One Day It'll All Make Sense is the third studio album by rapper Common, September 30, 1997 on Relativity Records. It was the follow-up to his critically-acclaimed album Resurrection and the last Common album to feature producer No I.D..

Songs and music

The album's recording was put on hold for up to a year as Common was busy becoming a father. After the birth of his child, Common returned to finish the album, albeit with a newer sense of responsibility, which he relates to his transformation from bachelor to father. He recorded "Retrospect For Life", with Fugees member Lauryn Hill, as a dedication to his first child Omoye Assata Lynn. The song became the first single to be released from the album, and was accompanied by a video (directed by Lauryn Hill), as were "Invocation", "Hungry", and "Reminding Me (Of Sef)" (a eulogy to a close, deceased friend of Common's). The album's cover is a picture of an 8 year old Common with his mother, Dr. Ann Hines, at an airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica in 1980.

The multi-talented Cee-Lo, who at the time was still a member of Southern Hip hop group Goodie Mob, provides the vocals for the spiritual "G.O.D." (which stands for "Gaining One's Definition"). Rapper Canibus makes an early career appearance on the track "Making A Name For Ourselves", as do veterans De La Soul on "Gettin' Down At The Amphitheater". Other guests include Black Thought, and Q-Tip on "Stolen Moments" Parts "II" and "III" respectively, and Common's future love interest Erykah Badu, on "All Night Long", which was produced by The Roots. Chicagoan poet Malik Yusef, waxes lyrical about his hometown on "My City", and as usual Common's father Lonnie Lynn closes the album out with some words of wisdom on "Pop's Rap Part 2 / Fatherhood".

Reception

Although One Day... was better received by record buyers than the rappers' previous album, it was criticized by some longtime Common fans, mainly for its slightly more conventional production. Despite receiving generally favorable criticism, the album was a Billboard flop, like his previous album, Resurrection, which only sold 2,000 copies. One Day It'll All Make Sense only sold 50,000 copies. Some felt that producer No I.D.'s scaled down contribution was a factor in this. After the release of One Day..., Common would relocate to New York and begin working with the Soulquarians for his next studio effort, Like Water for Chocolate''.

Track listing

#	Title	Length	Performer(s)	Songwriters	Producer(s)	Samples
1	"Introspective"	1:36	Common	Lonnie Lynn Ernest Wilson	No I.D.
2	"Invocation"	2:14	Common	Lonnie Lynn Ernest Wilson	No I.D.	Contains samples from "Jennifer" by Jimmy Ponder
3	"Real Nigga Quotes"	5:24	Common	Lonnie Lynn Doug Thomas	Dug Infinite
4	"Retrospect for Life"	6:23	Common Lauryn Hill Vere Isaacs (bass)	Lonnie Lynn James Poyser Ernest Wilson Stevie Wonder Syreeta Wright	James Poyser No I.D.	Contains samples from "A Song for You" by Donny Hathaway Contains samples from "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" by Stevie Wonder
5	"Gettin' Down at the Amphitheater"	5:18	Common De La Soul (Posdnuos and Trugoy)	Lonnie Lynn David Jolicoeur Kelvin Mercer Ernest Wilson	No I.D.
6	"Food for Funk"	4:10	Common	Lonnie Lynn Ernest Wilson	No I.D.
7	"G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition)"	4:47	Cee-Lo Common	Lonnie Lynn Ernest Wilson Cornell Newhill Thomas Burton	No I.D. Spike Rebel
8	"My City"	5:07	Common Malik Yusef Alvin Rogers (saxophone) Demetrions Kelly (bass)	Malik Yusef Cornell Newhill	Spike Rebel
9	"Hungry"	2:33	Common	Lonnie Lynn Ernest Wilson	No I.D.
10	"All Night Long"	7:35	Common Erykah Badu	Lonnie Lynn James Poyser Erykah Badu Ahmir Thompson	The Roots	Contains interpolations of "Don't Stop The Music" by Yarbrough and Peoples
11	"Stolen Moments, Pt. 1"	2:02	Common	Lonnie Lynn Ernest Wilson	No I.D.	Contains samples from "90% of Me Is You" by Gwen McCrae
12	"Stolen Moments, Pt. 2"	2:57	Black Thought Common	Lonnie Lynn Ernest Wilson	No I.D.	Contains samples from "Je L'Aime" by Franck Pourcel
13	"1'2 Many..."	3:12	Common	Lonnie Lynn Doug Thomas	Dug Infinite	Contains samples from "The Black Five" by Roy Ayers
14	"Stolen Moments, Pt. 3"	3:13	Common Q-Tip	Lonnie Lynn Ernest Wilson	No I.D.	Contains samples from "Superstition" by Melvin Van Peebles
15	"Making a Name for Ourselves"	4:53	Canibus Common	Lonnie Lynn Germaine Williams	No I.D.
16	"Reminding Me (Of Sef)"	4:55	Chantay Savage Common Spike Rebel (keyboards)	Lonnie Lynn Anthony Craig	Ynot	Contains samples from "Reminding Me" by Patrice Rushen Contains samples from "Mellow Mellow Right On" by Lowrell
17	"Pop's Rap Part 2 / Fatherhood"	3:49	Common Lonnie Lynn Alan Jay Palmer (piano) Billy Johnson (bass) Karriem Riggins (drums)	Lonnie Lynn Karriem Riggins	Karriem Riggins

Chart positions

Album chart positions

Year	Album	Chart positions
		Billboard 200	Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
1997	One Day It'll All Make Sense	#62	#12

Singles chart positions

Year	Song	Chart positions
		Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	Hot Rap Singles	Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
1997	"Reminding Me (Of Sef)"	#57	#9	#21