Common (w/Kanye West & John Mayer)
Go
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Album: Be (2005)

Linda Lewis
Old Smokey
Download
Album: Lark (1972)

Common has had quite the inconsistent career. But when Kanye West came knocking, Common stepped up his game, resulting in the pretty darn awesome LP Be. I fear Be may end up being the apex of Common’s recording career, but I’m still rooting for one of Chi-town’s finest.

Though Be has a number of enjoyable tracks, I’ve been surprised by how much its third single, "Go" has stuck with me. I think it’s the contrast between the mellow beat and the risqué lyrics that keeps it in rotation.

Kanye makes an able hype man and as for John Mayer, I think his contribution is limited to the echoed "Go" that is looped every two bars or so. (And he gets a songwriting credit?)

I hadn’t heard the Linda Lewis track Kanye sampled in "Go." To be honest, I hadn’t heard of Linda Lewis. But "Old Smokey" is a sweet, feel-good song that is ideally suited to a Sunday morning. Whatever led Kanye to isolate the short electric keyboard breakdown that appears towards the end of the song is a mystery to me, but I’m indebted to Yeezy for leading me to this rare groover.