common & just blaze: the light '08.

dl: COMMON f/ MARSHA AMBROSIUS - The Light '08 (It's Love) (Smirnoff Signature Mix) (YSI)

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While it may seem lame to blog about corporate MP3 offerings, Smirnoff's latest inclusion in the Smirnoff Signature Mix Series is quite divine. This week, producer Just Blaze (Jay-Z - "Show Me What You Got", Diddy - "Tell Me", Kanye West - "Touch the Sky") teams up with rapper Common and Marsha Ambrosius (formerly of Floetry) for a recreation of Common's 2000 single "The Light". The original version of this song is arguably Common's most commercially successful single, falling short of Top 40 status at #44 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Some regard it as one of hip-hop's classic love songs, an open letter for the whole world to read declaring Common's love for then-girlfriend Erykah Badu.

Eight years later with a new beat and vibe, "The Light" is just as charming. While the feelings for Erykah might not be there anymore, this song still makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Admittedly, part of that warm-fuzzy feeling may rise from the rather emotional piano line paired with the "shoutout to J. Dilla" from Common. Is it bad that I get a little teary every time someone mentions his name?

This is the second offering from Smirnoff's Signature Mix Series, preceded by DJ Premier and KRS-One teaming up to rethink Boogie Down Productions' "Criminal Minded". Next week promises a collaboration between Q-Tip and Cool & Dre, putting a spin on A Tribe Called Quest's "Midnight".

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