'Be'

Listening to this album for the first time, five songs in, I texted friends and declared that it is maybe my most favorite hip-hop album of all time.

One called it bold, although I never stated that it was best, just my favorite.

It really captures everything that I love about hip-hop and, yet, have generally failed to find in any one individual or group. It's stripped down production aside from Kanye West's remarkable beats. Common "raps happy" but he challenges the status quo and takes on serious issues.

Some critics call the album "safe." I call it great. Maybe it's not "Sgt. Pepper's" but I think that's beside the point. There so much bad music put out there that "safe" is simply a synonym for "not groundbreaking," which Common supposedly already did with Like Water for Chocolate. How many groundbreaking albums is one guy supposed to have?

There are hundreds of hip-hop artists that would like to go "safe" like Common's Be. And have Kanye West producing.