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  • "Universal Mind Control": Uncommon Common


    Less than a year after his Gold-selling, Grammy-winning “Finding Forever” album, Chicago MC Common is back with a new single and a new sound.

    “Universal Mind Control” is very obviously a Neptunes production, and finds Common and Pharrell Williams on the club tip, a sound quite atypical from the normally righteous and soulful Common.

    That said, it’s not a bad look. While it’s not at the level of, say…anything from 2005’s “Be” (his best album to date and a modern classic), it’s better than most of the songs from “Forever”, which was essentially a low-grade Xerox copy of “Be” and found the normally dexterous emcee writing and reciting some of the worst lyrics of his career. With most artists, I’d call this a shameless grab for a hit, but Common and The Neptunes have worked together several times before (when Common was significantly less well-known), and…well, you’ve gotta love any song that pays lovable homage to “Planet Rock”, right?

  • Friday Throwback: "The Boys of Summer"


    GG is headed out of town, so he entrusted me with the Throwback column this week. With Memorial Day weekend hearalding the beginning of summer, I thought it would be a good idea to post this classic video.

    A lot of people give The Eagles shit. They gave ’em shit back in the day for being a laid-back California rock/country band (and for selling a shit-ton of records), and they give ’em shit today for charging hundreds of dollars per concert ticket (and also because Don Henley and Glenn Frey seem to be complete and total douchebags). All I can say to that is…they won’t be the last assholes to make good music. I’m a huge fan of The Eagles and while I can’t say Frey even made enough good solo material to make a good Greatest Hits EP, Henley’s work is as solid as it is frequent. His solo career has consisted of: 1982 album, 1984 album, 1989 album, 1995 hits comp, 2000 album…that’s it.

    Anyway, “The Boys of Summer” is more of a reflective song than it is a “lay the blankets out and crank the radio up” kind of song. It has that END of summer, wistful feel, which I’m sure those of us who are undergoing some kind of transition-whether it be graduation or aging or whatever-can relate to. Bottom line-it’s a fantastic fucking song. That synthesizer part is one of the most recognizable parts of any song from that era-right up there with the drumbeat that opens “Billie Jean” and the sax part that opens “Careless Whisper”. Enjoy, and have a safe and enjoyable weekend.

  • More On The R. Kelly Trial

    MTV.com is keeping me updated on the R. Kelly trial. Anyone remember Sparkle? She is most remembered for a song with R. Kelly called Be Careful and according to her Wikipedia page did the most of the background vocals for Aaliyah’s Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number.

    Sparkle testified that the person in the tape with R. Kelly is her niece and as a result of the tape, her family isn’t as tight as it once was.

    According to the MTV article, Kelly’s defense lawyer Ed Genson was trying to paint Sparkle as a former employee of Kelly’s who was bitter and wanted to get him back for firing her. She claimed she left so she could work with other producers and thought she was still cool with Kelly.

    She also said that she regretted bringing her niece around Kelly and at the time, didn’t notice anything inappropriate between them.