COMMON Vinyl & CDs

Review: Common reserves some of the most well-preserved clout as a rapper operating in the much-maligned realm of 'conscious rap' - a genre name as problematic as 'IDM' for its insinuation that rap is somehow usually unconscious or zombie-like. That said, 'One Day It'll Make Sense', first released in 1997, is among Common's most critically acclaimed LPs, thanks to its entertaining of concepts most rappers rarely dared to entertain back then. A mixture of party tunes in boom-bap colours and emotive, ruminative dirges, 'GOD (Gaining One's Definition)' is our favourite, summing up Common's stand-up values: "a rich man is one with knowledge, happiness and his health."

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Loma Vista proudly present the latest full-length album by Common, one of the so-called 'conscious' hip-hop scene's earliest progenitor. Here, the rapper teams up with fellow wordsmith and DJ Pete Rock - whom the former refers to as "one of The Greatest Creators Hip Hop and Music has ever seen" (capitalisations not going unnoticed) - for a 15-track meditation on the proverbial theatre: the setting in which the fantastical drama of hip-hop takes place. Never having worked together before, Common and Rock roll out an uncommon compendium, fulfilling in particular Common's dream of working with an antecedent great. Mid-album scratch-fests like 'All Kind Of Ideas' evoke golden-days hip-hop nostalgia through their easy, boppy grooves and images of hustling and "cooking up", while 'Wise Up' and 'Dreamin'' move more textural and vinyl-crackly with things, musing equally on the requisites of leg-breaking performance. A glisteningly soulful album, invoking the glabrous power of street dreams.

Review: Loma Vista proudly present the latest full-length album by Common, one of the so-called 'conscious' hip-hop scene's earliest progenitor. Here, the rapper teams up with fellow wordsmith and DJ Pete Rock - whom the former refers to as "one of The Greatest Creators Hip Hop and Music has ever seen" (capitalisations not going unnoticed) - for a 15-track meditation on the proverbial theatre: the setting in which the fantastical drama of hip-hop takes place. Never having worked together before, Common and Rock roll out an uncommon compendium, fulfilling in particular Common's dream of working with an antecedent great. Mid-album scratch-fests like 'All Kind Of Ideas' evoke golden-days hip-hop nostalgia through their easy, boppy grooves and images of hustling and "cooking up", while 'Wise Up' and 'Dreamin'' move more textural and vinyl-crackly with things, musing equally on the requisites of leg-breaking performance. A glisteningly soulful album, invoking the glabrous power of street dreams.

Review: Common and Pete Rock are two towering behemoths in the hip-hop world. Rock is best known for his instinctive and distinctive beat making style and for plenty of seminal tunes which showcase that, while Common is the next level lyricist, rapper and iconic freestyler who paints vivid pictures with his words. The Auditorium Vol 1 is a remarkable coming together of the two which arrives on limited edition coloured vinyl across four sides of wax. The groundbreaking collab blends all their considerable skills into a record that draws on the golden era but also shows a new future for the genre. It's richly layered and hugely rewarding, as you would expect.

Review: Common and Pete Rock are two towering behemoths in the hip hop world. Rock is best known for his instinctive and distinctive beat making style and for plenty of seminal bums he has elapsed which showcase that, while Common is the next level lyricist, rapper and iconic freestyler who paints vivid pictures with his words. The Auditorium Vol 1 is a remarkable coming together of the two which arrives on limited edition coloured vinyl across four sides of wax. The groundbreaking collab blends all their considerable skills into a record that draws on the golden era but also shows a new future for the genre. It's richly layered and hugely rewarding, as you would expect.