Common and the Roots (pictured above, of course) will host this year’s edition of the “Hennessy Artistry Series.” It takes place in four urban markets — Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and New York — and will give attendees an opportunity to stock up on samples of free liquor. Lifestyle marketing gimmicks aside, the Roots are a dependable live act, and they’ll play house band for a lineup headed by Common and, in select cities, Colin Munroe, Elizabeth the Band and Elevator Fight.

Tickets to the events will be distributed via a contest. You can register for it at hennessyartistry.com.

Here’s an excerpt from the press release for those interested in such things:

Hennessy, the bestselling Cognac in the world and one of the most celebrated and storied brands in history, furthers its commitment to delivering unexpected blends of music, artistry, culture and flavor with this year’s fourth annual Hennessy Artistry Series. Hosted exclusively by Hennessy, the four events will be co-curated and headlined by hip-hop impresario Common and one of the “greatest live acts in the world” (Rolling Stone) The Roots, who will also appear as the house band.

Marked by the core principles of discovery, creativity, and self-expression, Hennessy Artistry has been lauded worldwide as a showcase for a broad range of talent, from local performers, to iconic artists such as Kanye West and LL Cool J, and rapidly rising superstars such as Ne-Yo, the curator of the 2008 series. …

“Curating for Artistry has been amazing. We’ve had so much fun hashing out line-ups that will flow well with each other,” said co-curator Questlove of The Roots. “We worked hard to blend talent with us and Common that will surprise and excite the Artistry audience. When all is said and done, Hennessy Artistry will be an experience that folks will talk about for years to come. I, for one, can’t wait to see it all come to play this fall.”

Additional surprise performers will be announced, and several iconic artists may make unannounced appearances.

“The Hennessy Artistry series is historically known to showcase the best new and indie talent,” notes Hennessy SVP Andy Glaser. “Previous Artistry events have included artists such as Pharrell, Robin Thicke, The Strokes and Leona Lewis, and Artistry 2009 promises to carry on this tradition.”

Here’s the schedule:

• 9/12: The Shrine, Chicago, IL (1) (2)
• 9/19: The Velvet Room, Atlanta, GA (1) (3)
• 10/03: The Corinthian, Houston, TX
• 10/07: Halo, New York, NY (1) (2)

(1) w/Elevator Fight
(2) w/Colin Munroe
(3) w/Elizabeth the Band

Common
Universal Mind Control
Geffen

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Universal Mind Control may be the worst album of Common’s career, but it’s not for the reasons you’d think. It’s not bad because Common plays with the electro-funk sound that has overtaken dance clubs. There’s a need for a hip-hop artist to bring integrity to a sub-genre that, until now at least, has been overrun by filthy-mouthed party rappers (see Uffie, Spank Rock, etc.) What if an MC of Common’s caliber not only rhymed over a Lifelike beat, but also brought “The Corner”-style lyricism? He could have brought back the hip-house peak of the late 80s, a time when EPMD and Stetsasonic flirted with house beats, by making fun and intelligent party tracks. And it’s not as if he hasn’t explored that territory before, as his back catalog includes a fresh guest appearance on Armand Van Helden’s “Full Moon.”

The title track, with the Neptunes’ soaring keyboard riff and Pharrell’s semi-robotic chorus, appears to be an opening statement towards that purpose. But after kicking off the album with “Universal Mind Control (UMC),” Common subsequently hedges his bets instead of pushing full-throttle into dance floor heaven. If he had stuck with the electro-funk game plan he declared via MTV and other media, Universal Mind Control could have been, at the least, a noble failure on par with 2002’s Electric Circus, when he explored black rock aesthetics with interesting if unsuccessful results. But without Electric Circus’ focused vision, Universal Mind Control wanders through ten bad pop tunes, from the goofy 808-and-autotune beat (courtesy of Kanye West) on “Punch Drunk Love” to the bland synthesizer ballad “Changes” (which wastes an ethereal chorus from rising soul artist Muhsinah).

