"Kingdom" ft. Vince Staples- Common

There's a longstanding myth that as you grow older, you slowly become more conservative in your outlook. Life bends and softens you in many ways and your political opinion is just one of many things to "suffer" under time's oppressive rule. Where you once were out in the streets rallying, you're now content to prescribe your own remedy from the comfort of your living room.

 If there was no available data to debunk the notion, rapper Common in 2014 would serve as a terrific case study. 20 years after he made waves with the iconic "I Used to Love H.E.R." he kickstarted this year with the Spartan march of "War". And if that full-fledged political condemnation weren't enough, follow up track "Made in Black America" with Black Hippy rapper Ab-Soul helped keep boots firmly on the ground. New track "Kingdom", again produced by longtime collaborator No I.D., proves Common's manifesto for upcoming LP Nobody Smiling hasn't been crafted on accident. Right away fervent gospel vocals signal that the urban terror Common so often documents hasn't disappeared. "Second row of the church with my hood on, my homie used to rap he used to get put on, at his funeral listening to this church song," he exasperatedly proclaims as I.D.'s drums boldly pump. As he documents all the "keys for my life to end," the South Side Chicago native is readily aware of what that particular article of clothing can do. At its most negligible it may get you stray looks and send people to the other side of the street; at its worst it can get you killed. 

But Common's 42, far from the brash adolescent people like Mark Cuban seemed to be worried about. Guest Vince Staples isn't. The Odd Future-interloper is the one who can't breathe, looking over his own shoulder while people cast sideways glances at him. His concerns are far more perilous. In his adroit verse, he wakes up "afraid of seeing my name on the news," worried another family member could end up either dead or in jail at any moment. As he "plays with a revolver" it's clear he's not embracing fake thug posturing, but fighting for survival in a Malcolm X sense. Living in such a fraught environment Staples can't imagine making it to Common's age, let alone 30. He's too worried about making it to tomorrow.

Nobody Smiling drops sometime in 2014.

"War"- Common

 
It's no secret Chicago, particularly the neighborhoods in the South Side are in a very bad way. If countless (almost voyeuristic) news reports weren't enough, Chicago natives from Chief Keef to Kanye West and Chance the Rapper have been journalistically detailing painful scenes of "funerals for little girls" and homicide totals dwarfing numbers from wars.

It's this notion of Chicago as a warzone that the Windy City's own Common dwells on in new cut "War". A booming cut of Spartan horns and muted drum kicks (produced by longtime collaborator No I.D.), "War" imagines the children of "Chiraq" as no different than child rebel soldiers in the modern Congo or child crusaders in the 1200s. In every case, they've been robbed of their innocence, learning to use a weapon before their facial hair even comes in. "Collisions of cliques named after rap groups, except wearing Jordans instead of black boots," Common exasperatedly breathes at one point, wondering aloud what role if any rap plays in this "do or die" mentality. However, he saves his greatest ire for those "benefiting" from such a perilous situation. "I'm living in this s*** while the world exploits," he bluntly puts it amidst the clattering boom-bap. To Common, reporters and politicians feign sympathy for career advancement, only to hightail it the moment things turn ugly. The cameras can't be found when 13 year olds are toe-tagged and lowered into coffins. And if all this sounds too nightmarish to be true, Common reminds us all in the spoken outro "it's happening."

"War" is the first offering from the forthcoming Nobody's Smiling, which doesn't have a release date yet, but has been discussed by Common at-length.