Skip to main content

Universal Mind Control by Common

Universal Mind Control

Release Date: 12/8/2008

Recording Date: 12/2008

Tracks: 10

Length: 00:38:01 Hrs

Label: Universal Distribution

Type: CD,LP

Genre/Styles:
Alternative Rap, Midwest Rap

Album Tracks (10)

Song Title
Length
1.
Universal Mind Control (Umc)
03:33
2.
Punch Drunk Love
04:15
3.
Make My Day
03:58
4.
Sex 4 Suga
04:02
5.
Announcement
03:45
6.
Gladiator
04:07
7.
Changes
03:58
8.
Inhale
03:11
9.
What a World
03:58
10.
Everywhere
03:14

What the Critics Say

The eighth Common album was originally titled "Invincible Summer," but delays slid its release back to December. Though Mortal Winter might've been more apt, Universal Mind Control does correctly point toward a lighter, less cerebral set relative to the MC's discography from The Resurrection onward. The glinting "Change" is a track filled with hope and optimism about younger generations and the rise of Obama, and "Inhale," another standout, carries a surplus of uplift and urgency. Otherwise, Common's here to have a good time, no strings attached, with uneven results. Occasionally adopting a casual old-school flow, best heard on the neo-Bambaataa electro throwback title track, he spends most of his time boasting about his prowess, whether he's referring to being on the mike or in the bedroom. At the album's lowest, he sounds uncomfortably out of character, as on "Announcement"; its stern beat, one of the seven provided by the Neptunes, resembles a Clipse cast-off, pushing Common into ill-suited thuggishness. The sluggish, mindless "Punch Drunk Love" ("My ungh is in your body/My ungh is in your mind") and "Sex 4 Suga" ("Girl, ooh, you look ungh") are nearly as dire, likewise sacrificing cleverness for bluntness. The album's last two tracks, production-wise, depart from hip-hop and will hopefully send some listeners back to the flawed greatness of Electric Circus. "What a World" features some of Common's most enjoyable, if simplistic, old-school rhymes, but the song is impaired by its dance-rock/Rapture-knockoff backdrop; and even with some of Common's most energized lines appearing as late as midway through the much more effective "Everywhere," the Dungeon Family's Mr. DJ (who produced two other tracks) drops some low-slung sci-fi synth-funk for Martina Topley-Bird's spaced vocal feature. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi

Advertisement
Common

On Sale