and cringe at them.

[@andremoore5712]

The person singing on Faithful is a guy out of Philly named Bilal. His vocals have unlimited range.

[@johje02]

Be is the most perfect hip-hop album of all times. Production, rapping, sequencing, album length and everything. ❤

[@RAakaCHI-191]

💯

[@AgentLemmon]

It's a classic, but i prefer like water for Chocolate

[@errolholmes3838]

Top 20 for sure

[@Glory2barca]

Bro please react to the album All eyes on me ? I have been waiting for years.

[@lray4559]

It’s rare when you listen to an album for the very first time and you already know it’s an instant classic. I knew this the first time I heard Be. Listening to it again now, I have an even greater appreciation for it. Timeless classic…Kanye one of the best hip hop producers of all time teaming up with one of the best lyricists of all time.

[@MrOvadose101]

Common was neck deep in his bag.

[@j.r.shackelford2144]

If you wanna hear Common on J Dilla beats "Like Water For Chocolate " album is 🔥🔥🔥

[@lovehate8286]

The ONLY hip hop artist that stayed true to himself for his entire career. And still relevant 30 years later. #realhiphop

[@BanJkeeeeee]

Nah, mate... So did Black Thought, Masta Ace, Guru, KRS-One (excluding his song with Diddy), pretty much whole Wu, AZ. And many others. But I agree, so did Common. Honestly, he is a legit top-10 contender.

[@Keepyourheart3stacks]

The beauty of “Be” was that it felt like an extension of the universe Kanye was building with College Dropout, Late Registration and Graduation. Finding forever is in there too. That run of those albums in the 2000s aligned with me graduating college and trying to find myself, make money, chase women, and just imagine a better future for myself. Be put me in that retrospective head space, challenged my own goals and aspirations (“same spot as my old man”), shed a light on the insecurities and self defeating bullshit mentality I was letting invade my thoughts. All of that going through my head playing this in the beat up whip i drove home from a semi-dead end job lol. This album is an emotional masterpiece that helped me persevere and in the end, flip all that shit and come out on top winning 🫡 Peace to all.

[@beantowne617]

Well said!! Respect!

[@saucy05]

Why doesn't Common get mentioned as one of the GOATS? His message and rhyme schemes are as good as they get.

[@bigmanlittlebrain6656]

man com is so underrated and as a lyricist. he makes some of the most meaningful rap i've ever heard. This is my favorite kanye production ever. best part is Like Water for Chocolate is arguably even better than this and makes my top 10 OAT rap albums.

[@84blizzle]

Finding Forever is a great album as well.

[@christopherclayton7688]

Great reaction as always bro! If you haven't reacted to "Like Water For Chocolate" album from Common? Check that out if you haven't...Dilla did the production on that classic!

[@donaldsmith8036]

The track “Nag Champa” on Water For Chocolate was straight from god bro! Dilla put his whole spirit in that track!

[@christopherclayton7688]

@@donaldsmith8036 I'm tellin you bruh!

[@40EastTrill]

I'm glad you said it so I wouldn't have to lol

[@AgentLemmon]

Don't forget Premo though.

[@christopherclayton7688]

@@AgentLemmon No doubt!

[@Tempest_Elixir]

An emotional masterpiece. Commons albums are incredible. Not just how good he is, what he talks about and how he sounds... but the music production is always so fitting but often sonically breathtaking! Great reaction as always brother!

[@mr.marcus6190]

Do the album after this, Finding Forever

[@RAakaCHI-191]

Dope album as well.

[@AgentLemmon]

Like water for Chocolate

[@RonaldJames-eo2hc]

​@@AgentLemmonOne Day it'll make sense is a classic to

[@julyonlamont00]

Universal Mind Control too!!

[@bowling4clarity817]

BE is there with Illmatic, Infamous, Aquemini, and the elite masterpiece albums . I definitely thought it was the best album of the year when it came out .

[@84blizzle]

It is a criminally underrated album, and I don't say that lightly. It was popular when it came out, but not to the extent that it should've been. Remember, this was the Soldier Boy and Laffy Taffy days...

[@bowling4clarity817]

@@84blizzle yup . A huge bounce back statement album for Com after his Electric Circus album was not well received ( it actually aged pretty well if you revisit it ) and hot take alert : Be is probably better Kanye material than Blueprint.

