Like Water for Chocolate (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Like Water for Chocolate
Type = Studio album
Artist = Common


Released = March 28, 2000
Recorded = 1998–1999
Electric Lady Studios
(New York, New York)
Studio A
(Dearborn Heights, Michigan)
Genre = Conscious Hip hop
Length = 77:58
Label = MCA
Producer = ?uestlove (executive)
Common (co-executive)
Derek D. (co-executive)
Jay Dee
James Poyser
DJ Premier
D'Angelo
Karriem Riggins
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:am3tk6rxekrh~T0/ link]
*Robert Christgau (A-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/rock/commdel-00.php link]
*"NME" rating-10|8 [http://www.nme.com/reviews/common/2085 link]
*Pitchfork Media (8.5/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/16276/Common_Like_Water_for_Chocolate link]
*PopMatters (Favorable) [http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/c/common-like.shtml link]
*RapReviews rating-10|9.5 [http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2000_03_likewater.html link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/common/albums/album/268518/review/6210478/like_water_for_chocolate link]
*"Slant" Rating|2.5|5 [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=39 link]
*"The Source" Rating|4|5 [http://www.tower.com/like-water-for-chocolate-common-cd/wapi/106620866 link]
Last album = "One Day It'll All Make Sense"
(1997)
This album = "Like Water for Chocolate"
(2000)
Next album = "Electric Circus"
(2002)Singles
Name = Like Water for Chocolate
Type = studio
single 1 = The 6th Sense
single 1 date = February 15, 2000
single 2 = The Light
single 2 date = July 18, 2000
single 3 = Geto Heaven Remix T.S.O.I. (The Sound of Illadelph)
single 3 date = April 16, 2001

"Like Water for Chocolate" is the fourth studio album by rapper Common, released March 28, 2000 on MCA Records. It was a considerable critical and commercial breakthrough for the rapper, receiving general favorable from major magazine publications and selling 70,000 copies in its first week.cite web | last =Moore | first =Morris | url =http://allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=174 | title =Common Releases Song On The Internet | format = | work =www.allhiphop.com | publisher = | accessdate =January 19 | accessyear =2007 ] The album was certified Gold on August 11, 2000 by the Recording Industry Association of America.cite web | last = | first = | url =http://www.riaa.com/gp/database/search_results.asp | title =Gold & Platinum | format =Database | work = | publisher =Recording Industry Association of America | accessdate =January 19 | accessyear =2007 ] According to Nielsen SoundScan, the album has sold 748,000 copies by March of 2005.cite web | last = Cohen | first = Jonathan | url =http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000855685 | title = Common Rolls With Kanye, Plots Nas Tour at Billboard.com | format = | work = | publisher = Nielsen Business Media, Inc. | accessdate = May 2 | accessyear = 2007] The video for "The Light" was frequently shown on MTV, adding to Common's exposure. The album also formally marked the formation of the Soulquarians, a collective composed of ?uestlove (of The Roots), Jay Dee (formerly of Slum Village), keyboardist James Poyser and bassist Pino Palladino, among numerous other collaborators. This group of musicians would also be featured on Common's next album, "Electric Circus".

The album's cover photo, "1956 Alabama" by Gordon Parks, is a photo of a young black woman in Alabama, dressed for church, and drinking from a "Colored Only" drinking fountain.cite web |url=http://archive.salon.com/media/col/marc/2000/04/17/marcus18/index.html |title=Real Life Rock Top 10 |accessdate=2007-04-07 |last=Marcus |first=Greil |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=2000-04-17 |year=2000 |month=April0 |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] cite web |url= http://www.popmatters.com/columns/criticalnoire/000505.shtml|title=Like Water for Chocolate: Common's Recipe for Progressive Hip-Hop |accessdate=2007-04-07 |last=Neal |first=Mark Anthony |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=2000-05-05 |year=2000 |month=May |format= |work=Critical Noire |publisher=www.popmatters.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

Conception

Background

Following 1997's "One Day It'll All Make Sense", Common moved to New York City where he began collaborating with the Soulquarians at Electric Lady Studios. It was there that Ahmir Thompson (?uestlove) who oversaw the album's production, introduced Common to D'Angelo. Thompson had been doing a great deal of producing there with several members of the Soulquarians, including D'Angelo. The track "Geto Heaven Part Two" was originally supposed to be a track on D'Angelo's 2000 album "Voodoo", but was traded for "Chicken Grease," a track which Common had intended to include on "Like Water for Chocolate".cite web | last =DeRogatis | first =Jim | url =http://www.jimdero.com/News%202006/GreatAlbumCommonFeb5.htm | title =Just plain Common sense | format = | work = | publisher =www.jimdero.com | accessdate =January 19 | accessyear =2007 ] cite web | last =Thompson | first =Ahmir | url =http://www.okayplayer.com/theroots/viewreview.jsp?rid=6 | title =D'Angelo Voodoo | format = | work =?uestcorner Reviews | format = Online Review | publisher =www.okayplayer.com | accessdate =January 22 | accessyear =2007 ] ?uestlove on "Chicken Grease":

cquote|By mid '99 the Soulquarians were in full swing (D, Me, Jay Dee, James Poyser) and we were working on Common's "Like Water for Chocolate" when we came up with this lethal jam. It was so good that D pulled me to the side and said 'I ain't no indian giver....but I ain't lettin Com walk off with this song..'

