Be is a 2005 album by rapper Common, produced by Kanye West and J Dilla. The album reached a peak of #2 on the Billboard 200 pop albums chart, and became Common's second album to sell over 500,000 copies. Currently it has sold 800,000.^[1] Common released Be under West's record label, GOOD Music, and West produced 9 of the 11 songs off the album ("Love Is..." and "It's Your World" are both produced by J Dilla). Containing 11 tracks and spanning about 42 minutes, Be is Common's shortest album. Common considers it and Like Water for Chocolate to be his favorite albums.^[2] Image File history File links Bealbum. ... A studio album is a collection of previously unreleased, studio-recorded tracks by a recording artist. ... Common (formerly Common Sense, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. ... May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Sony Music Studios is a well-known music recording and mastering facility in New York City. ... New York, New York redirects here. ... This article or section should be merged with Burbank, Los Angeles County, California This article is about the Burbank in Southern California. ... Clinton Township can refer to: Clinton Township, Lenawee County, Michigan Clinton Township, Oscoda County, Michigan Clinton Township, Rock County, Minnesota Clinton Township, St. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Hip hop music is a style of music which came into existence in the United States during the mid-1970s, and became a large part of modern pop culture during the 1980s. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... GOOD Music is a hip hop and rock record label founded by music producer and rapper Kanye West. ... Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as one third of UMGs Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Kanye Omari West (pronounced /kÉ‘n. ... James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974–February 10, 2006), better known as J Dilla or Jay Dee, was an American hip hop producer and MC, who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip-hop scene in Detroit, Michigan. ... AllHipHop. ... Image File history File links 5_stars. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. ... Image File history File links 4_stars. ... Look up blender in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Image File history File links 4_stars. ... IGN is a multimedia news and reviews website that focuses heavily on video games. ... Image File history File links Stars10075. ... Image File history File links Stars10080. ... This article is about the magazine. ... Image File history File links 4_stars. ... There have been a number of things known as The Source: The Source is a 1967 novel by James A. Michener. ... Image File history File links 4. ... A 2005 cover of XXL, featuring Snoop Dogg and The Game. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Common (formerly Common Sense, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. ... This article is about a music album. ... Finding Forever is the title of rapper Commons forthcoming 7th studio album. ... Rapping is one of the elements of hip hop and the distinguishing feature of hip hop music; it is a form of rhyming lyrics spoken rhythmically over musical instruments, with a musical backdrop of sampling, scratching and mixing by DJs. ... Common (formerly Common Sense, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. ... Kanye Omari West (pronounced /kÉ‘n. ... James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974–February 10, 2006), better known as J Dilla or Jay Dee, was an American hip hop producer and MC, who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip-hop scene in Detroit, Michigan. ... The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. ... GOOD Music is a hip hop and rock record label founded by music producer and rapper Kanye West. ... Like Water for Chocolate is an album by rapper Common, released in March 2000. ...

Title significance

As Common said in a 2005 interview with SixShot.com: "I named it Be to be who you are man and be able to be in the moment and not try to hard. Be is another way of saying just do without trying hard, like I said natural and be true to the core of who you are and this album I wanted to just be and not just go and exist as just an artist not worried about the past."^[3] In an interview with AllHipHop.com, Common reiterated the same point and denied that the album title stood for "'Before Erykah."^[2] Entertainment Weeklys Tim Stack describes it as "a critical success without blockbuster sales."^[4] Erykah Badu (born Erica Abi Wright, February 26, 1971, in Dallas, Texas) is an American neo-soul, R&B/hip hop artist whose work crosses over into jazz. ... Entertainment Weekly (sometimes abbreviated EW) is a magazine published by Time Inc. ...

Background

Be was touted as Common's comeback album after the commercially disastrous Electric Circus. His new alliance with Kanye West helped to spark public interest in the project. Nas's debut album Illmatic was the biggest influence on Be. The results show that Common was clearly aware, and perhaps agreeing, with the negative criticisms about Electric Circus. In comparison to that album, Be is lean, immediate, and commanding, yet also restrained in its musical ambitions. Many believe it to be his safest album. Of the reaction to the album, the rapper said: "I don't think Electric Circus was as focused. Though I'd done some progressive hip-hop, people know me as the b-boy. When I showed them something different, a different style of b-boy, there were like, "Hold up. You can be Afrocentric, but what's this rock shit that you're doing?"^[5] Illmatic is the debut album by rapper Nas, released on April 19, 1994 through Columbia Records. ...

