2000 Rewind: Remembering Common’s Like Water For Chocolate

Y’all ready to relive Y2K? All year long the Rewind column will revisit the year 2000, celebrating great releases that will mark 25 years in 2025. I’ll be joined by a host of old friends as we look back at a new millennium of music.

Twenty-five years ago today, Common fulfilled his destiny. By 2000, he was already seen as a talented artist, but after Like Water For Chocolate landed in our speakers, he was instantly elevated to rap’s elite, a spot he still enjoys today. Justin Jones is back to talk about one of the albums that set the tone for the next decade. It was a landmark moment for both Common and hip-hop.

Let’s get to it – what were your initial thoughts of hearing Like Water for Chocolate?

Justin: The first time I played this album was on a cassette back in summer of 2000. My moms had bought the album because she loved “The Light” so much, and to be honest so did I. The song was unlike any of the other rap songs I was listening to at the time (I was heavy into DMX and the Cash Money stuff). However I have to be honest, I didn’t quite understand Like Water For Chocolate at first listen. I was 12 and my ears were still immature for most of the albums themes. It wasn’t until around 2005 that I came back around to it to truly appreciate its brilliance and what Common, Dilla, and Questlove had cooked up.

Edd: I’m sad to report that I didn’t hear Like Water for Chocolate in real time with the rest of the rap world. Of course, I heard and adored “The Light” like everyone else with good taste, but I don’t even have strong memories of “The 6^th Sense” in my rotation. It wasn’t until I started dating my future wife in the mid-00s that I finally listened to the project in its entirety (after swiping her CD – perks of consolidating our music collections). By then its legacy was already legendary so I was eager to experience the hype. I remember not being all that moved by the first few tracks – it was good, just not groundbreaking. But around track 5 (“The Light,” naturally), the album kicked into another gear and never let up. It make me (a dreamer and) a believer and I couldn’t believe I went so long without this album in my collection.

What’s your pick for best song, and why?

Justin: “The Light”

Oh, “The Light” for sure is the best song and quite possibly a top 50 rap song of all time. While the song was a dedication to Erykah Badu, his girlfriend back then, the lyrics are so timeless that it can be applied to anyone in love. It’s a Black love record. Not to mention that “Open Your Eyes” sample of Bobby Caldwell, mannnnnn!!!!!

Edd: “The 6th Sense”

Going into this post, my mind was already made up – the best song HAS to be “The Light,” right? Right????

After revisiting everything for this retrospective, I’m not so sure. “The Light” feels like a moment, but “The 6^th Sense” feels like a masterpiece. DJ Premier unleashes one of his best beats ever and Common might deliver his best lyrical performance of all time – and that covers a lot of ground. “I’m Morpheus in this hip-hop Matrix, exposing fake s***” – that song is what hip-hop dreams are made of.

This album’s production is incredible. What’s the best beat?

Justin: “The 6th Sense”

Preemo!!!!!!! “The 6th Sense” is the best beat. DJ Premier laced Common for the first time in his career with his signature sound and they knocked it out the park. Premier always found a way to bring his sound to tie up classic albums around this time and this was no different. “The 6th Sense” is soulful boom bap and fits into what Dilla, James Poyser, and Questlove were doing on the other songs.

Edd: “The Light”

Once again, this is a two horse race, but I think I’m going with Dilla over Premier this time. Dilla’s now-iconic chop of “Open Your Eyes” is masterful. When we criticize modern day sampling, it’s not that we’re against borrowing from the past – we just want it done with the artistic care that Dilla handled Bobby Caldwell’s baby. The best is so warm, so addictive, almost mesmerizing – it sounds like love.

Who came through hardest with the best feature?

Justin: Slum Village on “Thelonius”

This is actually hard because everyone brought their A game to this album when collaborating, whether it was as a background musician, rapping, singing, or playing an instrument. If I had to choose, I’d say Slum Village on “Thelonius.” The song was so dope they had to put it on their Fantastic, Vol. 2 album a few months later. Special shout out to what Roy Hargrove did on a few of the tracks on the album though. He killed it on the Horn.

Edd: J. Dilla on “Thelonius”

Agree, gotta go with “Thelonius” for best feature. Common fit in perfectly amongst his Slum Village brothers, but the closing verse from Dilla is a particular standout. His cadence is incredible and proved that he could really do it all.

In an album filled with memorable moments, which bar stood tallest?

Justin: “The 6th Sense”

“I start thinking, how many souls hip-hop has affected
How many dead folks this art resurrected
How many nations this culture connected
who am I to judge one’s perspective?
Though some of that shit y’all pop true, I ain’t relating
If I don’t like it, I don’t like it, that don’t mean that I’m hating”

Common understood back then (and still does) that the culture has vast representations, and while that holds true in a broader sense, he doesn’t have to like all of it, and that’s OK. Everything ain’t for everybody.