He called me 3 times that morning begging to ask Com for that track. Com agreed, and we named it 'Chicken Grease' after a phrase that Prince uses when he wants his guitarist to play a 9th minor chord while playing 16th notes.cite web | last =Thompson | first =Ahmir | url =http://www.okayplayer.com/theroots/viewreview.jsp?rid=6 | title =D'Angelo Voodoo | format = | work =?uestcorner Reviews | format = Online Review | publisher =www.okayplayer.com | accessdate =January 22 | accessyear =2007 ] |?uestlove|cquote

Title Significance

The title "Like Water for Chocolate" comes from the 1989 Laura Esquivel novel "Like Water for Chocolate", which was adapted into a movie in 1993.cite web | last =Bonyata | first =Tony | url =http://www.concertlivewire.com/cdarchives/common.htm | title =Common's Uncommon Hip-Hop | format = | work = | publisher =www.concertlivewire.com | accessdate =January 19 | accessyear =2007 ] cite web | last =Dorston | first =A. S. | url =http://www.fastnbulbous.com/common.htm | title =Common, Like Water For Chocolate (MCA) 9+ | format =Music Webzine | work = | publisher = | accessdate =January 19 | accessyear =2007 ] The phrase "Like water for chocolate" is of Spanish origin (translated, "como agua para chocolate"). In many Latin American countries, hot chocolate is made with water rather than milk. The phrase refers to someone who has reached their boiling point, like water ready to be used to make chocolate. In an interview with Combustible the Poet, Common compared the main character, Tita de la Garza's passion for food with his passion for music:Another popular interpretation of the album title ties in the phrase with the image on the cover of the album. Using the word 'chocolate' to symbolise people of dark skin color and the words 'like water' to describe the racially provocotave concept of providing drinking water of the exact same likeness for two different races alludes to the famous image and the themes of race that are found within the lyrical content of the album.

Music

"Like Water for Chocolate" is notable for its afrocentric themes. It borrows from the Afrobeat genre on the track "Time Travelin' (A Tribute To Fela)", the Tony Allen-sampling "Heat" and the Slum Village-assisted "Nag Champa (Afrodisiac For The World)". MC Lyte and Mos Def join Common for the amusing "A Film Called (Pimp)" and "The Questions," respectively. In the former, Common sends up his own "conscious" image with a skit depicting him as a hypocritical woman-beater.

Like Common's previous two albums, "Like Water for Chocolate" closes with spoken word recited by Common's father Lonnie "Pops" Lynn. A slightly altered version of the album was released after its success on the charts, with the Macy Gray-assisted "Geto Heaven Remix T.S.O.I. (The Sound of Illadelph)" replacing the original.

Lyrical content

Like previous albums from Common, the subject matter discussed in "Like Water for Chocolate" is of a socially conscious nature. Typically, conscious hip hop's greatest following is underground, and conscious hip hop artists do not achieve great mainstream success.cite paper|title=Gender in Hip Hop: A Research Study|author=Thompson, Amanda |date=2004-05-06|url=http://humboldt.edu/~soc/2004Thompson.pdf|format=PDF|publisher=Humboldt State University|accessdate=2006-06-09] [cite paper|title=Todd Boyd’s Lessons on the Rise of Hip Hop: Move Civil Rights and Historical Context Out of the Way|author=Brown, Roxanne L|publisher=The Center for Black Diaspora|url=http://condor.depaul.edu/~diaspora/html/students/BrownEssay2004.pdf|format=PDF|accessdate=2006-06-09] Yet despite being Common's first commercially successful album, "Like Water for Chocolate" maintains the same level of concern and social responsibility that had previously been seen in Common's first three albums. The album contains significant afrocentric elements which are particularly evident on "Time Travelin' (A Tribute to Fela)" and "Time Travelin' (Reprise)." Both tracks discuss the ills of modern society and are a tribute to Fela Kuti, a pioneer of Afrobeat music and a prominent human rights activist. Track 2, "Heat" samples Tony Allen, Fela Kuti's one-time fellow band member and co-founder of the Afrobeat genre.

