Common regains edge on new CD

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Most people are excited before recording a new album, but Common didn’t particularly feel that way.

He says before making his ninth album, “The Dreamer, the Believer,” which was released Tuesday, he was at a low point musically.

“I hadn’t figured out what I was going to do, what label I was going to work with,” he said. “I wasn’t inspired.”

Common had major success with 2005’s “Be” and “Finding Forever,” which came two years later.

The albums reached gold status, and each earned multiple Grammy nominations, including a win for best rap performance by a duo or group for “Southside” with Kanye West. Both albums were mainly produced by West.

But 2008’s “Universal Mind Control,” produced by the Neptunes, was a commercial disappointment, selling only 245,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan; the CD, however, did earn a Grammy nomination for best rap album.

But Common parted ways with Universal Music, where he’s released five of his nine albums.

Now, on Warner Bros., the rapper said he’s got his mojo back, thanks to producer No I.D.