From Common Sense to Common

The Spin: Common – Universal Mind Control
Released December 9, 2008
2008 Geffen Records

Universal Mind Control sounds exactly like what it is: Common and The Neptunes make a dance album.  Common has established himself as one of the premiere socially conscious hip-hop artists of all time.  Times change.

Common’s breakout hit was “I Used to Love H.E.R.,” a metaphor for hip-hop.  The song put Common Sense’s names on the mind of all the die-hard hip-hop fans of 1994.  He was quickly recognized as an important socially conscious voice in hip-hop, even if he sometimes embraced a conservative morality that passed judgment on those unlike him.  In 2000, Common earned his first Grammy nomination and came into the American hip-hop mainstream consciousness with his song “The Light” from his classic album Like Water For Chocolate.  This was a turning point for Common twofold.  First, it was the first album to prominently feature J Dilla. Second, and perhaps more importantly in respect to Common’s career, it was his first hit love song.  While the lyricism definitely had changed somewhat from “Can I Borrow a Dollar” until then, Common definitely made a conscious decision that we see the effect of today, but amplified at this point.  Every album seems to have exponentially more songs about love, or at least the physical act, at the expense of the socially conscious hip-hop rhymes his most die-hard fans had grown accustomed to.  Forward to this album and Common goes from being the humble man about the people to an ego-maniacal materialistic boy who flaunts disrespecting women. Don’t get me wrong, there’s no “Big Pimpin’” here, but still…

Photo courtesy of www.common-music.com

So, the Universal Mind Control’s title track and current hit is an electro track, heavily influenced by Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock,” among others.  In a seemingly unlikely case of plagiarism, the hook features Pharrell intermittently mimicking Kid Rock’s “Bawitdaba.”  Lyrically, the song is hit and miss with lines like, “I touch the masses like a catholic,” accompanied by the type of materialism that one would’ve assumed ten years ago that he would’ve condemned, a la “actor tappin’ yo favorite actress, Gucci rockin’, coochies poppin’, movie watchin’, booties droppin’, body movin’, showin’, groovin’, stylin’, and bein’ fly.”

“Punch Drunk Love” features Kanye West on the hook while the album doesn’t feature any ‘Ye beats.  The song is a fairly witty, playful song mostly about sex. The Dungeon Family feature prominently on “Make My Day” as Cee-lo croons impressively on the hook while the beat is produced by Mr. DJ of Outkast fame.  Again, Common does what he does, only romantically.  “Sugar 4 Sex” unexpectedly makes no explicit reference to prostitution, only Common’s sexual craving of some girl.  Musically, the song is an interesting blend of drums and horn synth.  Oddly, Common’s vocals sound like he’s imitating Pharrell here.

Photo courtesy of www.common-music.com

“Announcement” sounds musically like an update to Philly’s Most Wanted’s “Cross the Border.”  If you don’t remember the song, go listen to it.  They sound incredibly similar.  Actually, the guitar melody and hand drum parts are nearly the same.  Lyrically, the song features Common and Pharrell talking about the particular echelon they’ve each reached in hip-hop.

The switching back and forth between the drumless hook, which features a vocal and piano sample (I tried and tried, but couldn’t figure out what it is was from) and the drum-heavy verses featuring synth and trumpet, doesn’t seeem to work too well on, “Gladiator.”  The lyrics aren’t awful, but who else is getting tired of references to the fairly recent Russell Crowe movie, and the quotes that come with it?

In “Changes,” we see one of Common’s only attempts at social consciousness on the album.  However, it falls flat with a lack of lyricism and bigoted sentiments like, “See a black man run and we need him to win.”  “Inhale” features a sampled Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest’s “Sucka Nigga.”  The beat’s drums are interesting, but the beat is a little too cluttered to allow those drums to really captivate their audience.  Lyrically, Common’s effort here is mediocre but the content is definitely the sort of fare that his audience appreciates.  The Neptunes emulate N.E.R.D. on “What a World.”  It’s Common’s autobiography.  Did Mr. DJ influence Andre 3000 on “Hey Ya” or was it the other way around?  It’s hard to say for certain, but what is certain is the effect of that on the last track of this album, “Everywhere.”  The beat combined with Martina Topley-Bird’s vocals combine interestingly.  Common’s okay, too.

Photo courtesy of www.common-music.com

The Neptunes, while extremely talented and hardworking, seem to be pushing a sound on hip-hop that hip-hop doesn’t seem to want to receive.  It could perhaps be argued that they’re so far ahead of their time that other producers can’t replicate their sound but in reality, the sounds and methods that they use to create their beats are available to any producer with fruity loops and the internet.  That being said, they do create lots of hits, even if they’ve somehow managed to squeeze so much out of something that no one seems to really want that badly.

There have been comparisons between Universal Mind Control and Electric Circus as these are the only two well-known Common albums to not feature music developed around soul samples and the like.  However, the two albums are quite different in tone and scope.  Electric Circus, as criticized as it might be, was an experimental album that brought together some of today’s most recognizable names and voices to create an incredibly interesting and fresh, albeit perhaps mostly inaccessible, sound.  Universal Mind Control brings a lot of sounds that we’re already familiar with to Common’s new found booty-conscious lyrics.

I don’t know what to think of this album except that it’s a disappointment.  That doesn’t necessarily make it bad, it just makes it less than what I expect from Common.  There’s a bid drop there.  Common’s supposed to be a nasty MC who speaks for the Common man.  Instead, he approaches this album as a lazy MC who’s mostly just looking out for himself, mostly his sexually aroused self.  Its relevance pales in comparison to past works, both content-wise and lyrically.  Basically, this is Common going from positive to negative.  It’s Common selling out.  I give the album three and a quarter stars.  It’s funny that his change of name from Common Sense to Common is now seeming to bear relevance.