Nobody's Smiling (2014)

"On Nobody’s Smiling, a rejuvenated Common returns to the war-torn streets of Southside Chicago as a wise and focused veteran. Common’s latest, Nobody’s Smiling, centers on the war-torn streets of South Side, Chicago that Common left nearly two decades ago, a setting the 42-year-old rapper navigates like a hardened local. The album’s best moments explore this tension, proving that despite Common’s age and commercial success, he can figuratively inhabit Chiraq better than most of the city’s rising stars." (Slant Magazine)