Common - Nobody's Smiling Album Review + A Couple Re-Blogs

This week I caught a couple great reviews of the new Common album. They got me to listen to this album just out of curiosity's sake. I have to say, I'm really on the fence with this album and I think I'm going to stay on the fence with it. I'm not alone in this feeling -  @mykectown of Dead End Hip Hop and Fantano of  The Needle Drop feel similarly as me. I really dig: "Blak Majik," "The Neighborhood", "Rewind That," "Kingdom," "7 Deadly Sins," and "No Fear" - but literally every other track on this project I detest. I like that No I.D. Produced every song, I love Lil Herb's verse, I love Vince Staple's verses, I love that Common made an album where Chicago is the focal point. On the other hand, this is not an American Gangster or good kid, m.A.A.d. city - so there really isn't a full concept here, also, again, there are some horrible songs here, which is uber-disappointing. As far as political import goes - it's a gritty portrayal of life on the streets, mostly on the streets of Chicago to be more specific. Which in itself is refreshing, but it's not nearly the Hegelian self-consistent masterpiece that good kid is. I don't ever think I'll get past that.

The two re-blogs I mentioned above from DEHH and the NDrop really cover this LP well. My rating: 5.5/10.

Listen: Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8niwr5kcPE or Here: https://play.spotify.com/user/jgathan1/playlist/0ffLDTWGnZPM8euO6lqLRo