Maps of Music
Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992)
Where the lyrics of Can I Borrow a Dollar? take you, and where it was really made.
Before the album came out, Common had already built an underground reputation from three singles, and he was still credited under the name Common Sense.
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Overview
- Can I Borrow a Dollar?: debut studio album by American rapper Common, then known as Common Sense
- Released October 6, 1992 by Relativity Records
- Produced by No I.D. (then called Immenslope) and the Twilite Tone
- Additional production by the Beatnuts
- Guest vocals from Immenslope, Miss Jones and Common's then-girlfriend Rayshel
- Shows Common's early style: a sing-songy, inflection-heavy vocal delivery
- Lyrics packed with word play and popular culture allusions
- Production uses samples, keyboards and drum breaks prominently, and tends to be minimalistic, jazzy and laid back
Background
- In 1991, a feature on Common appeared in the Unsigned Hype section of The Source
- Relativity Records soon signed Common and prepared three singles for the debut album
- "Take It EZ" (1992) was the first and best-charting single
- "Take It EZ" reached #5 on the Hot Rap Singles chart
- "Breaker 1/9" reached #10 and "Soul by the Pound" reached #7
- The three singles gave Common a strong underground reputation before the album's release
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org
Tracklist
| 1 | A Penny for My Thoughts | 4:24 |
| 2 | Charms Alarm | 4:30 |
| 3 | Take It EZ | 4:09 |
| 4 | Heidi Hoe | 4:30 |
| 5 | Breaker 1/9 | 4:02 |
| 6 | Two Scoops of Raisins | 5:29 |
| 7 | No Defense | 1:14 |
| 8 | Blows to the Temple | 4:40 |
| 9 | Just in the Nick of Rhyme | 2:30 |
| 10 | Tricks Up My Sleeve | 3:22 |
| 11 | Puppy Chow | 4:01 |
| 12 | Soul by the Pound | 4:20 |
| 13 | Pitchin’ Pennies | 1:58 |
Sources: musicbrainz.org
Artist
Formation
- Lonnie Rashid Lynn, born March 13, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois.
- Began rapping in the late 1980s at Luther High School South in Chicago.
- Formed the rap trio C.D.R., which dissolved by 1991.
- Debuted as a solo artist in 1992 under the name Common Sense, later shortened to Common after a lawsuit from a reggae band of the same name.
Career
- Released Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992), Resurrection (1994), and One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997) on Relativity Records and then MCA Records.
- Gained mainstream success through the Soulquarians collective, especially with Like Water for Chocolate (2000), produced largely by J Dilla.
- Electric Circus (2002) was experimental and less commercially successful.
- Signed to Kanye West's GOOD Music; Be (2005) and Finding Forever (2007) followed, with Finding Forever debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
- Won Grammys for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Southside" and Best R&B Song for "Love of My Life" with Erykah Badu.
- Later albums The Dreamer/The Believer (2011), Nobody's Smiling (2014), Black America Again (2016), and A Beautiful Revolution Pts. 1 and 2 (2020–2021).
- Won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Glory" from Selma (2014) with John Legend.
- Acting career includes Hell on Wheels, Wanted, Date Night, John Wick: Chapter 2, and Silo.
- Won a Primetime Emmy for "Letter to the Free" from the documentary 13th.
- Made his Broadway debut in Between Riverside and Crazy (2023).
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Reception
At release
- The Chicago Tribune deemed the album "playfully clever"
- Entertainment Weekly's Neil Drumming described it as "a clever but little-noticed first album"
- The Source called the production top notch
Reappraisal
- Stanton Swihart of AllMusic considered the album to have put Chicago hip-hop on the map
- Swihart considered it an underrated debut album
Records
- "Take It EZ" reached #5 on the Hot Rap Singles chart (single)
- "Breaker 1/9" reached #10 and "Soul by the Pound" reached #7 (singles)
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org
Trivia
- The original release credited the artist as Common Sense on the cover and labels; later pressings used Common.
- On the vinyl edition, the first six tracks sat on the 'Dollar Side' and the next seven on the 'Sense Side'.
- Track 4 was produced by the Beatnuts, while all other tracks were produced by Immenslope and the Twilite Tone.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com