[@sinofmidmobb]

relax....

[@beantowne617]

@@bowling4clarity817 Not a hot take at all. The Blueprint may have been Kanye's big intro to the world. Kanye showed his ass on BE though. Electric Circus was and still is an incredible album. Alot of heads weren't ready for it in 2002.

[@RonaldJames-eo2hc]

You should react to Common's album - One day it'll makes sense. His 3rd alvum he dropped in the 90s

[@DirtCheapFU]

I still get sucked into Testify. The storytelling over the sample is just butter and perfect. [Oh, Yeah. You should look up the Big Daddy Kane tribute with Common, Black Thought and TI].

[@dextersfinest175]

Need more Common reactions on KZbin. Dude is soooooo underrated...

[@lilrizq]

A couple of tears poppin off... forgot how powerful the last song("It's Your World") was to me when I first heard it. Brought back some dope memories, glad you -uck wit this album my dude.

[@akindele13]

I swear i always looked forward to hearing Common's Father at the end off his albums. This was my favorite Pops Rap. RIP to Him

[@joelmcleod6521]

Did you review Little Brother "The Minstrel Show"? Dope album

[@RonaldShanklin-nj2qz]

Excellent album

[@rrodrir78]

Not a popular take, but Common has always been in my top 5. I've been rocking with him since Take it EZ. His growth, maturity, and music has been in step with my own growth. It's like there's always a Common album that's provided a soundtrack for a stage of my life so far. Great review but you really got to do some Roots. It's time.

[@phillytnoize]

Nah he is without a doubt one of the GOATS. Like Water For Chocolate is just as good if not better than Be imo and Resurrection and One Day are both great too.

[@kriscoadams97]

Common is def top 5 dead or alive

[@mr.marcus6190]

DAMN I LOVE THIS ALBUM!!!! Was the soundtrack to my life back in like 08

[@stevemac2258]

another classic which is my favorite by Common is "One Day It Will All Make Sense"..peace love what you do

[@beantowne617]

Yes! That album has withstood the test of time. Undeniable classic.

[@makavelli7211]

*COHESIVE is the keyword.* Be is one of the best Hip-Hop albums ever made.

[@hiarllyalmeida06]

perfect album. Lyrics, beats, melody, everthing is good on this album. This production from Kanye and J Dilla is PERFECT 🔥🔥🔥

[@infamous_hnic6926]

Like water for chocolate is all imma say, mostly produced by Dilla and its Commons best album in my honest opinion

[@AgentLemmon]

Yup, this is a close second though

[@mistahmst]

Great album! Common has a great discography to dive into and I would even argue that he’s the greatest rapper to come out of the Midwest. Definitely react to Like Water for Chocolate next, Dilla produced most of it and it’s some of Common’s best work. Of course, check out Resurrection too along with the rest of his stuff.

[@theoriginalspur]

Jus saw Common in concert Monday in Seattle. Whole show was amazing and when he jumped into this intro... Man I lost it 🔥🔥🔥

[@j.r.shackelford2144]

John Legend and Bilal on the background vocals on "Faithful "

[@Vinnytint2]

The old Kanye 🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️ before kim

[@SHARPEYE1]

Kanye was still a beast after this

[@MKE4-14]

Exactly 🎉

[@habitatnative]

The scientific term is PKK: Pre Kardashian Kanye

[@Polostar79]

Dilla too

[@SHARPEYE1]

@@Polostar79 damn I know

[@vickthashredder]

“Go” was the song that my first cougar put me on

[@aj2590]

This album changed lives

[@jflo9752]

From Chicago one of my favorite albums🔥

[@scooter1360able]

I once said that Common-Be should be on par with Illmatic as far as sure Hip-Hop and all the people around me at my school str8 grilled me!! …I knew then I understood Hip-Hop differently. This is a true classic album. 🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤

[@Msboochie2]

I always thought of ”Be” as Common’s Illmatic. When I hear it, it feels like I’m transported to Chicago during a certain time period.

[@squarewindow]

This record came out when I'd just finished university and was kinda in that inbetween period where I hadn't found a good job yet, life was kinda going nondescript and things were unremarkable day to day. Without the memory of spinning this album constantly I probably would have no real recollection of that time. Funny how music unlocks memories of times and places and people. Great to enjoy your love of good music as always, dude. Kanye killin it.

