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Common - Universal Mind Control
| Guardian |
| The more things change for Lonnie Rashid Lynn, the more they stay the same. A 1980s disco sheen - courtesy of a rejuvenated Neptunes - makes this the 36-year-old rapper's pop album. Yet Common seems keen to prove he is still an all-time rap great, a hip-hop intellectual - and a ladies' man. His eighth LP is most compelling where these themes collide, such as on Punch Drunk Love, where the salacious production meets its match in imaginative innuendos. But Change, a euphoric hymn to his fellow Chicagoan, Barack Obama, shows he can't leave "conscious rap" alone. Gladiator, the best track, is a witty battle anthem, all imperious arrogance and self-aware swagger....full text |
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| Spin |
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On his eighth album, Common turns back the hip-hop clock to the days of electro, teaming up with Pharrell Williams, who comes off like a modern-day version of mid-'80s studio whizzes Mantronix. On the frantic, Roland 808–charged title track, the Windy City MC plays the streetwise machine man, with lyrics ("Chicks exotic, mix hypnotic / Superhero boy, I'm bionic") that read like cut-ups of novels by cyberpunk pioneer William Gibson. The rockin'-no-stoppin' continues on the Kanye West–guesting "Punch Love," which conjures futuristic gator-shoed players, and the compelling Prince-ness of "Sex for Suga." Though there's one serious misstep -- the pro-Obama ditty "Changes," which mimics '60s psychedelia and is about as soulful as Donovan's greatest hits -- Common dazzles with the back-to-the-future motif on "What a World," an homage to the Bernard Edwards bass line that was the funky foundation for Chic's "Good Times," Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight," and Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." The track vibrantly mashes up all three songs to create a singular gem....full text |
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| Latimesblogs |
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The once-underground hip-hop artist Common painted himself into a corner a while ago as a chin-stroking hippie who can still hang with the harder types. It might've gotten Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr. a few Hollywood jobs, but it didn't help diversify his image -- and image counts for a lot in Common's business. In his eighth album, "Universal Mind Control," Common tries to break away, taking on a harder, naughtier persona and dipping his typically dusty grooves in executive producer Pharrell's cold chemical wash. For part of the album, the techno gambit blows fresh air into Common's paisley pondering. The title track is a banger with ice-floe-thick beats. His Kanye West-assisted "Punch Drunk Love" is bedroom bravado set to defrost. His collaboration with Cee-Lo, "Make My Day," is bouncy sun-glinted retro-soul that should've served as a model for the whole album....full text |
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