An intimate look at a starving artist's daytime job cleaning up graffiti, fall foliage, and the urine of nomadic drunks with buckets of bleach. RA Scion is 1/2 of the touted North Western hip hop act Common Market, but by day he is Ryan the janitor for a property management company in Seattle, Washington.
Before coming together to form Common Market in 2005, Sabzi and RA Scion both staked a name for themselves in the Seattle hip-hop scene – the former as an up and coming producer and one-half of the groundbreaking duo Blue Scholars, the latter as a humble, well-traveled solo emcee. Their paths crossed through the Baha’i faith and their political and spiritual approach to hip-hop music.
After collaborating on a couple tracks on RA Scion’s 2004 solo project, Live and Learn, the duo began work in the sweltering heat of an attic-based studio for what would eventually become the 14-track self-titled Common Market LP, released in October 2005. An advance copy caught the ear of KRS-One, who praised the album and RA Scion for “spitting in the Tradition of the conscious Hip Hop movement.” The Blastmaster then flew up to rock Common Market’s album release party in Seattle, then taking the duo on the road with him on the Temple of Hip-hop tour.
Distinguishing this album from his previous body of work, Sabzi showcases his versatility as a producer, custom-fitting his hard-knocking drums and melodic samples to fit RA Scion’s classic delivery. Like a true mic veteran, RA flips between abstract imagery, straight-forward slogans and storytelling with an unmistakable delivery you would expect from someone well-versed in classic boom-bap hip-hop from the era of Brother J, Beatnuts and A Tribe Called Quest. More than just another throwback album, Common Market also dares to pose questions about religion, politics and the state of mainstream hip-hop. At the core of Common Market’s music is a critical, unapologetic world view that change is not only necessary, it is inevitable, and can only come about through having love for and serving the people.
01. Re-Fresh 02. Push 03. G'Dang Diggy 04. Connect For 05. Crossblow 06. Every Last One 07. Poison 08. Trinity 09. Kampo 10. Love One 11. Succor MC's 12. My Pathology 13. Keep Track 14. Doors 15. Every Last One (Cornerstone Remix)
01. Service 02. Trouble Is 03. Gol’Dust 04. Slow Cure 05. Back Home (The Return) 06. 40 Furrows 07. House 08. Winter Takes All 09. Weather Vane 10. 40 Acres 11. Nina Sing feat. Funklove 12. Certitude feat. Chev 13. The Crucible feat. Geologic of Blue Scholars 14. 40 Thieves 15. Spits (inst.) 16. Nothin’ At All 17. Swell 18. Tobacco Road
