Finding Forever
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| Finding Forever | |||||||||||
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| Studio album by Common | |||||||||||
| Released | July 31, 2007 | ||||||||||
| Recorded | 2006–2007 | ||||||||||
| Genre | Hip hop | ||||||||||
| Length | 49:53 | ||||||||||
| Label | G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen | ||||||||||
| Producer | Kanye West, J Dilla, will.i.am, Devo Springsteen, Karriem Riggins, Derrick Hodge | ||||||||||
| Professional reviews | |||||||||||
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| Common chronology | |||||||||||
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Finding Forever is the Grammy Award Winning seventh album by Common, released on July 31, 2007 on G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen Records. Like Common's previous album, Be (2005), Finding Forever is primarily produced by Kanye West. The album debuted at the number one on the Billboard 200, selling 155,000 units in the first week, becoming Common's first chart-topper.[1] Selling over 500,000 units in the US, it has been certified Gold.[2]
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[edit] Conception
[edit] Background
Common explains that "Finding Forever really means to find a place in music where you can exist forever. Music can be forever if you make it from the heart, if you make it from the soul and it’s good. And I look at music like Bob Marley's or Marvin Gaye's or Stevie Wonder's or A Tribe Called Quest's, that's forever music. And I’m continuing on the quest to make forever music."[3]
Common also says: "And now with the death of J Dilla and other things, you start thinking about forever lasting for real through music [...] Jay Dee will last forever through his music and hopefully generations down the line will know about Common through his music. And it's also saying: I been doing this for a nice period of time, so I'm trying to find the place where I can keep existing in the game and make music I love."[4]
[edit] Recording
Common began working on the album in early 2006, recording it throughout the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, and Spain with Kanye West.[5][6][7] Most of the album was recorded while he was filming his roles in American Gangster and Smokin' Aces. Common explained that "if you working on a movie or something ... [there is] less weight on writing the songs... At a certain point, as an artist, you go through things like, 'Man, I gotta make something better than what I did before.' [But] I didn't feel like that this time, like I got to make this better than Be. I wanted to make a better album... I definitely felt freer."[8] Kanye West described the recording sessions as "a real easy environment".[9]
[edit] Music
[edit] Production
Common said that on some tracks, Kanye tried to chop the samples in a similar way to Dilla as a way of honoring him. It has also been said that Kanye West attempted to bring back a really soulful feel to the album. "It's gonna be like College Dropout and Be and Illmatic all fusioned together".[8]
[edit] Rapping
"Sometimes you forget to just rap," Common explained when going back over a few of his past missteps. "I've been doing albums so long, so I look for new challenges. I spit so much on the first albums — and not to say I was the ultimate spitter, but I did it so much that I was looking for new things to do as a writer. I think that's where that stems from, me not really going hard on the rhymes. 'Cause I wanted to take on new subject matters and different things so I could grow and keep it interesting for me. But then you do get to the essence of what you are here for. And I love to rhyme. It does come out[...]"
[edit] Singles
Common and Kanye West debuted "Southside Super Bowl" on VH1's Super Bowl Pre Bash. The track is remade for Finding Forever under the alias "Southside".
Released on May 22, 2007, "The People" featuring a chorus by Dwele is the first single on Finding Forever, and produced by Kanye West. On the track, Common name-checks Kanye and DJ Premier, rapping, "My daughter found Nemo/ I found the new Primo." He added that "The People" "is really a declaration of who I am right now."[8]
The first video shot for the album, as well the second single for this album is "The Game." It contains free associative lyrics and a 1990s style boom bap beat. The duo brought in DJ Premier to scratch a chorus out of lines from "Half Good, Half Sinner" by O.C..
The third single is "Drivin' Me Wild", which features Lily Allen.[10] Its video premiered on YouTube on September 1, 2007.
The fourth single is "I Want You". The music video was co-directed by Kerry Washington.
[edit] Reception
Finding Forever has received mainly positive reviews from music critics. Pitchfork Media criticized it for being "tired". Rolling Stone similarly criticized it for being boring at times (though they gave a generally positive review). Despite some minor criticisms, Finding Forever was well-received, yet did not reach the same respect as his previous album Be. The album has since been certified gold by the RIAA as of October 25, 2007. This album was #15 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.[11] Finding Forever was called "The Album Of The Month" in the german Hip Hop magazine in the 100. Issue (september 2007). It aimed nearly perfect 5.5 of 6 "Crowns".
