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Hip Hop Wed Jan 15 2014
Common's Not Smiling on New Album
Chicago-native rapper Common is currently hard at work on a call-to-action album dedicated to stopping violence in the city. The rapper stated in an interview with Revolt that the upcoming album, titled Nobody Smiling, aims to speak to the conditions of violence in Chicago and inner cities all over America.
"War" is the first track released as a teaser of the upcoming album. The song is an embittered attack on the complacency of the warfare environment plaguing the urban population, especially the youth of Chicago. His tone comes from a feeling of disappointment, from the perspective of a man who tours the world and returns to his home city only to find the conditions increasingly worse each time. It also includes a snippet of the rapper's interview where he discussed his motives behind the indignant album.
The release will coincide with the 20th anniversary of the rapper's sophomore album, Resurrection. The 1994 album cemented Common, then known as Common Sense, as one of hip-hop's most acclaimed artists, as evidenced by its inclusion on The Source's Best 100 Rap Albums in 1998.
Nobody Smiling has reunited Common with the producer No I.D., who worked in tandem with Common on Resurrection, setting the expectation that the release will meet the standard of their original work together. According to NPR, some criticized Resurrection for its nostalgic tone when, at the time, the rapper was not even 22-years-old.
The duo's reunion 20 years later gives the rapper a chance to actually trek down memory lane as he attempts to speak louder than the violence of his hometown.
