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1. RESURRECTION
A title track right from the jump? Huh. While this song is a good way to start off your sophomore album (avoiding a shitty rap album intro is the new black), I always felt this song was only alright. For me, this track is best known for inspiring two remixes, the Large Professor version and the Extra P remix, both of which were produced by the same fucking guy, the Large Professor.
2. I USED TO LOVE H.E.R.
This metaphor about hip hop is considered to be one of the greatest rap songs ever made, and this time I agree with the critics. The No I.D. beat is dark but not joyless, complementing the saga of our chosen genre through the ages. I've always kind of hoped that Common would revisit this theme today, given how hip hop seems to be pretty much dead and all (I said seems: I'm fully aware of the name of my blog), but I suppose he's too busy making bad acting decisions (such as Street Kings, although he did come off as more of a badass than The Game in that flick, so I guess that counts for something).
3. WATERMELON
I remember back in the day, when I used to work late night shifts in retail, I would swing by a Wendy's drive-through (spicy chicken sandwiches all the way) on the way home and play Resurrection (not the most obvious choice, I know) while I ate. I always only got this far before I finished the meal completely, so I would then move on to something else. Because of that, I seem to remember this track sounding more interesting than it actually does.
4. BOOK OF LIFE
Kind of boring. Sad, but true.
5. IN MY OWN WORLD (CHECK THE METHOD) (FEAT NO I.D.)
While I liked the brief instrumental at the start more than the actual beat for this song, the track still works, although I preferred No I.D.'s guest spot more so than Common himself, who sounds like he's still trying to test the boundaries of how many syllables he can fit into a single bar.
6. ANOTHER WASTED NITE WITH...
Skit...
7. NUTHIN' TO DO
This song was pleasant enough, but the only thing I can clearly remember is the Ol' Dirty Bastard vocal sample in the hook.
8. COMMUNISM
I liked this song, but if Common were a brand new rap artist today, shit like this would quickly categorize him as a “backpacker that won't sell a goddamn copy, not even to himself, but bloggers the world over will praise him” kind of rapper. Crap, I think I just proved my own point.
9. WMOE
Skit...
10. THISISME
I love No I.D.'s beat, but the rhymes sound as if Lonnie found some of his old scribblings and decided to recite them in random order, Nas “Book Of Rhymes”-style.
11. ORANGE PINEAPPLE JUICE
Meh.
12. CHAPTER 13 (RICH MAN VS. POOR MAN) (FEAT YNOT)
The back and forth between Common and producer Ynot Is engaging, making their take on the overused subject matter sound almost fresh. Not bad.
13. MAINTAINING
I just didn't care for this song. It sounds too much like Common was aiming for an audience made up of people that gather at someone's house to get drunk and primp before a night of clubbing, who get so wasted that they can't even leave their host's house, who end up crashing on the floor in a pool of their own vomit and excrement, and when I hear Common, I don't think of that at all.
14. SUM SHIT I WROTE
This is more like the Common I'm used to. The late hip hop writer and fan Dave Ellis titled the editorial section of his site after this song, which may be part of the reason why his was one of the first sites I followed on a regular basis. May he rest in peace.
15. POP'S RAP (FEAT LONNIE "POPS" LYNN)
Common lets his own father in on the action, on what is essentially the outro. There's a nice, simple, melodic beat playing behind him, as well. Pleasant enough.
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1. FREE
I appreciate the fact that Freeway avoided including a rap album intro, opting to start Philadelphia Freeway off with an actual song. Sadly, I was pretty bored with this option. Not that an intro would have ever been preferable, mind you.
2. WHAT WE DO (FEAT JAY-Z & BEANIE SIGEL)
Beardy completely dominates this Roc-A-Fella posse cut, outshining both his boss and his contemporary, as it should be, since it is a Freeway song, after all. Shawn's reference to Freeway's beard also made me laugh out loud. This is actually the best Roc-A-Fella posse cut to come out of the camp, and its accompanying The Wire-inspired clip (with a few of the actual actors from the show) only adds to the proceedings. I'd bet that Memphis Bleek cries himself to sleep every night, wondering why Shawn didn't let him jump on (read: ruin) this track.
