Let Love

by Common

Overview

Should Common choose to radically change course with his 13th solo album, number 12, Let Love, could be considered the third part of a trilogy that started with Black America Again and continued with the rapper's self-titled album as part of August Greene. Like those LPs from 2016 and 2018, Let Love involves Karriem Riggins on production and drums, Samora Pinderhughes on keyboards and vocals, and Burniss Travis on bass. Pinderhughes and Travis are more involved here -- as writing and production partners -- than on the preceding sessions. The core trio of instrumentalists continues to communicate with fluid, deceptively intricate precision, occasionally easy to mistake for Riggins' keenly sourced, artfully looped, and sparingly placed samples. August Greene was more reflective and somber than Black America Again, and this continues the trend, enhanced with consistently tender secondary vocals from Pinderhughes, BJ the Chicago Kid, Jill Scott, Dwele, Daniel Caesar, Leon Bridges, and Jonathan McReynolds. They're all in sympathetic support of a rapper who, 27 years after his recorded debut and a few months following the publishing of his memoir, has never been more open. In the lead-off track "Good Morning Love," Common rhymes about seeing his therapist, declaring "as a black man, I feel I should be sharin' this," while in "Show Me That You Love Me," he relates a humbling late-night discussion with his daughter about his parental shortcomings. Recollections of his upbringing get as serious as they do in his book, detailing in "Memories of Home" his childhood struggle to cope with traumatic emotional shock. Equally emblematic of Common's growth is "HER Love," a proper full-blown sequel to "I Used to Love H.E.R." (H.E.R. being acronymic for "Hip-hop in its essence is real"). The title switch alone signals maturity and an emphasis on positivity -- the gratitude he feels toward the art form in 2019 -- and a breezy, excavated J Dilla beat deepens its resonance. The benevolent spirit in this and almost all of the other tracks makes the strong-arming "Hercules" and the retribution tale "Fifth Story" seem like misplaced throw-ins. ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	08/30/2019
Label:	Loma Vista
UPC:	0888072108028

Tracks

1. Good Morning Love
2. Her Love
3. Dwele's Interlude
4. Hercules
5. Fifth Story
6. Forever Your Love
7. Leaders (Crib Love)
8. Memories of Home
9. Show Me That You Love
10. My Fancy Free Future Love
11. God Is Love

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Common   Primary Artist,Vocals
Leikeli47   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Swizz Beatz   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Daniel Caesar   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Jill Scott   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
BJ the Chicago Kid   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Jonathan McReynolds   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Samora Pinderhughes   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals,Keyboards,Synthesizer,Featured Artist
Leon Bridges   Primary Artist,Featured Artist,Vocals
A-Trak   Primary Artist,Scratching,Featured Artist
Patrick Warren   Conductor,String Ensemble
Bilal   Vocals
Daphne Chen   Violin
Leah Katz   Viola
Dwele   Vocals,Featured Artist
Karriem Riggins   Drums
James Poyser   Piano,Keyboards
Isaiah Sharkey   Guitar
Nicholas Payton   Trumpet
William Murphy   Vocals
Charlie Bisharat   Violin
Songa Lee   Violin
Vanessa Freebairn-Smith   Cello
Burniss Travis   Bass
Muhsinah Abdul-Karim   Vocals

Technical Credits

Leon Bridges   Composer
Zach Brown   Assistant
Alex Pyle   Assistant
Patrick Warren   Arranger
Andy Taub   Engineer
Common   Executive Producer
Lauren Wood   Composer
Karriem Riggins   Composer,Producer
James Poyser   Composer
Lonnie Lynn   Composer
Isaiah Sharkey   Composer
Nicholas Payton   Composer
J Dilla   Producer
Kasseem Dean   Composer
Ben Kane   Engineer
Manny Marroquin   Mixing
Jill Scott   Composer
Robin Florent   Assistant
Collin Kadlec   Assistant
Scott Desmarais   Assistant
Billy Cumella   Assistant
John Rooney   Assistant
Tate McDowell   Assistant
Brian Rajaratnam   Assistant
Jeremie Inhaber   Assistant
Beatriz Artola   Engineer
Chris Galland   Mixing Engineer
Alain Macklovitch   Composer
Ron Brown   Composer
Michelle Mancini   Mastering
Nicole Hegeman   Executive Producer
Andwele Gardner   Composer
Carrie Smith   Package Design
Phil Joly   Engineer
BJ the Chicago Kid   Composer
Jonathan McReynolds   Composer
Samora Pinderhughes   Composer,Producer
John Costello   Assistant
Burniss Travis   Composer,Producer
Kyle Hoffmann   Engineer
Jaclyn Sanchez   Assistant
Michael Law Thomas   Engineer