Common (Sense) - Can I Borrow A Dollar? (October 6, 1992)

Lonnie Lynn Jr., better known as Common, formerly known as Common Sense until some bullshit reggae outfit sued him, has followed an interesting trajectory throughout his career. He dropped out of college and found himself featured in the "Unsigned Hype" column in The Source (this was well before Benzino took over the magazine). The hype led to a record deal with Relativity Records, which resulted in three albums that sold virtually no copies. After hooking up with producers J. Dilla (R.I.P.) and ?uestlove (from the Roots Crew), he released a couple more albums which were acclaimed; he got together with Erykah Badu, put out a trippy not-unlike-Phish bullshit rap album that was widely panned (resulting in Common dropping Badu and going back to the "real" hip hop); found out that fellow Chicago resident Kanye West was blowing the fuck up, joined forces with West and released a brilliant "comeback" album of sorts (it was nominated for the Best Rap Album Grammy in 2006); and now finds himself making more moves with Kanye all while making room for a career in film (he co-starred in the film Smokin' Aces).

I think that covers his entire story in the space of one paragraph.

Of course, it's never really that easy. Common released Can I Borrow A Dollar? in 1992 to mild acclaim and zero sales. It was produced by Immenslope (a/k/a No I.D.), Twilite Tone, and the mighty Beatnuts, a personal favorite. Although the album hardly made a dent, it exposed Lonnie Lynn Jr. to the hip hop underground, who took him in, nursed him to health, and loaned him a couple of bucks (hey!) so that he would shake the discouragement off and come back on album number two with what is still known as the definitive hip hop metaphor, "I Used To Love H.E.R."

Too bad that song is not on this album.

1. A PENNY FOR MY THOUGHTS
I see you, Common. Aim low, so that anything extra is just gravy.

2. CHARMS ALARM
An anthem for the Blow Pops and bracelets.

3. TAKE IT EZ
If you're only familiar with Common circa "The Corner", this song will knock your socks off. Seriously. You'll have to get off of your ass to pick up your damn socks.

4. HEIDI HOE
The Beatnuts contribution, which is damn good. Common doesn't really make songs like this anymore.

5. BREAKER 1/9
Not bad, but the "Between the Sheets" sampling is distracting, especially after I heard Biggie's "Big Poppa" yesterday. (EDIT: For those who are interested, the remix is available for a listen on Jaz's blog Cold Rock Da Spot, which anyone who really cares about this stuff should go check out.)
6. TWO SCOOPS OF RAISINS
Meh.

7. NO DEFENSE
Really nothing more than an interlude.

8. BLOWS TO THE TEMPLE
The drums on this track rock.

9. JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME
Sorry, I got distracted. Did I miss anything?

10. TRICKS UP MY SLEEVE
David Blaine's theme song.

11. PUPPY CHOW
Oddly, not from the Nicolas Cage film of the same name. The Isleys sample is almost too easy, though.

12. SOUL BY THE POUND
Lots of people believe that the remix is better; I'm inclined to agree, but this song still isn't bad.

13. PITCHIN' PENNIES
You thought this was a full song, but you were so wrong! Insert glorified album outro here.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Can I Borrow A Dollar? is a very inauspicious debut from a promising artist, not unlike the Ras Kass debut. The talent is obvious, and the lyrics are there, but Common was just too inexperienced to pull all of the needed ingredients together to cook up the stew. Luckily, the few people who purchased this album loved it, or else we may have never gotten album number two.

BUY OR BURN? Fans who only know Common from the mainly-Kanye-produced Be and the holiday Gap commercial should sit for a spell and take in the sounds of an amateur rapping his ass off without a care in the world. Go ahead and pick this one up; look for the "Soul By The Pound" remix online.

BEST TRACKS: "Soul By The Pound"; "Take It EZ"

-Max