3. ALL MY LIFE (FEAT NATE DOGG)
Overall, I liked this track, but some of Beardy's lines are funny for all of the wrong reasons. Otherwise, not bad.
4. FLIPSIDE (FEAT PEEDI CRAKK)
I first heard this Just Blaze banger while playing Def Jam: Fight For NY. The beat pretty much rocks, and it also proves that Justin creates better beats for everyone who isn't named Jay-Z. That said, the clean edit is the one which appears in the game, and this song is decidedly not clean. Then again, most of the songs I review are decidedly not clean, so there you go.
5. ON MY OWN (FEAT NELLY)
I'm not a fan of Nelly as a rapper. He has a couple of okay songs (both of which are produced by The Neptunes), and his videos contain some decent imagery much of the time (I can think of one scene in particular in the clip for some recent Nelly track featuring Ciara and Jermaine Dupri), but for the most part, I couldn't care less. Thankfully, he only appears on the hook, doing his sing-songy shimmy-shimmy-cocoa-puff thing, and the song itself is not ruined because of it. This actually isn't bad.
6. WE GET AROUND (FEAT SNOOP DOGG)
This isn't bad, either, although a collaboration between Free and Snoop doesn't exactly feel like the natural order of things. The hook is all sorts of awful, though: I suppose some of you may consider that a small price to pay to hear Calvin Broadus sound entirely comfortable over a Just Blaze beat, but that's on you two.
7. DON'T CROSS THE LINE (FEAT FAITH EVANS)
Meh.
8. LIFE (FEAT BEANIE SIGEL)
I just listened to this track, and I can't remember a thing about it, save for the fact that Sigel does, in fact, make an appearance.
9. FULL EFFECT (FEAT YOUNG GUNZ)
I really liked this track. Justin's beat goes a long way toward making the Roc-A-Fella seat fillers sound good, and Beardy comes across as a thoroughly engaging emcee. Which is all you can ask for, really.
10. TURN OUT THE LIGHT (FREEWEST) (FEAT KANYE WEST)
Kanye West's beat sounds similar to the stuff that he gave to every other Roc-A-Fella artist that wasn't named Jay-Z. Which is to say, it's alright, but it's not real.
11. VICTIM OF THE GHETTO (FEAT RELL)
Decent, but nothing special.
12. YOU DON'T KNOW (IN THE GHETTO) (FEAT OMILLIO SPARKS)
Two songs in a row with the word “ghetto” in the title? That's usually not a good sign, and Beardy doesn't say or do anything to persuade me otherwise.
13. ALRIGHT (FEAT ALLEN ANTHONY)
Justin Blaze creates a beat that sounds like one of those 1980s songs I tried to avoid (because I'm a New Wave guy, through and through), but, honestly, I liked this shit a lot. Its sound brings back a pleasant form of nostalgia, and both Free's lyrics and Allen Anthony's singing mesh well with the music. Good show.
14. HEAR THE SONG
There wasn't anything objectionable about this song, but the only comment that I can make without re-listening and re-forgetting the song itself is this: what is with Freeway's obsession with selecting Kanye West instrumentals that sound like leftovers from The Blueprint? Free sounds great over the harder stuff, so filling Philadelphia Freeway with mostly soulful beats has officially mystified me.
The following tracks are considered Philadelphia Freeway's bonus songs.
15. YOU GOT ME (FEAT MARIAH CAREY & JAY-Z)
Raise your hand if you feel that Mariah Carey Mrs. Nick Cannon has been irrelevant since that “Heartbreaker” song she did with Hova. Okay, put them down: you're wrong, anyway. Mariah had a pretty good minor comeback with both versions of “We Belong Together”. Oh, this song? It sucks balls. Why do you ask?
16. LINE 'EM UP (FEAT YOUNG CHRIS)
Wasn't bad at all, until Young Inexperienced Chris spit his guest verse, which brought my IQ down by a couple hundred points. Now I'm not even sure I can dress myself, let alone finish a rev
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October 15th, 2009Uncategorized