Sunrise on Lake Michigan: Common’s "RESURRECTION" and the Sound of Growing Up Chicago.

Common, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, is a Chicago rapper and storyteller whose music captures the everyday realities, pride, and introspection of Black urban life in the early 1990s. His album Resurrection paints an intimate portrait of youth on the South Side, blending confident lyricism, thoughtful reflection, and vivid snapshots of Chicago culture into a defining statement of his artistic identity.(Rap)

When you open the jewel case of Commons album, Resurrection you will see something really cool. There on the CD it says nothing but it has a picture. The picture is of the sun coming up over Lake Michigan. It is printed in purple and blue. This picture is really great because it shows what the music on Resurrection is like. The music is about Chicago. It has a lot of feelings like people are not afraid to speak up they are happy and excited and they are also thinking deeply about things. Resurrection is, like a mix of these feelings. This music is about the life of Lonnie Rashid Lynn, who's 22 years old. You can hear what his whole world is like in 55 minutes. He is driving down Lake Shore Drive in a Toyota Celica. He likes to hang out at the Street beach. Lonnie Rashid Lynn rides through parks on Schwinn bikes with his friends. They also make trips to the liquor store. This music shows what life is like for a black man on the South Side of Chicago in the early 1990s.. It is also about what it is like for any teenager who grew up in the city like Lonnie Rashid Lynn. The music is really about Lonnie Rashid Lynn and his life, in Chicago.

The Resurrection music shows what it is like to be from Chicago in a way, through pictures of regular life a confident attitude and really good music beats.. Being subtle was not something that came easily to Common, who back then was known as Common Sense. The cover of his album, which came out in 1992 and is called Can I Borrow a Dollar? This is a picture of him squatting down he has a White Sox hat on his head and he is holding a coffee mug from Chicago there is a map of Chicago on the people standing behind him. It is like someone who lives in the suburbs of Tinley Park saying they are, from the South Loop of Chicago the White Sox and the coffee mug are things people like in Chicago.

Common needed to lean on the fact that he's from Chicago because that is all he really had. I put on his album Can I Borrow a Dollar and the music has a lot of energy and the beats are pretty rough with soul music samples, which's similar to other hip hop albums from 1992 like Redmans Whut Thee Album, Showbiz and AGs Runaway Slave and Das EFXs Dead Serious.. Common Sense did not have the same unique style or way of rapping as those other artists, like Redman or Das EFX or Showbiz and AG and that is what makes Common Sense different, from them I mean Common Sense is just Common Sense. This music was a bit like Das EFX you know, with that style. Then it was like Redman with jokes and silly comparisons.. It was all mixed up with things that did not make sense. The song "Breaker 1/9" starts with some lines. It says "A weeby wobble gobble gobble do the turkey/Lord have mercy, mercy mercy me." This song used a part of a song, by the Isley Brothers. Notorious B.I.G. Used this part in one of his hit songs three years later.

Can I Borrow a Dollar is like someone doing what people think they should do not what they really want to do. Commons friends from his hometown, Immenslope and Twilite Tone made the music. It is really good just, like the big albums that came out that year. But when you listen to Can I Borrow a Dollar it does not feel real. The music is strong. Can I Borrow a Dollar does not feel honest like Common is not being himself. Common said that the recording sessions for the album were really rushed. The reason for this was that his record label, Relativity wanted to make the most of the attention he got from being featured in The Source magazines Unsigned Hype section. He also said that the album was just improved versions of the songs from his demo tape. Common felt that the album was not as good as it could have been because of this. The people, at Relativity just wanted to get the album out so they could make some money from it.

The album Can I Borrow a Dollar? had three singles with music videos that played a lot on MTV.. Can I Borrow a Dollar? did not sell well. Common was not invited to be a guest on rap albums or singles. There were not rappers in Chicago except for Tung Twista, who was a rapper from the West Side and known for rapping very fast. Since there were not other rappers, in Chicago Can I Borrow a Dollar? did not get a lot of support from the music scene. In the 1990s Common Sense was not a big name in hip-hop. He was not well known. When A Tribe Called Quest released Midnight Marauders the year Common Sense was really upset. His picture was not on the back covers, with all the other hip-hop artists. Common Sense thought to himself "Man I did not get to be part of the thing." He said this to Complex in 2011. Common Sense felt like he was left out. I wanted to be part of the group of artists. The next movement of artists is what I am talking about. I felt like the movement of artists did not notice me. The artists, in the movement of artists seemed to be getting all the attention and I was overlooked.

During the time between Can I Borrow a Dollar?. Resurrection, hip-hop music changed a lot. Dr. Dre made an album called The Chronic. It was over the radio and the music charts. The Chronic had an influence on hip-hop music with its West Coast gangsta rap sound.

Common was listening to the radio one day. He heard Nas on The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show. Nas was making up rhymes, on the spot and Common was really impressed. He thought Nas was amazing. Common said that when he heard Nas he was like "this guy is really too good". “It just made me have to grow quick … It really gave me insight on using my writing skills and poetic skills more.”

Mason Morgan