Common : Be

  A-Trak - Scratching
  DJ Dummy - Scratching
  Derrick Hodge - Bass (Acoustic)
  James Poyser - Strings, Keyboards
  John Legend - Vocals (Background)
  John Mayer - Vocals (Background)
  Kanye West - Keyboards, Vocals (Background)
  Karriem Riggins - Percussion, Drums
  Kids - Performer
  Mister Lonnie & The Kids Lynn - Vocals (Background)
  Num Amun-Tehu - Percussion

Electric Circus cost and won Common some fans. It was very exploratory, especially so for a rap album released in 2002, containing developments -- some of which soared, some of which sank -- that few longtime followers could have foreseen. Listeners either felt Common was picking up fresh, new inspirations, or that he was just being distracted by a whole lot of ill-fitting nonsense. With Be, it seems the MC has realized that not every album that's sprawling and eclectic is as good as Electric Ladyland or Songs in the Key of Life. More notably, he might've been struck with the fact that a high percentage of excellent albums are around 40 minutes in length and are built on a unified sound. Be is highly concentrated, containing 11 songs and involving two producers and a small number of guests. It's a 180 degree turn from Electric Circus, and in a bizarre way it's both a progression and a back-to-basics move. Kanye West and Dilla are key to the album's steadiness, rooting the sound in '70s soul and soul-jazz. That's no shakeup, but the two producers deserve some form of award for stringing together a consistent sequence of productions that is never monotonous, dull, or all that flashy. Even lead single 'The Corner,' heard well before Be's release, falls into the fabric of the album on first listen, as if that were where it belonged all along. Lyrically, Common comes back down to Earth -- the narratives are sharp as ever, the gripes are more like observations than screeds, and the eccentricities need to be teased out rather than swatted away. Be isn't likely to be referred to by anyone as groundbreaking, but it's one of Common's best, and it's also one of the most tightly constructed albums of any form within recent memory. [The album was also made available in a clean version.] ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

Common returns with his highly anticipated 6th album, 'BE', which is executive produced by proven hit maker Kanye West. In keeping with Common's unpretentious approach to 'BE', the album's guest appearances are kept to a refreshing minimum: Besides frequent collaborator Bilal and John Legend, the only other co-stars are Consequence and, of course, Kanye West along with The Last Poets, whom enhance Common's lyrical portrait of inner city blues on the first single 'The Corner'. CLEAN VERSION. MCA. 2005.