'Start the Show' has West playing ringmaster, introducing the album as if it were his own, a theme consistently found on the disc.

West virtually omnipresent on the production front, but he makes himself known by appearing unannounced throughout the course of the album. Maybe it's his ego, or maybe he had something to prove, but regardless, the production on Finding Forever is weighty, distracting and, to add insult to injury, pretty atrocious. Somewhere down the line, I think Kanye forgot he was working on a Common album. Yes, believe it or not, Kanye wasn't the first to alter the pitch on a Nina Simone track. West has made a career in ripping off Pete Rock, DJ Premier and J Dilla. Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't he made a career off that? While you could easily assume that most fans of Kanye are unaware of his influences, true hip-hop heads recognize that Mr. Not only did he guarantee a Grammy, he also touted his own chops by saying he'd 'pay tribute to Dilla' and that he'd try to 'bring back a really soulful feel'. West, who also had a heavy hand in Be, has made no effort to subdue the hype. The only problem is it's highly lauded by producer, douchebag and fellow Chicago-native Kanye West. He solidified his place at the top of the Chicago hip-hop scene with Resurrection, Like Water for Chocolate and 2005's Be and, well, I'm sad to say it might be the end of an era.Р В РІР‚СњР В РІР‚РЋor those who don't know, Finding Forever is a highly lauded effort. Common is an MC through and through he's well respected, fairly renowned and, according to Gap, mildly fashionable. It's pretty hard to come into this album without expectations. Fans will probably forget this is a Common album by the third or fourth track and itР В Р вЂ Р В РІР‚С™Р Р†РІР‚С›РЎС›s probably for the better.

Still, it's a shade less satisfying than Be.Review Summary: An imitative, soulful mess. Sometimes, though, he's only providing more ammo for those who still maintain that his best album is his less than didactic debut, like the Cosby-in-training 'He had a fetish for shoes that's athletic/Pathetic on his MySpace page half-naked.' The album includes a handful of well-placed and effectual guest contributors including Bilal, Dwele, Lily Allen, Common's dad, and the one and only Primo. Common delivers plenty of lyrical potency, whether he's mixing the sad with the silly ('Doin' all she can for her man and her baby, drivin' herself crazy like the astronaut lady') or dishing out some serious Nas-worthy disdain ('With 12 monkeys on-stage, it's hard to see who's a gorilla - you was better as a drug dealer'). There are some subtle references to Dilla, and while it's perfectly acceptable that no outright mimicry is going on, the majority of the beats are slightly substandard, at least by Kanye standards. It doesn't help Kanye's cause that the album's sweetest track is the Dilla-produced 'So Far to Go' (heard in original form on Dilla's The Shining), sandwiched between two Kanye beats that can be tuned out with no effort. (As on Be, most of the tracks feature his handiwork, with some duties farmed out to others.) Though the intentions are good, it's an audacious move: idiosyncratic and often brilliant producer attempts to channel the creativity of a master who constantly switched up his game. This time out, Kanye adopts a 'What would Dilla do?' approach to his productions. This lends a kind of heaviness, a level of seriousness, and a sometimes overbearing sense of 'What we are doing here is intended to be important,' not present on 2005's Be - a taut and steady album with an unforced and seemingly less conceptualized liquid flow. Dilla's 2006 death has had Common and Kanye not just grieving but further contemplating the making of music that outlasts their time on the planet. In 'The People,' Common rhymes 'My daughter found Nemo/I found the new Primo,' yet it is the late J Dilla - not DJ Premier - who is emulated by Kanye West throughout Finding Forever.

Common finding forever tracklist