[edit] Grammy Nominations
Finding Forever was nominated for three 2007 Grammy Awards:
- Best Rap Album, for Finding Forever
- Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, for "Southside" (featuring Kanye West) (from Finding Forever) WON
- Best Rap Solo Performance, for "The People" (featuring Dwele) (from Finding Forever)
[edit] Track listing
There are three preludes on this album that appear within songs: "Prelude to the Game," "Prelude to Southside," and "Prelude to Break My Heart." The first consists of a phone message, the second is produced by J Dilla, and the third is produced by James Poyser (Keys,) Karriem Riggins (Drums,) and Derrick Hodge (Bass).[12]
| # | Title | Length | Producer(s) | Featured guest(s) | Sample(s) |
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| 1 | "Intro" | 1:17 | Derrick Hodge | — | — |
| 2 | "Start the Show" | 3:14 | Kanye West | Kanye West |
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| 3 | "The People" | 3:24 | Kanye West | Dwele (additional vocals) |
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| 4 | "Drivin' Me Wild" | 3:42 | Kanye West | Lily Allen |
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| 5 | "I Want You" | 4:30 | will.i.am | will.i.am |
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| 6 | "Southside" | 4:44 | Kanye West | Kanye West |
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| 7 | "The Game" | 3:32 | DJ Premier, O.C. | — |
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| 8 | "U, Black Maybe" | 5:02 | Kanye West | Bilal |
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| 9 | "So Far to Go" | 4:27 | J Dilla | D'Angelo |
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| 10 | "Break My Heart" | 3:39 | Kanye West | — |
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| 11 | "Misunderstood" | 4:46 | Devo Springsteen | Bilal |
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| 12 | "Forever Begins" | 7:36 | Kanye West | Lonnie "Pops" Lynn |
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| 13 | "Play Your Cards Right" (United Kingdom & iTunes bonus track) |
3:07 | Karriem Riggins | Bilal |
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[edit] Charts
| Chart (2007)[13][14] | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums Chart | 10 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 58 |
| French Albums Chart | 82 |
| Irish Albums Chart | 57 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart | 27 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 23 |
| UK Albums Chart | 35 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 1 |
| U.S. Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums | 1 |
| World Albums Chart | 3 |
[edit] Singles Chart Positions
| Year | Song | Chart positions | |||
| Billboard Hot 100 | Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | Hot Rap Singles | |||
| 2007 | "The People" | #111 | #55 | - | |
| 2007 | "Drivin Me Wild" | - | - | - | |
| 2007 | "I Want You" | #112 | #32 | #21 | |
[edit] Personnel
Information taken from All Music Guide.[15]
- Performance credits
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- Technical credits
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[edit] References
- ^ Hasty, Katie (August 8, 2007). Common Scores First No. 1 on Billboard 200. Billboard. Accessed August 8, 2007.
- ^ UKMIX - Forums - View topic - US Billboard Charts (19/01/2008)
- ^ Moss, Carey (February 17, 2006). Common Wants Kanye for His Own Forever (No Diamonds Required). MTV. Accessed May 13, 2007.
- ^ Reid, Shaheem (May 24, 2006). Common, Kanye Going for 'Glory' on Raw, Soulful New Songs. MTV. Accessed May 13, 2007.
- ^ Collins, Hattie (July 28, 2007). House of Common. Guardian Unlimited. Accessed October 31, 2007.
- ^ Myrie, Russell (June 29, 2007). Interview: Chicago's cerebral rapper Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr. The Independent. Accessed October 31, 2007.
- ^ Stack, Tim (June 23, 2006). Go West, Young Man. Entertainment Weekly. Accessed October 31, 2007.
- ^ a b c Rodriguez, Jayson (April 11, 2007). Kanye West, Lily Allen Finding Something in Common. MTV. Accessed June 13, 2007.
- ^ Reid, Shaheem (April 19, 2006). Kanye Says He Won't Do 'Fast-Food' Music — 'M:i:III' Track Took 50 Hours. MTV. Accessed October 31, 2007.
- ^ Concepcion, Mariel (July 12, 2007). Common Rapping for Zune, Starbucks. Billboard. Accessed October 31, 2007.
- ^ ROBERT CHRISTGAU, DAVID FRICKE, CHRISTIAN HOARD, ROB SHEFFIELD (December 17, 2007). "The Top 50 Albums of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-20
- ^ Finding Forever album credits from Honourable Media
- ^ World Chart Positions. aCharts.us. Accessed October 31, 2007.
- ^ Billboard Albums Chart. All Music Guide. Accessed October 31, 2007.
- ^ allmusic ((( Finding Forever > Credits ))). All Music Guide. Accessed October 31, 2007.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Now 25 by Various artists |
Billboard 200 number-one album August 18 - August 24, 2007 |
Succeeded by UGK (Underground Kingz) by UGK |
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