[@Millisama]

The walk off on Faithful was the appropriate response

[@LTgoBirds]

Certified Classic 🔥.

[@robertbarnes8425]

This reaction reminds me of how great this album was

[@Jaunskii]

How is common a underrated lyricist 😳 man lyrics and flow are tuff🔥💥

[@nervves5480]

Be is one of my top 5 albums oat, such a great listen, sounds like something you'd listen to on a late night drive.

[@5tup3ndou5]

Gotta revisit this album periodically! Kanye's elite production paired with Common's lyrical mastery results in one of the greatest hip-hop albums of the 2000s. To think Ye was able to help out in a major way with Be and also put out Late Registration in the same year shows how much he was in his bag this year.

[@HakimB97]

Straight classic. I remember buying the CD and playing it for like a week straight. One of the greatest hip hop albums hands down.

[@TheCre88tor]

16:13 the end of "Faithful" vocals were John Legend and Bilal 24:43 funny that the track before "Chi City" was produced by Dilla then on the following Kanye production, the "we don't stop, naw, we don't quit" cut comes from Dilla's group Slum Village and their song "Conant Gardens" You gotta review his prior albums as well like 94's Resurrection, 97's One Day It'll All Make Sense, of course his 2000 classic Like Water for Chocolate (predominantly produced by J Dilla) & 07's Finding Forever! I can't say much about his 02 experiment Electric Circus cuz I haven't heard it all but Common was on a ROLL with positive albums! Songs like Retrospect for Life ft. Ms. Lauryn Hill, The Sixth Sense, I Used to Love H.E.R., The Light, The People ft. Dwele, etc., his albums had classic vibes!!!

[@freemindstate7667]

One of your best reactions. Common's whole catalog is slept on

[@Blafily]

You gotta review Blu - Below the Heavens. I hold that album next to this one. Excellent review. I just subscribed.

[@MIAMI305LIVE]

I’m glad you go to review this. I coped this the day it dropped. Bumped it from beginning to end all the time. Gives me goosebumps when i hear it now. Remember when he did the corner with kanye on chapelle show like it was yesterday. Shits timeless.

[@triniborn76]

Looking forward to the Pete Rock collabo!

[@triniborn76]

Damn! Someone really put you on! This a classic! Old Kanye producing. 🔥

[@nathanneelyoutlawdiditprod2891]

The vocal arrangement at the end of Faithful when they were singing "Sooo, sooo, so, so...." is incredible!! Kanye did his thang on this whole album. Dilla's contribution is golden, as usual. As a few have previously mentioned, you should really check out "Like Water For Chocolate" and get a full dosage of Common's and Dilla's chemistry.

[@theILLchef]

Aye My Guy....as a brother over 40....I love hearing the reviews...the singer on "Faithful" is a really dope artist named Bilal...check out his work...review his joint with Mos and Kwali on his first album.

[@shaneberrey5266]

One of my favorite rap albums. All around classic

[@essentialjordan23]

You should really consider doing Common’s follow up to this “Finding Forever”, it’s got all the same qualities as Be.

[@agrippusia610]

Beautiful

[@tonygardner50]

Classic 🔥

[@friendswitdadealer]

Fellow Ahmad here. I remember hearing this album for the first time and it felt so good. I played it so much and watched the DVD over and over. Dilla, Ye and Common were such an amazing trio.

[@TruBlackMan]

That's was Bilal singing on faithful not John legend if you listen to like water for chocolate he is on 6th sense as well

[@jaysoulxselah8260]

@TruBlackMan it was both john legend and bilal. Bilal was singing most of the adlibs and the top vocal while John legend was taking most of the bottom harmony

[@henneseslimify]

Playtime is over!

[@andrewwalker1700]

This dat real soul music to get you thru real times I pray everyone out there supporting find happiness n peace in life🙏🙏

[@zurieljansky28]

Do yall think is a Common top 5 or top 10 rapper of all time? I think so, however I can't put Common above Rakim, Mos Def, Andre 3K, 2Pac etc.

[@ghost.3579]

I think he’s SUPER underrated but he’s not top 5 imo

[@DaliDessalines]

You still got to do ODB Return to the 36 Chamber🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@erick.roberts9074]

Yes

[@shawnhaugen3414]

Bro, you got to do the album Resurrection! If not at least that song super classic comment is so underrated that album is a classic. The next one is coastal, classic and the one after that is close to classic as well but this one definitely is a classic.