Singles

"The Corner"

Common gave his reasons for featuring controversial spoken word recording artists, The Last Poets, on the album's first official single, "The Corner": "They gifted at writing. They voices is incredible. They took my song to a higher level. And that's what hip-hop was about to me. It would have a message. It would take you to the next place. It was fresh as people say -- something new. They brought newness to what "The Corner" was and they also brought some nostalgia, too. Just them being from the '70s and being used in hip-hop and their spirit brought something pure to it. They gave me a better understanding of the corner after that. I knew those who had been listening to hip-hop would know who the Last Poets were and if they didn't they would feel it in their souls sooner or later. And I also felt good about introducing some of the youth to the Last Poets.^[6] The Corner is the first single released by Common on his sixth album, Be. ... Spoken word is a form of music or artistic performance in which lyrics, poetry, or stories are spoken rather than sung. ... The Last Poets is a group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African American civil rights movements black nationalist thread. ...

"Go!"

"Go" was the album's second, and highest charting single. The song featured Kanye West and John Mayer, however all the verses are performed by Common. The song continued Common's now apparent "ladies' man" persona, which began with 2000's "The Light", and 2002's "Come Close". The video for the song included shots of Common surrounded by numerous models. Go! is the second single from Commons album Be. ... Image File history File links Common_-_Go. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ... John Mayer may refer to several people: John Mayer, a singer-songwriter John A. Mayer, a psychologist This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Also see The Light (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

"Testify"

The album's third single, "Testify" received a type of promotional video known as a "mini-movie"; a term coined by Michael Jackson to describe a music video with a complex plot and a suitably long running time, often with intermissions between the song's parts. The video featured acting parts from Taraji P. Henson, Bill Duke, Steve Harris, and Wood Harris, and received notable spins on specialist channels such as MTV2. The song samples "Innocent Until Proven Guilty" by Honey Cone. Testify is the third single from rapper Commons 2005 album Be. ... For other persons named Michael Jackson, see Michael Jackson (disambiguation). ... Henson with Terrence Howard in Hustle & Flow (2005) Taraji Penda Henson (born September 11, 1970 in Washington, DC) is an American actress and singer. ... Bill Duke (born February 26, 1943) is an American actor and film director. ... Steve J. Harris (born December 3, 1965) is an African-American actor who has appeared in a number of films including Tyler Perrys Diary of a Mad Black Woman, The Rock, The Mod Squad and Minority Report. ... Wood Harris Wood Harris, born Sherwin David Harris (born October 17, 1969), is an African-American actor currently starring in the television drama The Wire. ... MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to basic cable lineups across the nation. ... Honey Cone was an American R&B and soul singing girl group who was most famous for the #1 hit, Want Ads, and were the premier female group for the legendary Holland-Dozier-Holland writing and producing team in the early-1970s after the team departed from Motown Records. ...

Reception

Critical

Q considers Be to be Common's best album.^[7] Q is a music and entertainment magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. ...

Grammy mominations

Be was nominated for four 2006 Grammy Awards: Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music...

• Best Rap Album, for Be

• Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, for "The Corner" (featuring The Last Poets) (from Be)

• Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, for "They Say" (featuring Kanye West and John Legend) (from Be)

• Best Rap Song, for writing "Testify" (from Be)

The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album has been awarded since 1996. ... The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group has been awarded since 1991, alongside the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance. ... The Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration has been awarded since 2002. ... Kanye Omari West (pronounced /kɑn. ... John Legend (born John Stephens December 28, 1978 in Springfield, Ohio) is a five-time Grammy Award winning R&B singer, songwriter, and pianist. ... money maker, lose yourself , sumtin esle ...

Accolades

Information is taken from AcclaimedMusic.net.^[8]

Aftenposten is Norways second largest newspaper with a circulation of 256,600 copies for the morning edition, 155,400 copies for the separate evening edition and 232,900 copies for the Sunday edition in 2003. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. ... Amazon. ... The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... B92 (Б92) is a radio and television station in Belgrade, Serbia. ... Anthem Serbia() on the European continent() Capital (and largest city) Belgrade Official languages Serbian language 1 Recognised regional languages Hungarian, Croatian, Slovak, Romanian, Rusyn 2 Albanian, English 3 Government Parliamentary republic  -  President Boris Tadić  -  Prime Minister Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica Establishment  -  Formation 8th century   -  First unified state c. ... It has been suggested that Billboard be merged into this article or section. ... Dagbladet is Norways third largest newspaper with a circulation of 191,164 copies in 2002. ... Dagsavisen is a daily newspaper from Oslo, Norway. ... E!: Entertainment Television is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite network. ... Expressen is a Swedish right leaning newspaper founded in 1944. ... HARP Magazine is a print and online magazine that provides in-depth information on current music, mainly the adult album alternative genre, which encompasses a large variety of music. ... Hip Hop Connection (HHC) is the longest running magazine devoted entirely to hip hop in the world. ... People is a weekly American magazine of celebrity and human interest stories, published by Time Inc. ... Pye Records formed Piccadilly Records in the early 1960s as an outlet for new acts, including Joe Brown & the Bruvvers, Clinton Ford, The Rockin Berries, Sounds Orchestral and, later on, the Ivy League who metamorphosed into the memorable Flowerpotmen, famous for their Summer of Love anthem Lets Go to... PopMatters is an international magazine of cultural criticism. ... Prefix logo Prefix Magazine is an online resource for daily music reviews, interviews, features and breaking news. ... Q is a music and entertainment magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the magazine. ... Spin is a music magazine that reports on all the music that rocks. Founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... The Village Voice is a weekly newspaper in New York City featuring investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts reviews and events listings for New York City. ... URB is a monthly American magazine devoted to electronic music, hip-hop and urban lifestyle and culture. ... Vibe or VIBE may refer to: VIBE, a magazine about music artists, actors and other entertainers owned by Quincy Jones. ... WOXY 97X was an Internet-only freeform rock and roll radio station based in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. ...

Commercial

The album reached a peak of #2 on the Billboard 200, a feat for Common.^[9] It also became Common's second album to sell over 500,000 copies, but has currently sold 800,000.^[10] The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. ...

Track listing

Kanye Omari West (pronounced /kÉ‘n. ... Common (formerly Common Sense, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. ... James Poyser James Poyser is an African-American songwriter, record producer, and keyboardist known for his hip-hop and R&B productions. ... The Corner is the first single released by Common on his sixth album, Be. ... Abiodun Oyewole (born Charles Davis, unknown date), was a founding member of the legendary African-American musical spieling group, the Last Poets, that developed into what is considered the first ever hip hop group. ... Umar Bin Hassan (1948– ) is an African American poet born in Akron, Ohio. ... Kanye Omari West (pronounced /kÉ‘n. ... The Last Poets is a group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African American civil rights movements black nationalist thread. ... Go! is the second single from Commons album Be. ... John Mayer may refer to several people: John Mayer, a singer-songwriter John A. Mayer, a psychologist This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Linda Lewis a vocalist, a songwriter and guitar player. ... Bilal (born Bilal Sayeed Oliver on August 23, 1979, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) is a neo soul musician and member of the musical collective known as Soulquarians. ... John Legend (born John Stephens December 28, 1978 in Springfield, Ohio) is a five-time Grammy Award winning R&B singer, songwriter, and pianist. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Testify is the third single from rapper Commons 2005 album Be. ... General Norman Johnson (born 23 May 1943, in the Huntersville region of the seaside city of Norfolk, Virginia) was the leader of Chairmen of the Board and a top R&B songwriter / producer. ... Honey Cone was an American R&B and soul singing girl group who was most famous for the #1 hit, Want Ads, and were the premier female group for the legendary Holland-Dozier-Holland writing and producing team in the early-1970s after the team departed from Motown Records. ... James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974–February 10, 2006), better known as J Dilla or Jay Dee, was an American hip hop producer and MC, who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip-hop scene in Detroit, Michigan. ... Marvin Gaye (born Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. ... Eugene Record Eugene Record (December 23, 1940 – July 22, 2005) was lead vocalist of The Chi-Lites during the 1960s and 1970s. ... David Khari Webber Chappelle (born August 24, 1973 in Washington, D.C.)[2] is an American stand-up comedian, satirist and actor. ... The Chi-Lites [IPA: ðə ʃaɪlaɪts] were a Chicago-based smooth soul vocal quartet from the early 1970s, one of the few from the period to not come from Memphis or Philadelphia. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Thomas Bell (1903–1961) was an American novelist. ... Ahmad Jamal in 1994 Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones on July 2, 1930) is a highly-regarded American jazz pianist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974–February 10, 2006), better known as J Dilla or Jay Dee, was an American hip hop producer and MC, who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip-hop scene in Detroit, Michigan. ... Karriem Riggins (born August 25, 1975) is a jazz musician and a former member of the Ray Brown Trio (which is no longer in existence), who hails from Detroit, Michigan. ... Lonnie Lynn (born May 24, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois) is a former basketball player in the ABA. He played one season for the Pittsburgh Pipers (1969-70 season). ...

Album singles

Although not officially released as a single, "Be" received a video treatment from Paul Hunter.^[11] October 8 is the 281st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (282nd in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Corner is the first single released by Common on his sixth album, Be. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Go! is the second single from Commons album Be. ... June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Testify is the third single from rapper Commons 2005 album Be. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Paul Hunter is a successful African-American music video director. ...

Chart positions

Album

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. ...

Singles

References

April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... May 13 is the 133rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (134th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ...

External link

• XXL Calls 'Be' a Classic
• Common Hoping To Get Kanye To Work On His New Album Tentatively Titled "Finding Forever"