Common, 'Universal Mind Control'

The buzz: Produced almost entirely by the Neptunes (a.k.a. the hit-making squad of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo), “Universal Mind Control” is Chicago rapper Common’s answer to the popularity of club-driven hip-hop music. Instead of beating the bangers with his typically sensitive slower jams, here he decides to depart from his usual sound to join them.

The verdict: If someone else had been plugged into the Neptunes’ formula, the result might have been different, but Common sounds uncomfortable from the get-go; on the opening title track, the South Side native's normally laid-back rhyme delivery comes across as choppy and tense over the electro beat. He also sounds uneasy with the lightness of the subject matter most of the time, but particularly so on “Sex 4 Suga” as he offers weak lines like, “Girl you've been touched by the force of nature/ I’m just trying to motivate ya.” For such a typically serious artist, this feels like he’s pulling our leg.

Did you know? The rapper used to be called Common Sense until a lawsuit by a reggae band bearing the same name caused him to alter his alias.

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