Chicago rap vet Common has a new album titled Be, and it’s pretty solid, with production by Kanye West and J-Dilla. But then he has to spoil it all with this tripe in the liners:

Dear GOD… Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, I know that all of this is You. Every rap, every beat, every chorus, every voice, every scratch, every mix, every thought is yours, so to You I dedicate this album. Use it and me in whatever way You choose GOD. [sicvery sic]

Enough already. Hiphop artists have been thanking God/Allah/Jesus/Buddha since forever, and it’s always rung false and rubbed this agnostic hiphop fan the wrong way, especially with rappers who spend entire albums spewing misogynistic, amoral, and downright murderous lyrics. Common’s latest shout-out to the “Creator” is the last damned straw. Enough. Godif She existshas more important things to do than dig for beats and find rhymes for “ho.”