[@r_bf35]

You gotta listen to Like Water For Chocolate by Common. Majority of the beats done on that album were produced by J Dilla 🙏🏿🕊️🔥🔥🔥

[@lakerfan8297]

That was Bilal and John legend on faithful bro 😂 2 guys

[@JeremiahCousin-xs7sp]

One of my absolute FAVORITE albums of all time. Freakin classic. The present is a gift and I just wanna be... Gets me every time

[@MarquezEdwards-g5u]

Ahmad you need to listen to Nipsey Hussle Victory Lap, Pete Rocks center of attention album or to Mobb Deeps Murda Muzik.

[@javonnesbit411]

You got the subscribe before Common said one word!

[@kingmarcus7215]

I got a question for you Ahmad . . . Which album do you like better between this Common LP and Mos Def's LP Black On Both Sides?

[@KingAhmadTv]

They both lowkey similar to me. It’s a tough one. Come back to be in about a month 😂😂💯

[@jarvasedundy1]

Bro, didn't I tell you on your other post. When you posted saying you were going to react to this album. That it's one of the most beautiful albums ever made lol. ❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@Waywardsage411]

This album was on repeat for me back in 2005. For me and what I like Common is in my top five.

[@kevinrobinsonjr5440]

GREAT REACTION TO THIS CLASSIC MATERIAL!! 💯👍🏾

[@javonnesbit411]

I don’t ever turn on the notifications. This reaction made me do that for you. You're my new favorite reaction channel! Common's Pops became my Pops after my Pops transitioned. Not in real life, but I couldn't wait to hear him on these albums. Nas is my favorite rapper but Common is the only rapper I hope to meet one day!

[@cedricnicholson7446]

I remember when this dropped. I picked it up on Tuesday the day when all new album releases hit the stores and I instantly knew this was a classic album. It’s a master class for hiphop artists. It’s definitely up there with Illmatic and should be inducted into the Library of Congress.

[@cmoney1629]

Him and JDilla did a couple cold tracks together .

[@teecal5621]

It is great to see your reactions to it, reminiscent of the way I felt in 2005 when I popped it in my CD player and jammed it all summer long.😊

[@m0ecm]

I come back and watch your reaction to faithful every now and then lmao love that shit

[@rambowbizz]

I wish you could react to Talib kweli " beautiful struggle" album. Kanye got bangers on that.

[@banzisithole8694]

Reflections Eternal

[@rambowbizz]

@banzisithole8694 oh yeah of course. Im partial to this record and the one after this. Just takes me back to bettsr days. All classics by Talib

[@TheWatcher818]

Young bro…THIS. Is deep hip hop appreciation

[@dakiddnyce]

Bruh a motivated Kanye West during this time period was on a different level.

[@Mrmapleleaffan13]

Did some research and realise nine out of the eleven tracks produced by Kanye West and just two tracks produced by J Dilla

[@smokezilla13.]

Yo , Ahmad… he was talkin about Erykah for most of this album

[@KingAhmadTv]

I’m hip 😂🔥 I found the story about if after the review lol

[@smokezilla13.]

@@KingAhmadTv check out common - like water for chocolate

[@smokezilla13.]

@@KingAhmadTv mad Dilla shit

[@tomashorvath6323]

Great show mate:) your into the Faithful is superb:) what a track:)

[@Ratmrage1]

might be my favourite hip hop album ever

[@danielnyundo1180]

A well balanced perfect album, captures a certain depth in expression. Another perfect album you would love reacting to is A Breukelen Story by Masta Ace

[@elitemedstaffing7519]

I used to bump this heavy 2009...this is a quintessential hip-hop album. From the production to the storytelling its top notch. I been rocking with Common since 1997

[@VeegovonDOOM]

"It's Your World" is so dope I used to just cruise around bumping it.

[@greasyluv1251]

This reaction is Fire 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@rayraydubb]

🔥 ITS ABOUT TIME!!! 🔥

[@gillatineking3236]

Common is in my top ten and ive been told people about him. Incredible bars with the most positive energy always. One of the GOATS. Definitely shed tears plenty nights hearing this album especially Faithful and Love is!!! When you've lived a hard life it really hits you.