Common + Prince | Track reviews

“Sweet”
Common

In 1991, brainy rap act Black Sheep mocked the gangsta posturing of its peers on “U Mean I’m Not.” Dres, “dreaming he was hard,” wakes up, discovers someone used his toothbrush and kicks his mom in the skull for improperly cooking his egg yolks. It’s funny, really. Common, unfortunately, is not kidding on “Sweet,” wherein he barks at a “sweet ass bitch muthafucka” MC (soo, Drake?) who croons “like muthafucking Frank Sinatra.” Oh, snap! Did your personal assistant write that? Did you think that up in the makeup chair on your basic-cable Western? We kid, Common. I think it was when you were modeling for the Gap that you said to just be yourself. And you’re not hard—even if this concrete No I.D. beat is. That’s what we like about you. A line at the end here disses “Broads be saying you’re sweet.” We mistook it for “Cosby’s saying you’re sweet.” Now there’s an insult. We know from his soulful pop that deep down Common’s mushier than pudding.