This Friday Occidental College is hosting Common for its annual spring concert, SpringFest! Past performers include Nas and Snoop Dog and this year they are bringing in another hip-hop legend to throw down for Oxy students, alums, and guests.
To get you all in the mood, here is a playlist of top Common songs!
Go! (off the 2005 “Be” album)
The quintessential Common song, “Go!” features the incredible lyrical collaboration of Kanye West and John Mayer, and production of Num Amuntehu and A-Track. The song is about living your fantasies and Common’s natural ease with his lyrics, riding the rhythm laid down by Num makes this slow jam rap a hit.
I Used to Love H.E.R. (off the 1994 “Resurrection” album)
This has since become one of Common’s best known songs, it is a song with a jazzy beat, using the extended metaphor of a woman to talk about the rapper’s relationship to hip-hop and the direction it was heading in the late 80s/early 90s. The acronym “H.E.R” supposedly means, “Hearing every rhyme” and “Hip-Hop in its Essence is Real.”
Take it EZ (off 1992 “Can I Borrow a Dollar?”)
Common’s debut single, in which he certainly makes known that he is a rapper to be reckoned with.
Universal Mind Control (off 2008 “Universal Mind Control”)
The song features and was produced by Pharrell and has an “electro-inspired” sound and is a fairly good dance beat, although it gets mixed reviews from hardcore fans.
Drivin’ Me Wild (off 2007 “Finding Forever”)
Produced by Kanye West and featuring Lily Allen, the song is about obsession and the struggle to be “in.” The collaboration with Allen came when Kanye introduced the pair and Common really liked her style, saying”It’s something about her spunk that I dug. I like artists who don’t care and can be themselves. It was a real good combination, it fit right.”
Ghetto Dreams (off 2011 “The Dreamer/The Believer”)
Featuring Nas, it is the first single off the 2011 album and tries to bring back the classic 90s Hip-Hop sound.
The Light (off 2000 “Like Water for Chocolate”)
A Grammy-nominated single, is supposedly a love song to long-time girlfriend, fellow Hip-Hop artist Erykah Badu.
Heidi Hoe (off 1992 “Can I Borrow a Dollar”)
Just a fun, classic 90s rap song.
All Night Long (off 1997 “One Day It’ll All Make Sense”)
Produced by The Roots and featuring vocals by Erykah Badu, is a very sexy love song.
Blue Sky (off 2011 “The Dreamer/The Believer”)
The second single off the album is an ambitious track and reminds audiences why Common is legendary.
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