Meanwhile, Common offers some of his worst rhymes to date. For “Sex 4 Suga,” he copies Grandmaster Melle Mel’s cadence for choice words such as “I like the way you’re making my nature rise/We can do more than fantasize/Let’s do the do, me and you/We can wo-wo-wo and whoopty-woo.” On “Announcement,” he continues to train wreck, rhyming, “See them rappers/They be ducking/When Common be bucking/In the kitchen fucking/On the sink, got my momma a mink.” And he continues a long-running tradition with yet another blasphemous spin on his classic “I Used to Love H.E.R.”: “I still love h.e.r./She be needing the dick/When it come to hip-hop it’s just me and my bitch.”

So what the hell happened? It seems that Common didn’t spend enough time on the Universal Mind Control, which arrives a little over a year after his last album, the considerably better Finding Forever. Some of its songs, particularly “Gladiator” and “What A World,” sound like unfinished demos, with Common repeating the same lines over and over again as if he hadn’t written enough lyrics yet. Maybe he was too busy starring in popcorn movies like Angelina Jolie’s Wanted and Keanu Reeves’ Street Kings. Hollywood must be rubbing off on him; with Universal Mind Control, he’s made an album that’s just as hackneyed and creatively bankrupt as those dumb action flicks.

Despite a few months of delays and a title change, Common still plans to release his eighth album before the end of the year. Originally called Invincible Summer, his Universal Mind Control is scheduled for a December 9 date via Geffen.

Billboard.com posted a track listing today along with the following description:

“Punch Drunk Love” now features Kanye West spitting the catchy chorus “Am I crazy, or was you giving me the eye?” “Sex 4 Sugar,” which Common previously described as a conversation with a dancer, now has faster drums, and “Everywhere,” which was formerly called “Runaway” and set to feature Santogold, now sports a dreamy layered chorus, sans Santogold, over a guitar riff similar to Pat Benatar’s “Love Is a Battlefield.”

Common recently told MTV.com that Universal Mind Control will be a party album:

“Where I am with Universal Mind Control, which is the name of the album as well as the single, I wanted to make some music people can enjoy…It’s a lot of stuff going on in the world right now. Sometimes people need to release. I felt that energy abroad, going to different parties in Spain and London, even back in the States. It was good times. I want people to have good times musically.”

• 1. “Universal Mind Control”
• 2. “Punch Drunk Love” (feat. Kanye West)
• 3. “Make My Day” (feat. Cee-Lo Green)
• 4. “Sex 4 Sugar”
• 5. “Announcement” (feat. Pharrell Williams)
• 6. “Gladiator”
• 7. “Changes”
• 8. “Inhale”
• 9. “What a World”
• 10. “Everywhere”

Here’s the video for “Universal Mind Control”:

Common is touring in advance of his upcoming album, Invincible Summer. It was scheduled to drop this month, but is currently TBA. N.E.R.D. are trying to stir up some hype behind their unjustly-ignored third album, Seeing Sounds.

Hey, did you know that K.D. Lang dropped an album called Invincible Summer, too, back in 2000? Funny to see where Common gets his ideas from. Not sure if it will come out in its current iteration, though — fans tend to clown Common whenever he gets progressive, even when it’s as innocuous as jumping on the hipster-rap bandwagon.

• 9/09: Verizon Wireless, Houston, TX
• 9/10: House of Blues, Dallas, TX
• 9/11: Stubb’s, Austin, TX
• 9/13: Marquee, Phoenix, AZ
• 9/14: Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, CA
• 9/15: The Grove, Anaheim, CA
• 9/17: Stanley Park – Malkin Park, Vancouver, BC
• 9/18: Showbox, Seattle, WA
• 9/19: Cuthbert Amphitheater, Eugene, OR
• 9/20: Berkeley Community College, Berkeley, CA
• 9/21: House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV
• 9/23: Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, CO
• 9/25: Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI
• 9/27: House of Blues, Chicago, Illinois
• 9/28: The Filmore, Detroit, MI
• 9/29: Kool Haus, Toronto, ON
• 9/30: Metropolis, Montreal, ON
• 10/01: Orpheum, Boston, MA
• 10/02: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
• 10/03: North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
• 10/04: Roseland, New York City, NY
• 10/05: Columbia University, New York, NY (morning performance)
• 10/06: Ram’s Head, Baltimore, MD
• 10/08: Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA
• 10/09: Hard Rock Cafe, Orlando, FL
• 10/10: Jackie Gleason Theater, Miami Beach, FL
• 10/23: Common Grounds, Gainesville, FL
• 10/24: Jesse Auditorium, Columbia, MO

9/09-9/25, 9/28-10/04, 10/06-10/10: w/N.E.R.D.
9/27: w/Will.i.am, Talib Kweli, the Roots, Bilal, Marsha Ambrosius

Common
Finding Forever
Geffen

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Those looking for the album that elevates Common into a game-changing, epoch-making artist won’t find it in Finding Forever. True to his namesake, Common is about churning out albums that quietly impress you without dazzling you with their virtuosity. He essentially returns to the career-saving formula on Be: a few rhymes that reflect on social ills, a handful of battle raps, some love joints, and that’s it.

