It was with a certain amount of alarm and embarrassment that I noticed recently that my Friday Videos tend to feature very few black artists. That changes right now. Common's Be came out in 2005 and was helped by the success of his buddy Kanye West's breakthrough record, The College Dropout, the previous year. West produced a majority of Be, and you can hear him providing some background vocals on the single "The Corner." For fans of West's R&B-sampling style of his early career, this track is pure bliss.
