April 21-27, 2005

musicpicks

Common

Hip-hop

Hold on to your kufis and strap down your head wraps, Common is officially stepping back in the rap arena — thanks to an assist from fellow Chi-town homeboy Kanye West. Fans might not like to credit the mainstream multiplatinum producer-rapper with the resurrection of conscious Common's career, but they'll have to suck it up next month as the pair team up for Be (Geffen), an album that supposedly harkens back to the days when MC Common Sense used to love H.E.R. The first single, "Corners," features The Last Poets, and sounds like a signature Kanye West song, with the sped-up soul samples and all that jazz. As he nurses his heart from a breakup with Erykah Badu, does campaign ads for the fight against AIDS, launches a high-end hat line and headlines a tour (with local vocalist Jaguar Wright), Common looks like a man who's left his underground status behind. Maybe with West's name attached, he'll finally make that crossover to commercial audiences. OK, maybe not.

Fri., April 22, 8:30 p.m., $25, all ages, with Jaguar Wright, Keyshia Cole and Kidz in the Hall, Electric Factory, Seventh and Willow sts., 215-336-2000, www.electricfactory.com.

—Deesha Dyer