Music Review: Common - The Dreamer/The Believer

Last month Chicago's own Common released his 9th solo album entitled The Dreamer/The Believer.  With singles like "Blue Sky", "Sweet", "Celebrate"  and "Ghetto Dreams" Ft. Nas, fans were anxious to hear the rest of the album.  The album also features guest appearances from Dr. Maya Angelou and John Legend.  No I.D. handled production and assisted in co-writing the entire album, and boy did he do a hell of a job.  The way Common's lyrics just flow over No I.D.'s soulful beats is almost like a perfect match.

In my opinion it's classic Common, I had high expectations for this album and I wasn't disappointed.  Yes numbers don't lie (the album only sold 69K the 1st week) real hip hop fans know that doesn't define how good or bad an album is.  Its rare that I can listen to an ALBUM, not a mixtape, the entire way through without skipping 1 track.  Tracks like "Cloth", 'Gold", and "Windows" are repeat-worth and some of my favorites on the album. Recently "Sweet" has stirred up some controversy when Drake and his producer took offense to the lyrics. Common responded " If he falls into that category so be it. I'm not going to hold my tongue."  Just like that we have another beef on our hands, whether or its about Serena Williams or not, im interested to see how this turns out, since it seems like Drake is firing shots back on the Rick Ross song "Stay Schemin".  If you havent had a chance to check out Common's latest effort, please do so and if you like it support the hometown boy and purchase a copy.