Common - Be CDs • Vinyl Records • LPs • Music Albums

be able to do both, finally, with his sixth and best disc, Be. The not-so-secret weapon here is Kanye West, who produced nine of the tracks and appears on four. West is the producer Common has been waiting for all of his career: He makes Common both catchier and edgier at the same time. The straight-ahead hip-hop songs -- "The Corner," "The Food" -- are the hardest-rocking tracks of Common's career. On the ballad "Faithful," the rapper pledges fidelity to both his lady and his maker without descending into corn, as singers John Legend and Bilal reach for gospel heights. "They Say" is the triumphant battle track: As Legend sings the satiny hook, Common and Kanye celebrate a hip-hop world that has finally come to them. Let's hope it stays here.

The blending of Common's lyrical intensity and Kanye West's borderline blurry nostalgi-soul production has proved a musical masterstroke, delivering that rarest of things: a coherent hip-hop album. "The Corner" and "The Food" stand out, but more importantly Be is compact, considered and impressively controlled.