The much revered Chicago emcee, Common, known for his conscious approach to intricate rap lyricism, recently joined forces with New York production royalty, Pete Rock.
Together, the two are back after a period of anticipation to bring forth their latest single, ‘Wise Up’. The duo also made sure they bring back boom bap with this one, alongside stunning visuals as part of the official music video.
Following a steady boom bap kick pattern followed by punchy (yet squashed) snares and riddled with screechy, dusty samples, the track is a sonic journey into the streets. With Common taking a narrative approach to storytelling reminiscent of the 90s hip hop, the video follows the duo through city streets and captures a moving portrait of everyday characters and their lives.
Going back and forth between monochrome and color, the video (directed by Marleaux Desiré) metaphorically superimposes the old with the new, as a homage to the resurrection of boom-bap style in recent years. According to the video description itself, the idea is to showcase “the past, present, and future happening all at once”. In that sense, the much spoken about Golden Age of Hip Hop is a concept flipped on its head, showcasing the evergreen nature of hip hop artistry.
Speaking about the track himself, Common says, “(‘Wise Up‘) feels like the spirit of where we come from, the boom bap, the basement, but it also feels forward and new. We wanted this to be the first joint because this record captures a new sound and is a new light but speaks directly to our hip-hop family”. Now, if you focused on anything in that sentence, please let it be the phrase “the first joint” — for it alludes to a larger project under the works by the duo. In fact, the outro of the video also teases the The Auditorium Vol. 1, further suggesting how it may actually be more than one album!
You can stream the track here, or below: