Common's new album, Be, is one the best things that you will ever hear in your life. And I wouldn't make a grand pronouncement like that if it weren't the God's truth. I got mad goose bumps when the opening song morphed into the grooviest mess of soulful rap music ever. It made me think about rap music in a more detailed and personal way - as opposed to the sold-out commercial way we've become accustomed to. Common brings such holy shovels full of divine wordplay that it's like listening to the voice of God himself issuing a bulletin on how rap music should be performed.

Produced by fellow Chi-City rapper, Kanye West, and Philly soul prodigy John Legend, Be can honestly be declared as the best rap album to come out in recent history. The mix of Common's originality and intelligence, backed by West and Legend and you've got some hot shit - don't forget your pot holdaz my niggaz . Forget about dirty words and gangsta themes - lose the circus beats and let rap music be reborn - what could be more unCommonly delicious. Common takes hip-hop back to its origins making it jazzy like early virgin rap before it was so tastelessly de-flowered by the almighty Benjamin. Other bands like The Roots are doing this as well, but have yet to reach Common's level of genius and purity. As my Asian rapper friend, Ed "The Changsta" Chang would say, "The shit's smooth like Botox balls."

Instead of comparing this album's pros and cons to Common's earlier albums I'll just treat Be independently as to not focus on the trivial. The first song on Be is actually an interesting intro that has fun with the electric piano before building to a most monstrous orchestral crescendo. This song is short but it sets the table for the fine delicacies to come. I know I always talk about getting high in my reviews and I'm sure it gets old, but listening to this album was just plain epic, experienced, as it should be - with the proper hearing aid.

Be represents the entire spectrum of rap rapture - from ghetto reality to higher Afro-centricities. One great party track to throw on when your dawgs are getting crazy with the keg stands - trying to impress the Asian exchange student is "The Corner." In no time at all the heavy bass and thugged-out G-sounding voice will hypnotize any party princess into throwing her hands in the air, screaming "Ahhhhh, this my song!" and staying the night for a hot, sweaty sleep-over. I fucking guarantee when the lyric "We write songs about wrong 'cause it's hard to see right" plays that any freestyle rap champion frat boy will be served and will shut the fuck up for the rest of the night.

If you like the feel of the "Supa" song on MF Doom's Food album, then the "gettin' down with your girl" song that is "GO!" will get you lactating like a mad cow. DJ A-Trak is littering some tight records scratches on "GO!" like the crazy shit DJ Shadow would do back in the day. "Faithful" is the oldies sample mania song of the album. Porno effects, semi-ambiguous sexual references with the feel of a love song set to choir practice comes out sounding like sexy church music. This is the "couples only" song, which might as well as be called the "Babe I Love You" song. I don't know about you but I've had some shady bitches play me in the past. "Testify' is like the "gangsta pimp-thug got Shorty knocked-up and its time to be a daddy" song of album, or at least that's what it sounded like at first. It's more like some dude was fucking with the wrong crack ho and got framed for some shit which turned it into the "bitch playin/foolin' the man" song of the album.

This album also taught me that black rappers love black woman. As the "Afrocentric" song of the album, "Love Is" Common lets us all know he loves 100% African booty only and also includes a Marvin Gaye sample. I got pretty fucking amped on "Chi-City" that's like an alternate song for the Fast And The Furious soundtrack. I was so amped in fact that I got a new spoiler and red ground effects for my car. This song makes the graphic equalizer in my Fiat go crazy so I usually blast the shit out of it when I'm cruising through the "G-HH-ETTTO." Track nine; "The Food" is the live version from the Dave Chappell show. I like this song mainly because of production ideas. It has distorted crackly sound like a record player. If you are looking for a "Grow up, get out of the ghetto, get rich, get hated and killed by ghetto because you made it and they didn't" song then "They Say" is that song. It grooves to old 1980's Las Vegas casino (Circus Circus) elevator music and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood electric piano.

All in all this album is a "nice break from all the gun-slingin'" as The Changsta would tell you. Common tells you to not worry about when the streets are going to take your life but rather make something of yourself in the time you have. This is serious, easy feeling, encouraging and chill-the-fuck-out and roll-one-up hip hop hog heaven.