At a little under 50 minutes, Finding Forever makes for a compact statement that is both comforting and familiar. Kanye West returns as executive producer, and G.O.O.D. Music fam like Devo Springsteen help out on the boards. As usual, class analysis and a keen awareness of how easily one can tumble from the sidewalk to the gutter lies at the heart of Common’s lyrics. “I watched Crash and realized that we’re all survivors/No religion or race could ever describe us,” he rhymes on “Forever Begins” over a military beat and the stomping drums of a spiritual army. Why does the underclass, specifically the gangster, drug dealers, and little girls lost, figure in his vision so prominently when he clearly lives on a higher financial strata? “When I see them strugglin’ I think how I’m touchin’ them,” he rhymes on “The People.”

Finding Forever is so thematically predictable that it doesn’t have the surprising turns and sonic adventurousness that define a classic album. Remember how M.O.P. popped in out of nowhere on Kanye West’s The College Dropout? Common tries a similar tactic by adding Lily Allen’s light, fragile voice to “Drivin’ Me Wild,” a poppy and cautionary tale about loose women. But the effect isn’t the same. Nevertheless, Common knocks out twelve tracks that hit with remarkable consistency, from the poignant “U Black, Maybe,” a snapshot of talented African-Americans felled by jealous neighbors, to “So Far to Go,” where he adds new lyrics to a J Dilla love jawn first heard on the latter’s The Shining.

Many artists, particularly ones who want to veer from the snap-trap-gangsta rap styles, try to mimic the glossy, heavily orchestrated feel of Kanye West’s productions. (See Lupe Fiasco, Rhymefest, et cetera.) But Common truly knows how to rock a West beat, vocally spicing up the aspirational melodies that float above them and lyrically slamming against the earthy hip-hop drums that gird them. On “Southside,” the two trade rhymes with abandon, and Common brags, “Back in 94 they called me Chitown’s Nas/Now them niggas know I’m one of Chitown’s gods.” 14 years deep, Common has become a brand name as familiar as Kraft and Motorola, “a conscious nigga with mac like Steve Jobs.”

Last week, I posted an item about several spot dates Common will fulfill next month, a few as part of the Heineken Red Star Soul tour. Well, only several days later, it turns out that the much-beloved Chicago rapper will undertake another corporate-sponsored jaunt, too.

Some fans might remember that A Tribe Called Quest reunited last year to headline the 2K7 Sports Bounce tour with Rhymefest and Consequence in tow. This time, Common will lead the 2K8 Sports Bounce tour. According to MySpace bulletins sent out by the artists, opening acts include Q-Tip, who continues to promise that The Renaissance will come out this year; Termanology, a rising Boston MC known for mixtapes and assertions of lyrical superiority; and 88-Keys, a producer who has credits on classics like Mos Def’s Black on Both Sides, and who is prepping a solo album, The Death of Adam, for Decon Music. (September 4 update: Percee P has just been added to the tour.)

This is the third edition of the 2K Sports tour; Tribe led the 2006 version, and the Roots inaugurated it in 2005. Also, Z-Trip produced a 2K Sports-affiliated compilation, All Pro, and completed a tour for the album this summer. Which means 2K Sports really likes hip-hop, I guess.

Official details about the tour have yet to be released, but all of the artists have posted dates on their MySpace pages. Those dates, along with the rest of Common’s itinerary, are listed below. This post will be updated when official information becomes available.

