Universal Mind Control

That's the name of Common's new CD which comes out today! "Universal Mind Control" was originally titled "Invincible Summer" and was obviously supposed to come out this past summer, but for reasons unknown the album was delayed time and time again (even before the summer!). On his eigth studio album, Common attempts to once again venture a path he normally wouldn't. When he did this on "Electric Circus", Common received a lot of criticism for "selling out" and is already beginning to get the same response for this album (much like Kanye West is with "808's and Heartbreak"). Whatever your opinion is, you have to give it up to Common for re-inventing his sound. He said in an interview that with this album, he simply just wanted to have fun on the records. What I wanna know is why artists can't break out of their box? It's not like Common's never rapped about girls and having fun before (look up albums from "One Day It'll All Make Sense" and anything before) I get tired of hearing the same stuff so this is refreshing for me. Lyrically, Common breaks out of his shell to rap a little more about girls, partying and having fun but still brings that signature lyricism on some tracks (like "Gladiator"). His current single is "U.M.C." and finds him re-discovering the old breakbeat sound made popular by Afrika Bambaata. This is an excellent album (in my honest opinion). It really is a summer album though; the songs are really catchy and are great to dance to. The bulk of production on this album is handled by the Neptunes and there are a couple tracks contributed by Mr. DJ (of Outkast fame). Guest appearances include Cee-Lo, Chester French, Pharrell, Kanye West and a couple others. The only downside of this album is that it's too short (only 10 tracks)! The U.K. version has an exclusive remix of "Punch Drunk Love" which is an incredible track (hit me up for that one). Below, I've attached some music videos from the album to give you a small glimpse of the album ("Universal Mind Control" and "Announcement"). You can also go to myspace.com/common to preview the entire album for free. Go support this album and support good music everyone!




Common - Universal Mind Control [DVDRIP] from Taz on Vimeo.


Common feat. Pharrell - Announcement from velasquez on Vimeo.