Common - Black America Again Album Reviews (Critic Reviews)

info: The 11th full-length studio release for the hip hop artist features guest appearances from Marsha Ambrosius, Bilal, BJ the Chicago Kid, Tasha Cobbs, John Legend, PJ, Syd tha Kyd, and Stevie Wonder.

Rating: 88/100

  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Nov 4, 2016
    91
    It’s the MC’s empathetic and clear-eyed rhymes that truly make this a vital contribution to the national conversation.
  2.  Exclaim
    Nov 9, 2016
    90
    Black America Again isn't an album meant for casual listening, but rather a socio-politically charged album meant to be absorbed so that everyone can truly recognize the "Bigger Picture Called Freedom."
  3. AllMusic
    Nov 4, 2016
    90
    All that's here, dark or bright, is vital.
  4. Chicago Tribune
    Nov 4, 2016
    88
    One of the year's most potent protest albums. .... The album sags midway through with a handful of lightweight love songs, but finishes with some of its most emotionally resounding tracks: the "Glory"-like plea for redemption "Rain" with Legend, the celebration of family that is "Little Chicago Boy," and the staggering "Letter to the Free."
  5. Mojo
    Nov 8, 2016
    80
    Pyramids’ borrowing of Chuck D’s mantra “I don’t rhyme for the sake of riddlin’” is emblematic of his still-abrasive mood, whether dissecting the prison system’s failures on A Bigger Picture Called Free or unleashing his most heartfelt rallying cry on the thrilling Robert Glasper-produced, Stevie Wonder-starring title track.
  6. PopMatters
    Nov 7, 2016
    80
    Whilst certainly not flawless, Black America Again sees Common deliver some of his most vital work and reaffirms his place in the discussion of greatest conscious rappers of all time.
  7. The Observer (UK)
    Nov 7, 2016
    80
    Although there’s no hit to rival the Selma soundtrack epic, Glory, and a reunion with its vocalist John Legend is the worst of furrowed-brow, gluten-free beat poetry, this is intelligent, impressive work.
  8. Pitchfork
    Nov 4, 2016
    79
    Time and again he suggests that freedom itself is an act of improvisation, of imagination, that begins now: “We write our own story.” It’s in the context of these bigger ideas that Com lands some of his biggest gut-punches of all time, while rapping in his simpler, prize fighter mode.
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