Also unique are "Payback is a Grandmother" and "A Song for Assata." "Payback is a Grandmother" is a continuation of the series of "Stolen Moment" songs that appeared on "One Day It'll All Make Sense", whereby Common weaves a fictional tale in which he pursues a thief (on this occasion the thugs who have robbed his grandmother). Amidst the intricate caper, the song emphasizes the importance of family values. As Common says in the song's intro "I don't know what was on y'all niggaz birds to go up to the boat - and start robbin old folks". The song ends in a skit involving police officers at the scene of a crime where, breaking out of character, one of the officers can be heard saying "the skit definitely needs more added to it... Someone get Prince Paul on the phone please" - the last remark being a recognition of Prince Paul's reputation as a pioneer of the album skit.

"A Song for Assata" chronicles the arrest, trial, incarceration and Cuban political asylum of Assata Shakur (a member of the Black Panther Party, after whom Common named his daughter, Omoye Assata Lynn). The spoken word piece at the end of the track is a quote from Assata Shakur. During the album's creation, Common traveled to Havana, Cuba where he met and talked with Shakur.cite web |url= http://www.popmatters.com/columns/criticalnoire/000505.shtml|title=Like Water for Chocolate: Common's Recipe for Progressive Hip-Hop |accessdate=2007-04-07 |last=Neal |first=Mark Anthony |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=2000-05-05 |year=2000 |month=May |format= |work=Critical Noire |publisher=www.popmatters.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] The excerpt used details Shakur's thoughts on what freedom is and what it means to be free.cite web |url= http://www.popmatters.com/columns/criticalnoire/000505.shtml|title=Like Water for Chocolate: Common's Recipe for Progressive Hip-Hop |accessdate=2007-04-07 |last=Neal |first=Mark Anthony |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=2000-05-05 |year=2000 |month=May |format= |work=Critical Noire |publisher=www.popmatters.com |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] As she notes:

:I know a whole more about what freedom isn't:Than about what it is, cause I've never been free.:I can only share my vision with you of the future, about what freedom is.

Working as both a battle song and self-reflection, the sensuous "Nag Champa (Afrodisiac for the World)" sees Common proclaiming himself "The Earth, Wind, and Fire of hip hop" while admitting "By Rakim and Short I been inspired" - a comment which compounds the two very contrasting rap artists. Common goes on to note:

:The mind is funny, how it's spent on gettin' it [money] :I'm sittin wit descendants of Abraham:Who say the jam is "Money, Cash, Hoes"

"Thelonius" is one of a few rare occurrences in which Common's frequent collaborator, producer J Dilla takes on the role of singer. Common later explained:

Production

Although ?uestlove was the album's executive producer, a large deal of the production work was handled by Jay Dee of Slum Village. Common and Jay Dee both hailed from the Great Lakes region (Jay Dee from Detroit and Common from Chicago) and were good friends. The track "Thelonius" was even placed on both "Like Water for Chocolate" and Slum Village's 2000 release "Fantastic, Vol. 2".

Common also wanted to work with DJ Premier, citing Gang Starr as one of his favorite groups to listen to. In an interview with New Jeru Poet, Common described his motivation to work with DJ Premier:

Reception

"Like Water For Chocolate" received positive reviews from music critics such as "Rolling Stone"'s kris ex, who called Common "A hip-hop MC willing to actually examine himself through his art." cite web | url =http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/common/albums/album/268518/review/6210478/like_water_for_chocolate| title = Like Water for Chocolate] "Spin Magazine" gave it a rating of 8/10 calling it "His most aggressive and powerful record yet."cite web |url=http://www.newburycomics.com/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=103&upc=00881119702 |title=Common - Like Water For Chocolate [PA] |accessdate=2007-02-04 |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2000 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] "The Wire" called it his "best album", and "Mojo" chimed in with "most user-friendly contribution so far to the wave of 'conscious' rap".cite web |url=http://www.newburycomics.com/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=103&upc=00881119702 |title=Common - Like Water For Chocolate [PA] |accessdate=2007-02-04 |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2000 |year=2000 |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] NME called him a "great storyteller" who is "Equal parts philosopher and documentarian".cite web |url=http://www.newburycomics.com/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=103&upc=00881119702 |title=Common - Like Water For Chocolate [PA] |accessdate=2007-02-04 |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2000 |year=2000 |month= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] In 2004, PopMatters' Marc Lamont Hill named the album his personal favorite, writing:

The album's hit single, "The Light" received a 2001 Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance.

Accolades

Information is taken from AcclaimedMusic.net.cite web | last = | first = | url = http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/061024/A1102.htm | title = Like Water for Chocolate at Acclaimed Music | format = | work = | publisher = | accessdate = January 21 | accessyear = 2007]

Chart history

Album

ingles

References