Common
Finding Forever
(Geffen)
The seventh album in a 15-year career, Finding Forever finds Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jnr - aka Common - sticking to his guns and refining the formula which led to such commercial and critical acclaim on 2005's Be. This in itself is something of a departure for one who has spent his career veering from one style to the next with mixed success over
the years.
Kanye West's production brings to the mix warm synthesiser sounds that recall Stevie Wonder's fertile 1970s output. Like Wonder's spellbinding arrangements back then, West entwines a sense of spirituality to Common's stories. And what stories: he raps of image conscious women who go to ridiculous, crazed lengths to maintain their beauty (the Lily Allen duet Drivin' Me Wild) or, as on the Nina Simone-driven Misunderstood, failed souls who are refused entry to heaven and plead 'Lord let me live so I can make you proud again'.
