Take It Outside: Common vs. Andre 3000






































I haven’t done one of these in forever! GeorgiaMae is long overdue for a good fight.

As much as I love music, most of you can tell from reading my columns that I rarely find much joy in today’s artists. Everyone and everything is insultingly dumbed down. Don’t believe me? Check out this guy. And this guy. And this guy. And this guy.

 

I can go on all day.



Instead, I’d rather introduce you to Jay Electronica. Check out the lyrical gymnastics of “Exhibit C” and you’ll see why I LOVE what this guy is doing.

Apparently I’m not the only one – right now Jay might be best known as Erykah Badu’s babydaddy. Their child Mars Merkaba should be about a year old by now.

Mars … ugh. I said Jay was good at rapping, not naming children.

 

I’ll say one thing for Badu, she has good taste. She’s been known to hitch her wagon (so to speak…) to some of the best rappers in the game – and turn them into weirdos in the process. Let’s see how two of her most well-known exes measure up.

Album covers: Common’s Be isn’t bad, it just looks like “Generic Neo-Soul Photo Shoot #234.” All he needs on the back cover is a shot of himself sitting on a rock with his head in his hands to complete the look. It’s kinda blah for such a forward-thinking artist. Although it’s miles ahead of this…







It’s like Rick Ross ate too many Smurfs. But I blame Badu for the Blue Man Group look. But more on that later…

Now if you were to ask Andre, I’m sure he could break down the meaning of his album cover and delve into how “deep” it is. All I see is a shirtless crossing guard wielding a pink gun, which looks like those $2 water pistols you could buy at the grocery store in the ’80s. It might be ridiculous but at least it’s not boring.

 

Common 0, Andre 3000 1

 

 

Album quality: Common had a lot to prove on 2005’s Be. After his previous album Electric Circus left many scratching their heads (and some scratching their CDs so they wouldn’t have to listen to that album again) Common had to prove to listeners that he hadn’t gone off the deep end.

 

He recruited Kanye West and with a little help from J Dilla, they crafted what would be Common’s best album. “The Corner” was conscious without being preachy; “Go!” was seductive without being nasty; and “Faithful” was tender without being sappy. Add on the ferocious wordplay of tracks like “The Food” and Common easily regained his position as one of hip-hop’s shining stars.

The Love Below, Andre’s contribution to OutKast’s 2003 Speakerboxxx/The Love Below project, is as close as we’ve gotten to a solo Andre album – which is a shame. Jay-Z recently called him the “male Lauryn Hill,” and that’s a pretty accurate description. A brilliant concept album exploring love and its consequences, The Love Below flourishes thanks to its meshing of musical genres. “Prototype” has its roots in contemporary R&B, “She Lives In My Lap” is straight from Prince’s funky playbook, “A Day In the Life of Andre Benjamin” boasts the lyricism that make OutKast famous, and the blockbuster “Hey Ya” was a pop masterpiece.

It’s funny because this album SHOULDN’T have worked. Dre can’t sing a lick and half the time his ad-libs sound absolutely ridiculous. But the fact that it does is a testament to Dre’s skill and creativity.

This is a really, REALLY close one, but I’ll go with:

 

Common 1, Andre 3000 1



Sales: Be is Common’s best-selling album, ringing up a little under a million copies. That’s pretty good for an artist who usually has pretty modest sales.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below has sold 11 million copies stateside. You read that right. 11 million – making it the best selling hip-hop album in U.S. history. No contest here.

Common 1, Andre 3000 2

 

Least embarrassing Badu makeover: Oh, now the fun part. Badu is known for “turning her men out” – for the ghetto impaired, that means she brainwashes her beaus, often leading them to release bizarre music while wearing even more bizarre clothes.


Don’t ask me what’s going on here – I have no idea. I think Common wants to trade his crochet-knit cap (?!) for Erykah’s Scrooge McDuck hat. It does match his patchwork pirate jacket better.



And since we’re talking about tophats, do you think Badu sank her teeth into this guy?




 

Nah…she only goes after the talented rappers. And somebody tell that fool that there isn’t chocolate under that gold plating.

 

 

It ain’t the Olsen Twins, it’s Andre Benjamin, right, and Gwen Stefani. When a woman who wears her bra outside her shirt looks better than you, it’s time to try again.


Ugh, neither of these dudes get love. Badu should be ashamed.




 

DRAW



 

Common 1, Andre 3000 2

 




Songs for Erykah: Common got all sensitive as he professed his love for Ms. Badu in 2000’s “The Light,” which was featured on the excellent Like Water For Chocolate. Badu even showed up in the video. Not long after, she had him wearing crochet-stitched pants and those Adebisi hats.





 

Love is a dangerous thing.

 

While Common was trying to set the mood, Andre got moody. Around the same time “The Light” hit, OutKast released one of their biggest songs to date, “Ms. Jackson.” Erykah herself has gone on record saying that the Ms. Jackson is in fact her mother. I guess Mama Badu was meddling in her daughter’s business too much.

Although I’d mettle too if my grandson’s father dressed like he’s from Dragon Ball Z.



 

Common 2, Andre 3000 2

 



Film career: Common is actually building quite the film career for himself. With roles in “Wanted,” “American Gangster” and “Smoking Aces,” he might be the closest thing hip-hop has to an action star. And he’s very good at it. If he can successfully branch out into more dramatic roles he could become a serious Hollywood player.

Ol’ Ice Cold’s filmography isn’t as hefty as Common’s but he has been credited with quite a few roles – the most prominent being “Four Brothers” and OutKast’s own “Idlewild.” He does a good job in the “aww, shucks” shy guy roles but he really needs to diversify.

 

 

Common 3, Andre 3000 2

 

 

Legacy: Ask any hip hop fan over the age of 26 to name the 10 best rappers of all time and I bet most of those lists will include Common. With a resume filled with classic albums and tracks and a reputation for thought-provoking lyrics, Common stands head and shoulders above most of today’s drek. The only blemishes on his record come from slight inconsistency (the Badu years of “Electric Circus,” 2008’s lazy “Universal Mind Control”).

 

Ask any hip-hop fan over the age of 26 to name the 10 best rappers of all time and I bet most of the lists will include Andre Benjamin. Strip away the goofy clothes and his recluse-like behavior and you’ll find a true musical genius. He’s not afraid to forsake current musical trends to find his own lane. And each and every time he embarks on a new journey we gladly tag along, hanging on every word.

Yet another close one, but:

 

Common 3, Andre 3000 3

 

 

These two battle to a stalemate. I considered having these two go head-to-head in a Badu fashion showcase for a tiebreaker, but then we’d ALL be losers.

 

 

Let’s just be glad they escaped Badu’s bohemian clutches.
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3 Comments

  1. Fun read! I can’t really follow the logic on the ‘Songs for Erykah’ outcome though. You don’t really seem to make an argument for the Common song but you do give him the win? Some stats:
    ‘The Light’ – 25.3M plays on Spotify, 327k listeners on Last.FM
    ‘Ms. Jackson’ – 322.6M plays on Spotify, 913k listeners on Last.FM

    I like both songs a lot but the numbers don’t lie, right?

  2. That “oNlY tHe tAlEnTed raPPeRs” shade is mad suspect. Without question, T-Pain heavily shaped his entire era’s sounds/trends, and partially birthed much of the subsequent (the present) era’s soundscape. People, please put some respect on a great―whether your cup of tea or not.

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