Common
Like
Water for Chocolate
Universal/MCA
Songs
of the Week:
"Samurai
Showdown"--The
RZA
"Walking Through
The Darkness"--Tekitha
Both are far
too good for you to miss.
By now, it is well known that schools in America don't
teach the whole truth.
For decades, black folks and others have complained about
textbooks' failure to portray black history in a positive,
factual way. If that were to happen, a clear picture of
the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey and the Black
Panthers would emerge, instead of the propaganda typically
written in history books.
Thankfully, there are a few hip-hop artists putting valuable
lessons in their music. Common, one of the most creative
and slept-on poets, does much for the cause with his latest
LP, Like Water for Chocolate. He begins with the
artwork. A young black woman drinking from a "colored only"
water fountain greets your eyes, reminding you of how cretinous
American society was just thirty-some years ago.
Common uncovers one of history's fabrications with
"A Song For Assata," a lovely tribute to Assata Shakur.
Common has penned a sympathetic tale of the Panthers, contradicting
much that is learned in classrooms. Common details Shakur's
days as a Panther, the incident that led to her unjust trial
and imprisonment, and her escape from the New Jersey penitentiary
to political asylum in Cuba.
Common can also flip into war mode. On "Heat," he lays
into booty MCs, keeping 'em eager to listen with endless
straight-to-the-point lines. MC Lyte goes toe-to-toe with
the brother on "A Film Called (Pimp)," a funny song with
subtle references to underground hip-hop's battle with the
mainstream.
The true beauty of Like Water for Chocolate comes
through the music, which sounds like a close cousin to D'Angelo's
soulful Voodoo. Going against the popular computer-generated
sounds of the day, Common employs the Soulquarians --D'Angelo,
?estlove, James Poyser, Roy Hargrove and Jay Dee--to handle
the majority of the production. Often, Common smoothly rocks
over live instrumentation. Other times, he just wears a
sample out.
DJ Premier laces Common with a bangin' beat for "The 6th
Sense," a cut connecting the spirits of the ancestors with
the Hip-Hop Generation. Jay Dee's looping of Bobby Caldwell's
"Open Your Eyes" provides impetus for Common's love poem
on "The Light." His sugar-coated verses are perfect for
those quiet spring evenings when you're lying back with
the apple of your eye.
You can learn some history from Common, but Like Water
for Chocolate is also a joint to have on when the sun
is setting. These aren't mutually exclusive concepts. As
Common says, "My music, you can either fight, fuck or dream
to it." Couldn't have said it better myself.
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Willamette Week | originally
published April 26,
2000
|