Edd: “The 6th Sense”

PLAYA. You took my bar!

“If I don’t like it, I don’t like it, that don’t mean that I’m hating” has been my mantra ever since I started yelling about y’all’s favorite albums on these Interwebs, and it’s directly lifted from “The 6^th Sense.”

Haters have been getting a lot of love lately (hi, Kendrick!) but I’ve been trying to bring nuance to these rap convos since 2008. And whenever I get hit with the “YoU jUsT hAtIn” line, I simply reply with those words from the Rev. Dr. Lonnie Lynn himself.

“The 6^th Sense” isn’t just an incredible track, it’s a way of life at Soul In Stereo.

What makes J. Dilla’s presence so special for this album?

Justin: J. Dilla is the nucleus of this album. It’s just as much his album as it is Common’s. Dilla’s drums were soulful and pristine, and his production took you on a spiritual cleanse on each listen. This was the first time Common and J Dilla locked in on an album and it was a perfect match. Dilla’s Detroit soul drum loops and Common’s Chicago flavor made for a great recipe.

Edd: Justin called Dilla the nucleus of the album. I’ll make it even more plain – he’s the heart and soul of this project. Dilla is responsible for about 75 percent of this album, which means his sound permeates throughout most of its runtime. Make no mistake, Common is the star of the show – it’s the house he built. But the blueprints for that mansion came straight from J. Dilla’s desk. I know we have Slum Village, I know we have Donuts, but when I think of J. Dilla, I think of Like Water for Chocolate first.

What’s the best example of top-tier storytelling on this project?

Justin: “A Song for Assata” is the best story by far as it’s really an audio biography of one of our Black greats, Ms. Assata Shakur who has survived and endured so much for decades. As each verse progresses, Common details Assata’s wrongful arrest, imprisonment, and eventual escape into asylum in Cuba, while Cee-Lo sings the hook and background vocals conveying the soulful message of the song. It’s a dope track, but more importantly its a call to justice for one of our dear sistas out here.

Edd: “Payback is a Grandmother” is cool but “A Song for Assata” is essential. At its core, Like Water for Chocolate is a socially conscious album, and this moving tribute to the life and activism of Assata Shakur is an incredible history lesson that hits extra hard in today’s climate. As Justin touched on, hip-hop doesn’t have to be just entertainment, it can be a call to action. “A Song for Assata” is a rallying cry for justice.

How would you rank this project among the other Soulquarian releases of the era?

Justin: Hmmmmm. If I’m being unbiased, this album is ranked as #3 of the era after D’Angelo’s Voodoo and Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun. Mos Def’s Black on Both Sides and The Roots’ Things Fall Apart aren’t too far behind this though

Edd: I’m sure most will say D’Angelo’s Voodoo was the crowning achievement of the Soulquarians, the eclectic collective that included names like the Roots, Bilal, Erykah Badu, Black Star, Roy Hargrove, J. Dilla, Q-Tip and more. Others might give the nod to Mos’ Black on Both Sides. But I’m not a Soulquarian, I’m a contrarian, and as great as those releases are, they don’t surpass Like Water for Chocolate. It may lack the legacy of those previous albums I mentioned, but in terms of front-to-back quality, lyrical aptitude and overall production, I think it’s unmatched among its peers. 

Is Like Water For Chocolate Common’s best album?

Justin: Damn! Look this album is a classic no doubt, but I’m a Be guy, so I gotta keep it a buck. It’s hard to say between Like Water For Chocolate or Be, I’d say he has two classic albums of equal stature but for different reasons production wise, which very few artists can actually say, especially in rap.

Edd: Ah, the eternal question. Often it seems to depend on your hip-hop entry point. Be is a monster, one of my favorite albums of the 2000s and had the distinction of being guided by the ultra-hot Kanye West (before his brain rotten into … whatever he is today). Likewise, Like Water for Chocolate is also helmed by another master producer, is also one of my favorite albums of the 2000s, and also carries quite a strong legacy.

If you were a part of the Soulquarians era and you live and breathe neo-soul, Like Water likely will be the most refreshing. If you’re a product of the soul-sample era, the Be is your baby. Me? I’ll give Like Water for Chocolate the edge by the slightest of margins, mainly because it features some of Common’s best performances to date. In terms of production, sequency, pacing, consistency, they’re equal. Be just doesn’t have “The 6^th Sense.”

If you don’t like that opinion, you don’t like it. Doesn’t mean that I’m hating.

Who do you agree with? Are you Team Justin or Team Edd? Let us know below and share your memories of this album too.