Good to hear - Kanye and Common seem to have some real chemistry when they collaborate. I really enjoyed Be (probably my favorite Common album, I've had a hard time really getting into his older stuff, though I can appreciate some of it), so I'm sure I'll enjoy this new one.
Re: stagnant hip hop, I agree a big part of it is simply sifting through things to find the gems. Though by the same token, some people seem to get very excited when people drop a good album, and in that excitement they tend to try and immediately elevate this album by comparing it to past classics. In my opinion, this has more to do with trying to get people to pay attention to the album more than it really being on par with an Illmatic. My two cents.
I seriously pondered getting Del tickets, but I wasn't sure about the venue and ultimately decided against it. Not sure of what kiund of crowd he would draw.
Did anyone see De La Soul when they were in town recently? I didn't even know they were coming until the night they played. That would have been a great act to catch.
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