COMMON FINDS FOREVER WITH A NO.1 DEBUT ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS

By Nick Kaoma

Chicago-born rapper, Common, has crowned his 20 year existence in the hip hop world with a long overdue No.1 spot on the highly esteemed Billboard charts for the best-selling album in the States, with 155 000 copies sold in its first week of release.

Finding Forever, Common’s seventh LP, follows hot on the heels of 2006’s Be, his most commercially successful album to date that also managed to garner 3 Grammy nominations, an anomaly for a rapper of Common’s breed.

To the uninformed, Finding Forever’s success may come as a surprise especially considering that Common is regarded as a knighted member of the conscious fraternity in hip hop that consists of low-selling god-figurines such as Mos Def, The Roots and Talib Kweli.

But if you’ve been following Common’s career closely, especially over the past 3 years, the hat-obsessed MC has undertaken some sort of resurgence or reawakening. It goes without saying that hooking up with a sure-fire producer like Kanye West has added an unmistakable spring in his step.

Realising that his credible but commercially unfulfilling rap career was headed for the doldrums where I’m sure the likes of Master P, Cannibus and Mase would have kept him company, the man that recorded one of rap’s most poignant joints (1994’s I Used to Love H.E.R), signed to Kanye’s Grammy-scooping family of G.O.O.D. Music faster than you can say “conscious rap”.

Serving testament to just how enlightened that decision was, Common’s sixth LP Be, which was largely produced by the indefatigable Kanye West, went on to sell platinum (i.e. 1 million copies) in a market that sees premium stars such as Fat Joe and Camron struggling to keep their heads above water.

Taking his career makeover a notch further, Common succumbed to the acting bug that has bitten many of his peers. As a result, he has surprised many of us with tuned-in appearances in blockbusters such as Smokin Aces, alongside Ben Affleck, Jeremy Piven and Alicia Keys and in the upcoming Denzel Washington-starring American Gangster.

And with a deft marketing touch, that would leave brand expert Thebe Ikalafeng blushing with admiration, Common appeared in Gap’s Peace Love commercials and also partnered with Converse for the charitable Product (Red) campaign (see Common and Converse join forces), giving him a publicity boost that ensured national coverage at a time that it mattered the most.

It remains to be seen how long the album will remain on the highly-competitive Billboard charts, but in the meantime you can look out for an upcoming post in which we’ll review and devour Finding Forever for your reading pleasure.

‘Nuff said!