Album of the Week
COMMON
“The Dreamer/The Believer”
*** 1/2
WITH “The Dreamer/ The Believer,” Chicago rapper Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr., a k a Common, dodges the gimmicks of hip-pop with an old-school record that lyrically harkens back to acts such as KRS-One, Mos Def and Talib Kweli — who all rapped without insults but still stirred controversy.
On this disc, the friction is between Common and his spoken-word duet partner, poet Maya Angelou, on the opening track, “The Dreamer.” Angelou has objected to Common using the street slang “n – – – a” in the verses that preceded her reciting a poem.
Common doesn’t use the term, which has surfaced in his past work, in a traditionally derogatory way, but instead as a reference to a pal — in this case, Kanye West at the 2007 Grammy Awards. And it works artistically. Her verse centers on the American Dream as seen through the eyes of immigrants. Common raps about how hip-hop was his ticket out of the ghetto. Together, they are a compelling yin/yang of street and sophistication.
Despite this war of words, “The Dreamer” remains focused and memorable as it takes different paths to the same mountaintop. When Angelou recites, “We are here alive today because our ancestors dared to dream”; she’s talking about the melting-pot experiment in the land of opportunity. Common’s rap updates the same sentiments as he raps “Kinda took me back to when I first had a dream/ To be like the king that sang ‘Billie Jean’/ Now it’s gold records, and I’m on silver screens.”
The theme of aspiration continues on the record with “Ghetto Dreams,” on which Common gets help from Nas for a cameo, and again in the song “Blue Sky,” where he floats his rap about rising to the top on a sample of Electric Light Orchestra’s 1977 hit “Mr. Blue Sky.” It’s a disc that makes one remember that this rapper’s full stage name is Common Sense.
Download of the Week
RADIOHEAD
“The Daily Mail”
****
RADIOHEAD adds bulk to their most recent album “The King of Limbs” with the digital release of “The Daily Mail.” On this track the band shows off its skills in creating a storm to calm — dynamic with a moody and melodic acoustic piano riff, during which Thom Yorke sings the cryptic and descriptive lyrics: “The moon is a rock on a mountain/ the lunatics have taken over the asylum/ waiting on the rapture.” The song eventually slinks away from its ballad tempo and, with layers of electric instrumentation, becomes a rock anthem. By then Yorke no longer sounds at ease as he rages, “Where’s the truth, what’s the use?” It’s a powerhouse tune about a world gone wrong.