- Critic Score
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Be's leanness signals awesome growth even without pushing sonic boundaries. [27 May 2005, p.136]
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91A sprawling, varied disc that's as laid-back as a cool summer afternoon.
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91Even when the music flags, Common's remarkably hungry raps push it along. [Jun 2005, p.102]
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90Common's best album so far, one that proves hip hop can be both smart and mainstream. [Jul 2005, p.114]
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90Overflowing with passion, honesty, and optimism, Be gets to the root of human experience--all the while staying beautifully soulful and funky. [Jun 2005, p.156]
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86The lack of instant-gratification couplets may disappoint at first, but each verse's rewarding intricacies become more evident with multiple listens.
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86Although Kanye's production work has certainly been more spectacular in the past, his subtle tweaks and inversions on Be provide Com with a revamped template. [#16, p.94]
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Sure, there's no "Watermelon" or "Communism", but Be's wit presents on a grander scale than a dependence on sprinkled, chucklable oneliners would allow.
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Gives hope to a hip-hop stuck in a mire of mediocrity. [18 Jun 2005, p.64]
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Common's naturally smooth flowing voice is a pleasure to listen to, making even the times when he is overreaching his grasp that much more tolerable in comparison to lesser peers.
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80The record's feel, like West's College Dropout, offers a rich jukebox of gospel-tinged R&B flavours over which Common scatters his gems. [Aug 2005, p.97]
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80Be picks up where West's The College Dropout left off. [Jun 2005, p.113]
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Be isn't likely to be referred to by anyone as groundbreaking, but it's one of Common's best, and it's also one of the most tightly constructed albums of any form within recent memory.
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West is the producer Common has been waiting for all of his career: He makes Common both catchier and edgier at the same time.
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80Though not quite 2005's best hip-hop album - [Kanye] West retains that honour for himself - Be is a lean and vibrant masterclass in hip-hop fundamentals.
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The album is an extremely satisfying listen, but if Common is to lead the revolution, he has to make more of a statement than a great bass line and some tight rhymes.
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After blasting off into outer space with Electric Circus, Common returns to more solid ground with Be, but thanks to West, Poyser, and Jay Dee, the sounds are often nothing short of heavenly.
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West presents Common with a real challenge: rich rhythmic compositions that demand equally vivid verses. The elder MC responds with sharp Polaroid poetry, and the result of their collaboration is an uncluttered journalistic counterpoint to the rambling memoir that is The College Dropout.
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"Be" is certainly a triumph, but if it isn't quite the all-time classic Common was hoping for, that's because it sounds a bit too straightforward. [25 May 2005]
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80Be is Common getting his "grown man" on.
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Regardless of the modernist leanings of Kanye's techniques, the album retains an organic feel that rivals Com's hemp beanie and Erykah Badu's incense.
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Be won't win many points for daring, but in terms of user-friendly hip-hop charged by a refreshingly positive undercurrent, it more than hits its hard-to-miss mark.
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60Lazily accomplished without ever truly igniting, a classy update on a slightly dated hip-hop sound.
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In a year that has also brought the envelope-pushing production work of Edan's album Beauty and the Beast, the rehashed soul sometimes comes off limp, too content with itself and its well-worn form to challenge the genre's status quo.
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So frustrating then, for such a multitalented rapper, to have his supposed magnum opus weak, stale, and far more aged than we'd expect.
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Each neo-soul nod to the R&B sound of Detroit, immediately post-Holland-Dozier-Holland, sounds more claustrophobic and limited than the last.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 59 out of 63
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Mixed: 2 out of 63
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Negative: 2 out of 63
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MusicLover10
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VoM8Great hip-hop album with brilliant lyrics and addicting beats. 'Be' can capture a broad range of audiences.