Nobody's Smiling Review

First off I would like to thank Common just for putting out an album, due to the busy acting career he has going on (sarcasm to some and a legit statement for others who follow his acting career). Nobody's Smiling was not your typical Common album. In fact the only thing typical about it, is of course, Common's lyricism and his collaboration with long time friend and Chicago super-producer No I.D. The album starts with a soft melody sung by James Fauntleroy, which is followed by a Curtis Mayfield sample from "The Other Side of Town", which I will say was sampled beautifully. Of course with this build up Common has to come on point with tenacity and precision in his words, wordplay and flow. He does exactly that over a beautifully laid foundation from No I.D.

Common's intentions with this album was to connect back with his city and target the violence and destruction of black youth in it. He did that with songs "The Neighborhood" featuring Chicago artist Lil Herb, "Nobody's Smiling" featuring Malik Yusef, and "Kingdom" featuring Vince Staples. There is only one commercial tune or possible radio tune with "Diamonds" featuring G.O.O.D Music artist Big Sean, and an argument can be made for "Speak My Piece" as a radio tune, due to the structure and rhythm of the beat. 

There were some questionable moments in the album where No I.D. seemed to derail the listener from a typical No I.D. production with songs like "No Fear", and "Blak Majik" featuring Jhene Aiko. However, as a lover of No I.D. and his production he delights listeners with his smooth sampling of classic soul tunes with "Real" featuring Elijah Blake, and "Rewind That", which was an ode to long-time friend for both Common and No I.D., J Dilla. 

As a result I think Common did a good job of being able to relate the messages to the youth and to the streets of Chicago, in a plain fashion without coming off as "politic-like" or "preachy". With that being said I hope you all enjoyed this review and with that go out and purchase Common's "Nobody's Smiling".