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Common, Neptunes Disappoint

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By CURTIS ROSS

cross@tampatrib.com

Published: December 26, 2008

The title "Universal Mind Control" conjures up images of Common wearing an aluminum foil helmet. Alas, it isn't a concept album about conspiracy theories.

No, the only conspiracy at work here is the Neptunes' hijacking of the album, and Common's complicity in it.

Much like 2005's Kanye West-produced "Be," Common seems muffled by the one-size-fits all productions of The Neptunes. Incongruously, the non-Neptunes tracks are sunny, pop-R&B, but at least they provide from relief from Pharrell and Co.'s sterile electronics.

The album reaches its nadir on "Announcement." Common half-heartedly tries to get in touch with his inner thug but can't muster enough enthusiasm to give the gangster cliches any bite.

Sadly, Common sculpts his lyrics to fit the chilly production, filling his rhymes with empty boasts about his lyrical and sexual prowess. The fact that he's built his reputation on lyrics of substance creates a dissonance, and the impression that he's phoning it in most of the time underlines it.

Common sounds far more invigorated on the sprightly bubblegum-soul of "Make My Day," with chorus vocals by Cee-Lo, and on the breezy, '70s-style "Changes."

The Neptunes-Common combo really works only once, on "Gladiator," which alternates a sing-song chorus and chaotic but cinematic verses.

It's a bit disconcerting when one of hip-hop's most socially conscious emcees, in a year when we need artists to help put events in perspective, cops out with some of his least compelling, most cliched rhymes. Download "Gladiator" and non-Neptunes cuts and hope he finds more sympathetic collaborators next time.

Download: "Gladiator"

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