Maps of Music

Like Water for Chocolate (2000)

Where the lyrics of Like Water for Chocolate take you, and where it was really made.

The title comes from a novel about a cook whose emotions go into her food, and the cover shows a "Colored Only" drinking fountain in Alabama.

Key places

Electric Lady Studios, New York (2000)

Recording site Electric Lady Studios — After moving to New York City following One Day It'll All Make Sense, Common began working with the Soulquarians at this studio. Questlove oversaw the album's production there. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Like Water for Chocolate: fourth studio album by American rapper Common
• Released March 28, 2000, through MCA Records
• Common's first major label album
• A critical and commercial breakthrough for Common
• Title taken from Laura Esquivel's 1989 novel of the same name
• The novel was adapted into a 1992 movie of the same name
• Afrocentric themes are notable throughout the album
• The album formally marked the formation of the Soulquarians collective

Background

• After One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997), Common moved to New York City
• He began collaborating with the Soulquarians at Electric Lady Studios
• Ahmir Thompson (Questlove) oversaw the album's production and introduced Common to D'Angelo
• Soulquarians members include J Dilla, James Poyser, D'Angelo and Pino Palladino
• The same group of musicians was featured on the next album, Electric Circus

Cover

• Cover photo: 1956 Alabama by Gordon Parks
• Shows a young black woman in Alabama, dressed for church, drinking from a "Colored Only" fountain

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

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

• Widespread acclaim from music critics
• Rolling Stone's Kris Ex described Common as a hip-hop MC willing to examine himself through his art
• NME's Stevie Chick called him a great storyteller, equal parts philosopher and documentarian
• Spin's Peter S. Scholtes praised the album as his most aggressive and powerful record yet
• The Wire also hailed it as his best album
• Mojo's Andy Gill called it the most user-friendly contribution so far to the wave of 'conscious' rap
• Q described it as wholemeal hip hop: chewy and a wee bit bland but nutritious all the same
• Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani gave a mixed review, praising the attempt to make change but finding disappointment in the high expectations

Reappraisal

• In 2004, PopMatters' Marc Lamont Hill named it his personal favorite album
• Pitchfork placed it at number 169 on its list of top 200 albums of the 2000s
• The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

Records

• Sold 70,000 copies in its first week
• Certified Gold by the RIAA on August 11, 2000
• According to Nielsen SoundScan, sold 748,000 copies by March 2005
• Hit single "The Light" received a 2001 Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Geto Heaven Part Two" was originally meant for D'Angelo's 2000 album Voodoo but was traded for "Chicken Grease," which Common had intended for this album.
• The album closes with spoken word from Common's father, Lonnie "Pops" Lynn, as Common's previous two albums did.
• After the album succeeded on the charts, a slightly altered version appeared with a Macy Gray track replacing the original closing song.
• During the album's creation, Common traveled to Havana, Cuba, where he met and talked with Assata Shakur.
• The follow-up, Electric Circus, sold just over 200,000 copies, and its predecessor sold more than twice as many.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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