For the Common good

CD choice:Hip-Hop

For Common, the reaction to Be (2005) must have felt good. It had taken until album No 6 for the most under-rated MC in the game to finally get his due, so the standing ovations and garlands gathered for the album's extraordinarily infectious and bracing sounds were long overdue.

While there must have been a temptation to try something new (this is the rapper, after all, who brought Stereolab into the hip-hop game for the experimental but uneven Electric Circus album), Common sense has prevailed and he doesn't stray too far from the sounds and styles which made Be such a winner. Such a ploy from someone as well travelled and practised as the Chi-Town rapper would usually be viewed as unadventurous. However, Common still has much to harvest from the infectious soul and funk that now cloak his sound and the view from his stoop which still informs his mighty tales.

There are some reruns on Finding Forever. People lyrically revisits The Corner from the last album, for instance, again toasting streetwise and self- schooled poets and sages in the hood. But this new album sounds remarkably sussed. You can chalk that down to Kanye West's presence at the controls. West has already shown that he knows how to escort Common's muse through the sonic jungle, and the rapper is happy to follow those guidelines again.

This partnership works perfectly on Drivin' Me Wild, where Common's tales are sweetened by Lily Allen singing the hook and further toughened by West's military tattoo beneath the verbals. Rising producer (and West's cousin) Devo Springsteen shows his game by smartly putting Common side-by-side with a sample of Nina Simone's Misunderstood for a track which is ambitious, breathtaking and powerful.

That's the state of affairs repeated again and again over the course of Finding Forever. Common, it's clear, has finally found his groove. www.common-music.com

Download tracks:People, Misunderstood