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Common: Be (G.O.O.D/Geffen)

Will Hermes, Spin, June 2005

SONY STUDIOS, New York, March 25. With aromatherapy candles lit and a soul-food spread in the back. Common plays his latest album for a bunch of music journalists. Full disclosure: This is how records by Big Ticket Acts are sometimes evaluated by critics nowadays. And Common, after ten-plus years of his vision seriously outshining his SoundScans, is poised to be Big Ticket. For fans of uplifting, gun-free, golden-age hip-hop, this might just be their year punk broke.

Total word count of piece: 324

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