| Finding Forever | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Common | ||||||||||
| Released | July 31, 2007 | |||||||||
| Recorded | 2006–2007 | |||||||||
| Genre | Hip hop, Conscious hip hop, neo soul | |||||||||
| Length | 49:53 | |||||||||
| Label | GOOD Music, Geffen | |||||||||
| Producer | Kanye West (exec.), Common (co-exec), Derek Dudley (co-exec), will.i.am, J Dilla, Devo Springsteen, Karriem Riggins, Derrick Hodge | |||||||||
| Common chronology | ||||||||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| About | [1] |
| Allmusic | [2] |
| Robert Christgau | (A-)[3] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B+)[4] |
| Pitchfork Media | (5.6/10)[5] |
| PopMatters | (8/10)[6] |
| Rolling Stone | [7] |
| Vibe | (favorable)[8] |
| Village Voice | (favorable)[9] |
| XXL | (XL)[10] |
Finding Forever is the Grammy Award–winning seventh album by Common, released on July 31, 2007 on GOOD Music and 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.[11] Selling over 500,000 units in the US, it has been certified Gold. Finding Forever was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album,[12] losing to Kanye West's Graduation at the 50th Grammy Awards[13]
Contents |
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."[14]
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."[15]
Common began working on the album in early 2006, recording it throughout the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, and Spain with Kanye West.[16][17][18] 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."[19] Kanye West described the recording sessions as "a real easy environment".[20]
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".[19]
"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[...]"
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 J Dillla 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."[19]
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.[21] Its video premiered on YouTube on September 1, 2007.
The fourth single was "I Want You", mixed by Dylan "3-D" Dresdow and produced by will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. The music video was co-directed by Kerry Washington.
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 No. 15 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.[22]
Finding Forever was nominated for three 2007 Grammy Awards:
| No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Intro" | Derrick Hodge | 1:17 |
| 2. | "Start the Show" | Kanye West | 3:14 |
| 3. | "The People" | Kanye West | 3:24 |
| 4. | "Drivin' Me Wild" (featuring Lily Allen) | Kanye West | 3:42 |
| 5. | "I Want You" (featuring will.i.am) | will.i.am | 4:30 |
| 6. | "Southside" (featuring Kanye West) | Kanye West | 4:44 |
| 7. | "The Game" | Kanye West, DJ Premier (scratches only) | 3:32 |
| 8. | "U, Black Maybe" (featuring Bilal) | Kanye West | 5:02 |
| 9. | "So Far to Go" (featuring D'Angelo) | J Dilla | 4:27 |
| 10. | "Break My Heart" | Kanye West | 3:39 |
| 11. | "Misunderstood" | Devo Springsteen | 4:46 |
| 12. | "Forever Begins" | Kanye West | 7:36 |
| iTunes and United Kingdom Bonus Track | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length | ||||||
| 13. | "Play Your Cards Right" (featuring Bilal) | Karriem Riggins | 3:07 | ||||||
*Co-producer
| # | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Intro" |
Songwriters: Derrick Hodge |
| 2 | "Start the Show" |
Songwriters: L. Lynn, K. West, A. Bergman, M. Bergman, M. Legrand |
| 3 | "The People" |
Songwriters: L. Lynn, K. West, G. Scott-Heron |
| 4 | "Drivin' Me Wild" |
Songwriters: L. Lynn, K. West, C. Stepney, L. Webber |
| 5 | "I Want You" |
Songwriters: L. Lynn, W. Adams, G. McDaniels |
| 6 | "Southside" |
Songwriters: L. Lynn, K. West, D. Covay |
| 7 | "The Game" |
Songwriters: L. Lynn, K. West, S. Ekos |
| 8 | "Black Maybe" |
Songwriters: L. Lynn, K. West, S. Wonder |
| 9 | "So Far to Go" |
Songwriters: L. Lynn, J. Yancey, M. Archer, E. Isley, M. Isley, O. Isley, R. Isley, R. Isley, C. Jasper |
| 10 | "Break My Heart" |
Songwriters: L. Lynn, K. West, G. Duke |
| 11 | "Misunderstood" |
Songwriters: L. Lynn, D. Harris, B. Benjamin, G. Caldwell, S. Marcus |
| 12 | "Forever Begins" |
Songwriters: L. Lynn, K. West, P. Simon |
| * | "Play Your Cards Right" |
Songwriters: L. Lynn, K. Riggins |
| Chart (2007)[23][24] | 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. Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Rap Albums | 1 |
Technical credits[25]
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| Preceded by Now 25 by Various artists |
Billboard 200 number-one album August 12, 2007 – August 18, 2007 |
Succeeded by UGK (Underground Kingz) by UGK |