Maps of Music

One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997)

Where the lyrics of One Day It'll All Make Sense take you, and where it was really made.

The cover photo was taken in 1980 at Montego Bay airport in Jamaica, and shows Common with his mother.

Key places

Recording location in Streeterville, Chicago (1997)

Recording site Streeterville (Chicago) — Streeterville in Chicago is listed as a recording location for this album. The point is placed at the district level, not at a confirmed building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded and mixed at Chung King Studios (1997)

Recording site Chung King Studios — Chung King Studios in New York City is credited as a recording location for this album. It is also credited as a mixing location. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Patchwerk Recording Studios in Atlanta (1997)

Recording site PatchWerk Recording Studios — Patchwerk Recording Studios in Atlanta is credited as one of the recording locations for this album, according to the Discogs credits. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Avatar Studios in New York (1997)

Recording site Power Station Studio — Avatar Studios in New York City is credited as a recording location for this album. The point is placed at the city-level location given in the source data. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Cover photo taken at Montego Bay airport (1997)

Album cover Montego Bay Airport — The album cover is a 1980 photograph of Common with his mother, Dr. Ann Hines, taken at Montego Bay airport in Jamaica. The point is placed at city-center level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• One Day It'll All Make Sense is the third studio album by rapper Common
• Released 30 September 1997 on Relativity Records
• Follow-up to Common's critically acclaimed album Resurrection
• Last Common album to feature producer No I.D. until the 2011 album The Dreamer/The Believer
• First album in which Common officially dropped Sense from his name

Background

• Common became a father during the making of the album, so it was recorded in two sessions
• Lyrics and general style changed between the two sessions
• Lauryn Hill recorded a track with Common; she had a child just before the album came out
• The track Retrospect for Life became the first single

Recording

• Studios credited on Discogs include Chung King Studios, Patchwerk Recording Studios, Avatar Studios, Battery Studios New York, The Hit Factory, Mirror Image West, Streetsville Studios and United Technique Recording
• Mixed at Mirror Image West, Chung King Studios and The Hit Factory
• Mastered at Sterling Sound

Cover

• Photograph of Common with his mother, Dr. Ann Hines, at Montego Bay airport in Jamaica, taken in 1980

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · it.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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

• Robert Christgau reviewed the album for The Village Voice in January 1998
• Praised it as an unpretentious artistic space that could not have existed before hip hop
• Said Common raps about black life as most black people live it, and about black manhood as most young black men grow into it
• Noted that the album has no notable penchant for ear candy or mass appeal
• Called his flow complex and full-bodied
• Said his complexity goes beyond flow, since he spends considerable time dancing in his head
• Said no singer-songwriter's everyday ruminations come near such social content or physical form

Records

• Released on Relativity Records, 30 September 1997
• Distributed by Red Distribution
• 17 tracks, including Retrospect for Life (feat. Lauryn Hill)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Retrospect for Life became the first single, and its music video was directed by Lauryn Hill herself.
• Lauryn Hill had a child just before the album came out.
• The album was recorded in two sessions because Common became a father in between.
• The track Gettin' Down at the Amphitheater features De La Soul.
• Common officially dropped Sense from his name with this album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact