Nowadays, all we need is Jay-Z with Lenny Kravitz sampling a Cake song to prove that the noises some rap artists are trying to squeeze into the confines of a disc have become out of control.
The "alternative" rap scene often resembles a circus of genres floating together under one huge hip-hop Big Top.
It should be no surprise then that Common has turned this concept into the underlying theme of his latest release, Electric Circus.
The album certainly lives up to its title -- this isn't a boring collection of filler that surrounds one or two decent but disposable singles. Instead, we get Common, the ringmaster himself, at the center of a true three-ring rap freak show, a nonstop flowing groove that combines impressive lyricism with late 1960's psychedelia, fist-pumping hard rock, and what often sounds like lost beats from an unreleased Prince record.
Common's ability to shift musical themes feels just like the "Ferris Wheel" created in the track that bears the same name. One minute the listener is up in the air, feeling the freedom and excitement of the in-your-face ghetto anthem "I Got a Right Ta." But soon we're back on the grounds of reality with the reflective "Between Me, You and Liberation," a song that describes experiences with a rape victim, a relative's battle with cancer
and a friend's coming out. These
mood swings prove Common has no difficulty being a lover or a listener, a source of celebration or a source of sympathy.
The rapper also deserves respect for his selection of special guests. Whereas many artists might dismiss the idea of working with bigger or surprising performers, Common uses musical cameos to broaden the limitations of hip hop itself. He includes some of the expected names, such as vocalist Jill Scott on the Dixieland-inspired "I am Music." But the true innovation lies in the more unpredictable
choices, such as Sonny from P.O.D. on the head-rocking head rush of "Electric Wire Hustler Flower."
Most surprising is the appearance of Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier. Her experimental alternative group's sound is probably as far from rap as a modern artist can get, but the vocalist's distinct, soft warbling provides an unexpected, easy-on-the-ear chorus that contrasts the menacing verses of "New Wave."
Common's show is not perfect though. Somewhere near its end, the entire album loses its focus and drifts away from the attention
span of even the most determined listener.
The rapper seems to understand that the "flowing verse/melodic chorus" formula gets tiresome by the end of the 73-minute disc, but the safety net he places under the swinging trapeze of his work is not as taut as it could be. As a final attempt at diversity, he includes tracks like the forgettable and excessively trippy "Jimi Was a Rock Star" and the 11-minute closing track "Heaven Somewhere," which starts off sounding like a confusing mystery novel and eventually turns into an awkward P-Funk jam session that just isn't P-Funk. This attempt at a grand finale feels like the lion just couldn't take any more abuse from the tamer.
But Common should be appreciated for being an artist on the cutting edge of the rock/jazz/pop/rap scene, persistently working hard at finding new ways to reject MTV's and Top 40's clichés and formulating his own new, but acceptable sounds. It may not be the greatest show on Earth, but Electric Circus is good enough.
