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
