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ACL: Common
If Wu-Tang, as ODB once informed us, is for the children, then Common is for the ladies. Which isn’t a knock — a lyrical mack who scans like a feminist even when he’s spitting lines such as “Freaky like the daughter of a pastor/ said I was bait for her to master,” Common, in powder blue golf shirt and ever-present hat, held the crowd in the palm of his hand and rocked their proverbial bells.
Of course his Sunday afternoon set on the Dell stage was a welcome break in a festival known for adult alternative roots folk-rock (Wilco, Indigo Girls and pretty much 80 percent of every stage) and semi-indie darlings (what’s up, Bloc Party?). This was earnest hip-hop live and direct, complete with a full band Common knew how to work with, a DJ unafraid to cut into the mix and the occasional sampled hook (That was Lily Allen’s voice on “Drivin’ Me Wild”) that served as accent rather than foundation. “Forever Begins”shouted out “good music and room to breathe” while establishing his bona fides as a nice guy (“Can’t judge the weave/ my lady had one”).
“Black Maybe” espoused a modernist militancy that broadened blackness to include all of the oppressed. Sure, he’s talking about skin when he spits “When we talk about black maybe/ we talk about situations/ of people of color and because you are that color/ you endure obstacles and opposition,” but he included sexual orientation in his list of the oppressed. (Hey, this is a big step for hip-hop.)
Throwing down his verse from Kanye West’s “Get ‘Em High” reminded everyone just how tight the two Chi-town talents are, while “Drivin’ Me Wild” reminded everyone just how sharp and hooky West’s productions are. He brought up a gal from the stage to rap “Come Close to Me” and he dedicated a juiced-up version of “The Light” to the late producer J Dilla (as well as the ladies). Consider our bells rocked.
(Photo by Brian K. Diggs AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: ACL Festival
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By rambler
September 17, 2007 3:53 PM | Link to this
That’s so weird, I’d always heard that Common was gay.