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One Day It'll All Make Sense

The third album, the first as Common, with Lauryn Hill, De La Soul and Q-Tip among the guests.
Common, 1997

Released
30 September 1997
Recorded
1995 to 1997
Studio
Streeterville, Chicago
Label
Relativity
Producer
No I.D., Spike Rebel, Karriem Riggins, James Poyser, The Twilite Tone, Dug Infinite
Length
70:10

Released by Relativity, it was the first Common album under the shortened name and the last to feature No I.D. until The Dreamer/The Believer in 2011. It took two years to finish. Guests include Lauryn Hill, De La Soul, Q-Tip, Canibus, Black Thought, Chantay Savage and Questlove, and the producers include No I.D., Dug Infinite, Spike Rebel, James Poyser, the Twilite Tone and Karriem Riggins. Retrospect for Life, produced by Poyser and No I.D. with Lauryn Hill on the chorus, is a male view of abortion. The sleeve carries old family photos and a quote from 1 Corinthians 13:11.

Writing in The Village Voice in January 1998, Robert Christgau said Common rapped about black life as most black people live it and black manhood as most young black men grow into it. The album reached 62 on the Billboard 200, and its acclaim led to the contract with MCA.

Track listing

  1. Introspective1:36
  2. Invocation2:14
  3. Real Nigga Quotes5:24
  4. Retrospect for Life6:23
  5. Gettin' Down at the Amphitheater5:18
  6. Food for Funk4:10
  7. G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition)4:47
  8. My City5:07
  9. Hungry2:33
  10. All Night Long7:35
  11. Stolen Moments, Pt. 12:02
  12. Stolen Moments, Pt. 22:57
  13. 1'2 Many...3:12
  14. Stolen Moments, Pt. 33:13
  15. Making a Name for Ourselves4:53
  16. Reminding Me (Of Sef)4:55
  17. Pop's Rap, Pt. 2 / Fatherhood3:49

Personnel

More from Common

Resurrection (1994), Like Water for Chocolate (2000), Electric Circus (2002), Be (2005), Finding Forever (2007)

Sources

  1. One Day It'll All Make Sense, Wikipedia
  2. Common (rapper), Wikipedia
  3. Common: Resurrection, Pitchfork (2025-11-02)