Common - Universal Mind Control

G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen (2008)

When it comes to mainstream music with integrity, few artists come to mind. Narrow the focus to mainstream hip-hop and the list becomes countable on one hand. Common was one of these elite few. An impeccable delivery of socially empathetic lyrics over classic soul-infused beats were the elements that made the native Chicagoan stand out amongst a sea of bling, guns and bitches. Songs like "The Light," "Come Close" and "Go!" are precidents for crossover success that doesn't compromise. Or at least they were precedents; time has an unerring way of screwing up all that once had virtue - Common's latest release being no exception.

Universal Mind Control kicks off faultlessly enough, with Common calling upon the roots of the genre - displaying a stiffer, Kurtis Blow-like rhyme scheme over the electro-funk backdrop reminiscent of Afrika Bambaata. Then the second track, "Punch Drunk Love," begins. Components: 1) garbage crunk beat tailored for radio, 2) ignorant hook from Kayne West ("Already know I'm too fly/I know what you like."). "Make My Day" then swoops in give the album some hope, featuring Cee-Loo and the smooth-yet-quirky vibe that his Gnarles Barkley moniker often employs. Then another step back. "Sex 4 Sugar": the beat sounds like it was made by a 10th grader for a Digital Media class: simple snare/kick pattern, intermittent hand claps, three-note synth progression, and nothing else. The remainder of the record is filled with this lazy Fruity Loops mode of production, pandering to the lowest common denominator with club bangers. By the time the catchy electronic flavored outro "Everytime" finishes, grave disappointment has been so deeply seeded that the absence of Pops (Common's father, who has closed out every album with spoken word since Resurrection) goes unnoticed.

And the lyrics, by Common's standards, are terrible.

"Girl, ooh, you look, aah/You're the type of thing that I came here for/What's your name?/I can't hear y'all/Will it be alright if I called you Sugar?"

"Right now I'm off the wine, wine/We can take our time, time/So much I want to fronts/Feel the bump we grind."

"Everybody I'd like to announce/Throw your hands up when we in the house/Yeah this is hip-hop baby/I'm gonna take you to the tip top baby."

Go back and check out Like Water for Chocolate. Listen to the track "The 6th Sense," and you will hear authenticity in terms of lyrics and music. You will also hear Common drop a couple of notable lines: "Reality is frisking me/This industry will make you lose intensity/The Common Sense in me remembers the basement/I'm Morpheus in this hip-hop Matrix, exposing fake shit." In context to the apathetic Universal Mind Control, these words are the echos of a once magnanimous MC who has lost his way. Speaking as a fan, may he once again find it.