The Corner (song)

{{Infobox song

| name = The Corner

| cover = Common - the corner.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Common featuring Kanye West and The Last Poets

| album = Be

| released = March 1, 2005

| recorded = Sony Music Studios, New York, NY

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Hip hop

| length = 3:45

| label = GOOD Music, Geffen

| writer = {{hlist|Lonnie Lynn|Kanye West|Abiodun Oyewole|Umar Bin Hassan|Leon Moore}}

| producer = Kanye West

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title =

| next_year =

| misc = {{Extra chronology

| artist = Common

| type = singles

| prev_title = The Food

| prev_year = 2004

| title = The Corner

| year = 2005

| next_title = Go!

| next_year = 2005

}}

{{Extra chronology

| artist = Kanye West

| type = singles

| prev_title = Down and Out

| prev_year = 2005

| title = The Corner

| year = 2005

| next_title = Diamonds from Sierra Leone

| next_year = 2005

}}

{{Extra chronology

| artist = The Last Poets

| type = singles

| prev_title = Panthers

| prev_year = 2002

| title = The Corner

| year = 2005

| next_title =

| next_year =

}}

"The Corner" is the second single released by rapper Common on his sixth album, Be. It features a chorus and production by Kanye West as well as spoken word lyrics by The Last Poets. The song's lyrics deal with street corners in poor neighborhoods. The song's beat contains samples from "You Make the Sun Shine" by The Temprees and "What It Is" by The Temptations. Because of the song's gritty sound, some fans considered it to be a return to Common's Resurrection days.{{cite web|last=Malcolm |first=Sean |url=http://www.allhiphop.com/reviews/index.asp?ID=585 |title=Be Review at AllHipHop.com |access-date=May 26, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015093027/http://allhiphop.com/reviews/index.asp?ID=585 |archive-date=October 15, 2007 }} A music video directed by Kanye West was made for "The Corner."

Acclaim

"The Corner" attained some commercial success reaching #42 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, but was even more popular among critics. Amongst other accolades, it was nominated as the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 48th Grammy Awards. Spence D. of IGN.com explains the basis for its success writing: {{cquote|"The Corner" [...] is the defacto bomb on the album. West's groove is sick and witty, piano and bass meshing together in a smoothly lumbering lope with a nice accentuated vocal sample on the chorus. The addition of the legendary Last Poets only elevates the tune to the next level. One of the best burners of the year, hands down.{{cite web | author = Spence D. | url = http://music.ign.com/articles/634/634905p1.html | title = Be Review at IGN.com | access-date = May 26, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071017013853/http://music.ign.com/articles/634/634905p1.html | archive-date = October 17, 2007 | url-status = dead }}}}

In addition, Nathan Brackett of Rolling Stone states that it is one of the "hardest-rocking tracks of Common's career."{{cite web | last = Brackett | first = Nathan | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/common/albums/album/7330979/review/7349116/be | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071001161419/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/common/albums/album/7330979/review/7349116/be | url-status = dead | archive-date = October 1, 2007 | title = Be Review at RollingStone.com | access-date = May 26, 2007}} Pitchfork Media's Tom Breihan considers the beat to be "dusty and heavenly."{{cite web | last = Breihan | first = Tom | url = http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/track_review/30526-the-corner-remix-ft-scarface-mos-def | title = The Corner (Remix) Review at PitchforkMedia.com | access-date = May 27, 2007}} Steve Juon of RapReviews.com claims Common's lyrics to contain profound observations of urban life that show why hip hop is the "black man's CNN."

{{cite web | last = Juom | first = Steve | url = http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2005_05F_be.html | title = Be Review at RapReviews.com | access-date = May 26, 2007}} Common understands that critics consider "The Corner" to be a return from his Electric Circus style. As he says on "They Say" from his 2005 album Be: "They say the crochet pants and the sweater was wack/Seen 'The Corner', now they say that nigga's back."

=Remixes=

The official remix featuring Kanye West, The Last Poets, Scarface, Mos Def and a new verse by Common can be found on Scarface's 2005 album My Homies Part 2. It was also released by Common as a single.
This song was covered with heavily revised lyrics by Clipse on their We Got It 4 Cheap: Vol. 2 mixtape.

Track listing

=A-side=

"The Corner" (Radio) (3:46)
"The Corner" (Instrumental) (3:46)
"The Corner" (Radio A Capella) (3:34)

=B-side=

"The Corner" (LP) (3:46)
"The Corner" (LP A Capella) (3:46)
"The Corner" (Last Poet Reprise) (3:46)

Charts

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" \|+ Chart performance for "The Corner"
scope="col"\| Chart (2005) !scope="col"\| Peak position
{{singlechart\|Billboardbubbling100\|10\|artist=Common\|access-date=October 28, 2024\|rowheader=true}}
{{singlechart\|Billboardrandbhiphop\|42\|artist=Common\|access-date=October 28, 2024\|rowheader=true}}

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ Chart performance for "The Corner"

scope="col"| Chart (2005)

!scope="col"| Peak
position

{{singlechart|Billboardbubbling100|10|artist=Common|access-date=October 28, 2024|rowheader=true}}

{{singlechart|Billboardrandbhiphop|42|artist=Common|access-date=October 28, 2024|rowheader=true}}