Common Debuts Video for Ghetto Dreams

Keeping with the theme of new videos, Common drops the accompanying visuals to go with Ghetto Dreams, his upcoming album's lead single that he debuted early last month. Featuring NaS.

I've already said what I had to say about the actual song but the video helps to put their lyrics into perspective.

Or maybe Common always wanted some video vixens in his videos and this was his excuse to make that happen.

It's tough to tell in which direction Common plans to take this new album but I will admit that I'm intrigued. This is a side of Common we haven't seen in nearly 15 years when he and MC Lyte parodied the pastime of pimping from the 1997 album One Day It'll All Make Sense.

Maybe he had this song in mind when he coined that album title (which, by the way, is also the name of his autobiography, scheduled for release next month).

NaS Excels Where Common Fails on New Track

 

Maybe I'm in the minority here but let me first say that I much rather prefer the Electric Circus / Universal Mind Control / Be version of rapper Common over his latest incarnation, which has him exchanging hardcore rhymes with NaS over a banging street track courtesy of producer No I.D.

Let me clarify.

Any rhymes from Common are always soothing sounds for ears sore from the prevailing hodgepodge of random rap music that shows no signs of slowing its invasion of Hiphop. But when he kicks hardcore lines – specifically when he starts off the songs with lines like "I wanna bitch who looks good and cooks good" -- it comes off as forced at best and insincere at worst. Hell, we already know Comm has been linked to some top notch females so what's with these ridiculous demands? But I digress.

Pharrell Talks Madonna, Common, Solo Album

A recent interview with Pharrell uncovered a few gems I had no idea about.

After intially dismissing the influence of drum n' bass on the new N*E*R*D album, Pharrell finally admits it in reference to Common's new album, of which the majority will be produced by the Neptunes:

"We kept talking about going in the studio for two years straight. We had done "Come Close" a couple of years ago, but he said he wanted to go back in and work together. We finally we scheduled it and it was just magical. He was into where I was going...

I was annoyed by D&B when I was young. You have to think about it, what could we do more energetic than Lapdance. So we had to speed up the BPMs so we took it to 140!"

About working with Madonna and him making her cry in the studio:

"We really collaborated and she pushed me harder and harder and harder. At first it frustrated me cos I'd never been demanded around like that, but after a while, I got used to it and it made me be even more efficient than I would normally be. I learned a lot. I thought I was a workaholic before -- now I'm a workaholic."

On his situation with The Clipse, which is rumored to be on the rocks:

"All is good, we're family."

One thing that surprised me was his answer when asked if he was disappointed with the reception of his solo album:

"In hindsight, I realised that it should have been a compilation with a bunch of artists, rather than just me. Once I did a couple of shows I was like 'Uh-uh, this ain't working.' So I let it go. The energy just wasn't right."

He also touches on CRS. Check it out here.

"I touch the masses like a Catholic"

Common - Universal Mind Control Feat. Pharrell (Prod. Neptunes)

While I've heard plenty of moans and groans regarding Common's recent announcement that his new, upcoming album "Invincible Summer" would be void of Kanye beats (and executive producing role) and replaced mostly with the Neptunes' sound(s), this song right here is every indication that there need be no more worrying.

Skateboard and Chad Chase go all the way in (pause) on this nostalgic yet futuristic track, a very fresh and updated version of an Afrika Bambataa classic. And Common sounds right at home on this beat, weaving in and out of every line with gems like "Charismatic, Asiatic, I hustle for mathematics, Camera’s action change the status, Actor tappin your favorite actress".

The streets and backpackers alike may shun this record's sound, but Com is a rapper first and foremost, and I can't remember the last time he let us down in the lyrics department. Dude can still rhyme with the best of them, and he's always got something to say, even when he's sweating himself like on this song. I expect good things from this album.