Wednesday, December 03, 2008





Common – Universal Mind Control - @@@

As an established rapper’s career goes through many transformations over the years, they may find themselves balancing the personal need for creative expression with the task of pleasing an audience’s previously set standards and expectations. Common’s loyal longtime followers have watched him go from a young regional upstart to a hungry battle rapper while growing into the personification of a spiritual B-boy and a hope for conscious mainstream Hip-Hop heroism in an industry where artists with little substance reign supreme. Common’s eighth album Universal Mind Control finds him at a crossroads as a household name mindful of both a legacy to uphold and new paths he wishes to explore.

Always bent on reinvention so as to avoid complacency and not become stagnant, Common’s latest experimental phase finds his music taking a more simplistic and fun natured approach, as he utilizes the help of The Neptunes and (Outkast producer) Earthtone III’s Mr. DJ. He never neglects to pay homage to our culture’s earlier days, as the lead single and album’s title track lends itself to reminders of Afrika Bambaataa’s Zulu Nation functions, while the rest of the album takes listeners on a more progressive minded journey without ever presenting a heavy handed agenda. Common’s latest recorded incarnation is partly that of a free spirited partying sex symbol, with the bouncy and playful “Punch Drunk Love”, the fashion shown runway sound of “Sex For Sugar” and the easygoing “Make My Day” all steering this project down more of a carnal road than any of his previous efforts. Eclectic in nature, other songs range in variety from “Announcement” which could work as a party starter in a club setting to the uplifting “Changes” dealing with our world’s ever expanding scope, the alternative “What A World” which is interchangeable with work crafted under Chad and Pharrell's N.E.R.D banner and the hypnotically electro-tinged “Everywhere”.

Common is to be respected for staying true to himself no matter the twists and turns he may take, as listeners strap in for a new sonic ride with each of his albums. However, Universal Mind Control is sure to result in a great lack of understanding between the artist's vision for what he would like his work to represent and the desires of diehard supporters demanding he stick to his prior foundation of making the “official” Hip-Hop that they’ve come to revere. This album is a risky jaunt straying from convention, thus it will be responded to with great debate as some will appreciate an effort breaking existent boundaries and others are likely to cry foul play, considering this new direction from an old favorite to be quite questionable.

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