• 9/04: Seldom Blues, Detroit, MI
• 9/05: Mezzanine, San Francisco, CA
• 9/06: Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA
• 9/07: Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
• 9/08: House of Blues, Anaheim, CA
• 9/09: House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV
• 9/12: Sunshine Theater, Albuquerque, NM
• 9/13: The Fillmore, Denver, CO
• 9/15: House of Blues, Dallas, TX
• 9/16: La Zona Rosa, Austin, TX
• 9/18: Opera, Atlanta, GA
• 9/19: Pageant, St. Louis, MO
• 9/20: Charter Pavilion, Chicago, IL
• 9/21: The Myth, Minneapolis, MN
• 9/22: The Rave, Milwaukee, WS
• 9/24: Kool Haus, Toronto, ON
• 9/25: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
• 9/26: Love, Washington, DC
• 9/27: Amos’ Southend Music Hall, Charlotte, NC
• 9/28: N Club, Greensboro, NC
• 9/29: House of Blues, Myrtle Beach, VA
• 9/30: House of Blues, Orlando, FL
• 10/01: Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA
• 10/03: Sonar, Baltimore, MD
• 10/05: Love, Washington, DC
• 10/06: Palladium, Worcester, MA
• 10/07: Nokia Theater, NY, NY
• 10/08: Norva, Norfolk, VA

9/04: w/Raheem DeVaughn
9/04, 9/26: w/Teedra Moses
9/07: w/Kanye West, Lily Allen (?)
9/18: w/Emily King, Jazzy Jeff
9/20: w/Joss Stone
9/22-9/25, 9/27-10/08: 2K8 Sports Bounce tour w/Q-Tip, Percee P, Termanology, 88-Keys

www.common-music.com
www.myspace.com/common

On the week of August 11, Common’s Finding Forever debuted at the top of the charts. The most impressive thing, however, wasn’t the fact that Common landed the first number one album of his decade-plus career. With movie roles, a high-profile creative partnership with Kanye West, and much critical acclaim for his work, Common was expected to do well with his latest release. Remarkably, however — and no one noted this — he may be the first rap artist in history to top the Billboard charts on his seventh album. His resiliency is a great rebuttal to the ongoing debate over hip-hop’s durability in the mainstream marketplace.

On the following week, however, Finding Forever quickly tumbled from the top to number seven on the Billboard charts. (Ironically, it was replaced by UGK’s self-titled sixth album, making for perhaps the oldest hip-hop group to achieve a number one slot.) Unfortunately, most rap stars still depend on radio hits to move major units; since nothing has yet emerged from Finding Forever, it’s doubtful (but not impossible) that Common can translate his amazing feat into massive record sales.

Meanwhile, dude is heading out on the road for several spot dates, some of which will be for the Heineken Red Star Soul tour with promising new soul artist Emily King. He’ll probably announce a more extensive run during the next several months. In the meantime, check out the dates below.

• 9/04: Seldom Blues, Detroit, MI
• 9/05: Mezzanine, San Francisco, CA
• 9/07: Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
• 9/08: House of Blues, Anaheim, CA
• 9/09: House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV
• 9/13: Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, CO
• 9/15: House of Blues, Dallas, TX
• 9/16: La Zona Rosa, Austin, TX
• 9/18: Opera, Atlanta, GA
• 9/24: Kool Haus, Toronto, ON
• 9/26: Love, Washington, DC
• 10/07: Nokia Theatre, New York, NY

9/04: w/Raheem DeVaughn
9/18: w/Emily King, Jazzy Jeff
9/26: w/Teedra Moses

www.common-music.com
www.myspace.com/common

If you’ve seen Common in the news lately — whether promoting the DVD release of his craptastic action flick Smokin’ Aces or imparting some much needed dignity on Oprah Winfrey’s hip hop “town hall meeting” — then you may have forgotten that dude actually has a new album coming out. Or maybe you did know, and he’s all over the place because that’s his way of hyping the album. Synergy…that’s how artists do it nowadays.

Common’s new album is Finding Forever, and it’s due on July 10. According to a news story on Billboard.com, the album features production from Kanye West, will.i.am, the late J Dilla and Devo Springsteen. Guests include Lily Allen (who appears on “Drivin’ Me Wild), Bilal and Dwele. “So Far to Go,” originally released on J Dilla’s 2006 album The Shining, is also slated for inclusion. The first single will be “The People.”

“I want to leave a mark on this earth,” says Common in the Billboard story. “By making music and saying what I have to say in my music is one of the ways I will exist forever.”

www.common-music.com
www.myspace.com/common