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A nice, reflective song by Common which is unreleased from Finding Forever, produced by Kanye West. This song is deeply written by Common who evokes deep images of hope and struggle faced by African Americans throughout history, painting his pictures with words towards the feeling of life attained by watching the Color Purple and Roots. The combination of Common's poetic talent,vision and passion for life with Kanye's musical depth on this track is a success, a brief example of the great artistic growth I remember from Finding Forever which brought a ray of hope towards greater inspiration of life to hip hop.

I don't normally create posts for every single new song that is released online, but if there is one which presents something special in the inspirational, creative and artistic qualities likw this I will, an example of what gives me an opportunity to express my thoughts and spark my imagination as I listen.

After listening to the song I realize the overall mood in the music and message presented probably strayed too far off from the lighter, feel-good mood of the rest of Finding Forever, one reason why they might have left it off. I don't think the seriousness of Strange Fruit would have fit within the sound scape and flow of songs like I Want You, Drivin' Me Wild and Start The Show which feel like an escape from harsh reality into carefree happiness.

To accompany this unreleased song, here are a couple flashbacks to mid-90's Common who was still on straight boom-bap, scratch chorus hip hop, before combining with Jay Dee and The Soulquarians to change the sound of hip hop.

KRS One & Common Back To Back Freestyle

Common at 89.9 WKCR 1994 freestyling over the Artifacts' C'Mon Wit Da Git Down Remix instrumental