You can be Afrocentric, but what's this rock shit that you're doing?' ] Many of the beats created by West, and which Common rejected for the project, later appeared on West's studio album ' Late Registration'. When I showed them something different, a different style of b-boy, there were like, 'Hold up. Though I'd done some progressive hip-hop, people know me as the b-boy. Of the reaction to the album, the rapper said: 'I don't think Electric Circus was as focused. In comparison to that album, 'Be' is lean, immediate, and commanding, yet also restrained in its musical ambitions. The results show that Common was clearly aware, and perhaps agreeing, with the negative criticisms about 'Electric Circus'.

Nas's debut album ' Illmatic' was the biggest influence on 'Be'. His new alliance with Kanye West helped to spark public interest in the project, as the album was produced by West and released by his own label G.O.O.D. His previous album lacked promotion following MCA Records's absorption under Geffen. 'Be' was touted as Common's comeback album after the commercially disastrous ' Electric Circus'. cite web | last = Hamilton | first = Tiffany | url = | title = AllHipHop Feature - Common: Invocation | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = April 28 | accessyear = 2007] Common considers it, along with ' Like Water for Chocolate', to be one of his favorite albums. 'Be' also became a critical success, receiving general favor and accolades from many critics and magazine publications. Primarily produced by Kanye West, the album peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and became Common's second album to sell over 500,000 copies. Still, it's a shade less satisfying than Be.'Be' is the sixth studio album by rapper Common, released on G.O.O.D. Sometimes, though, he's only providing more ammo for those who still maintain that his best album is his less than didactic debut, like the Cosby-in-training 'He had a fetish for shoes that's athletic/Pathetic on his MySpace page half-naked.' The album includes a handful of well-placed and effectual guest contributors including Bilal, Dwele, Lily Allen, Common's dad, and the one and only Primo. Common delivers plenty of lyrical potency, whether he's mixing the sad with the silly ('Doin' all she can for her man and her baby, drivin' herself crazy like the astronaut lady') or dishing out some serious Nas-worthy disdain ('With 12 monkeys on-stage, it's hard to see who's a gorilla - you was better as a drug dealer'). There are some subtle references to Dilla, and while it's perfectly acceptable that no outright mimicry is going on, the majority of the beats are slightly substandard, at least by Kanye standards. It doesn't help Kanye's cause that the album's sweetest track is the Dilla-produced 'So Far to Go' (heard in original form on Dilla's The Shining), sandwiched between two Kanye beats that can be tuned out with no effort. (As on Be, most of the tracks feature his handiwork, with some duties farmed out to others.) Though the intentions are good, it's an audacious move: idiosyncratic and often brilliant producer attempts to channel the creativity of a master who constantly switched up his game. This time out, Kanye adopts a 'What would Dilla do?' approach to his productions. 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. 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. 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.

Common finding forever album cover