Common

Jan 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Ken Micallef

ACTIVIST, PEACEMAKER, RAPPER AND ACTOR COMMON AND PRODUCER MR. DJ TAKE A POSITIVE POSITION IN THE MIDST OF AN ECONOMIC DOWNTURN, CREATING MUSICAL THERAPY WITH UNIVERSAL MIND CONTROL

If you've read George Orwell's classic 1984 and its tale of a futuristic world controlled by the neuro/physical/mental omnipotence of “Big Brother,” then you know its chilling language lexicon represented by the phrases “newspeak,” “doublethink” and “thoughtcrime.” So when the peace- and love-espousing Chicago rapper Common issues an album titled Universal Mind Control (G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen Records, 2008), explanations are in order.

“Universal Mind Control is just about creating the music,” Common says. “If you want the people to dance, then you make music so they can dance. If you want them to jump, then the music has to create that feeling. So it's really just about creating what you want in the music.”

Are listeners simply sheep to be led like automatons? Simply crank the bpms and they dance; process a sample and they jump?

“I want the people to let go to the music,” Common (born Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr.) clarifies. “It's a dark time now. Friends tell me what they're going through. Look at what's happening in the world. People are suffering in many ways. I want to offer fresh air and light during the darkness. The only way to accomplish that with my music is to give them something new and fresh. That's my therapy for this time.”

Produced by Mr. DJ (aka David Sheats of production team Earthtone III [along with Outkast's Big Boi and Andre 3000]) and Pharrell Williams (The Neptunes), Universal Mind Control summarizes Common's career to date, referencing hip-hop, both old-school and futuristic, à la Like Water for Chocolate (MCA, 2000) meets Electric Circus (MCA, 2002).

“The goal was to do something that sounded like nothing we have ever heard before,” Common declares. “It wasn't just about using electronic instruments; The Neptunes have done that before, and I've done that on Electric Circus. It was about creating a sound that felt new. That was natural for Pharrell and Mr. DJ and I. Mr. DJ produced Outkast's ‘Bombs Over Baghdad’; that was the future at that point. The Neptunes' sound is always Star Trek. I said, ‘Let's take this even somewhere else that none of us have been to.’ I wanted my [vocal] sound to be more round and bigger-sounding and crisp. The Sony C800G microphone really channeled the energy I wanted — the bright, crisp, present sound I was looking for.”

TAKE ONE…TWO…20

Befitting the roving man of mystery that is Common — rapper, PETA/AIDS activist and actor (he plays Barnes in the forthcoming Terminator Salvation) — Universal Mind Control was recorded in multiple studios. Mr. DJ recorded basic tracks at his Camp David Studio and Outkast's Stankonia Recording in Atlanta. Meanwhile, Common recorded vocals at Electric Lady (New York), CRC (Chicago Recording Company), Nelly's Derrty Entertainment (St. Louis), Record Plant (L.A.) and South Beach Studios (Miami).

Typically, Common records 20 takes per track. “What I look for in all those takes is a feeling and a certain truth,” Common states. “When the truth is in a take, the A&R man, the producer and I all know that is the take. And I'm checking my tone and energy, and how I sound rhythmically and that I enunciate the words the way I wanted to.

“I write songs in my head; I don't write them down,” he continues. “I sing and work them out while I am driving my Range Rover. When I rap to the music, I usually get into a certain rhythm and pattern. I always want to accomplish that in the studio. I had to meet the place I found in my truck.”

Common cut UMC's initial vocals at Electric Lady, but he's particularly fond of South Beach's vocal booth, with its large picture window providing a view of the outside world with “the sun coming through,” he says. “It helps me get into the zone of the song.” But Common tries to avoid punching in to achieve the perfect vocal performance — he prefers to get it right in one take.

“I prefer an entire live take because I come from the 2-inch world,” Common says. “Not that we don't punch-in, but there is something about that live take. When you perform it live, all that raw emotion is there. There have been songs where I punched due to the tempo. For this album, we went for faster tempos and I tried writing in different ways.”

While Common isn't generally the person behind the faders, he has learned from the many producers he has worked with over the years and knows how to have it his way. “I definitely let [the engineers] know what I like in my voice,” he insists. “I like the mids and highs pushed; I like that crispness. Without knowing technically how it works, I always look for that sizzle. I keep the mic on the stand with the popper-stopper on front of it. My tone comes mostly from my chest and throat. I would like to do it more from the stomach. That gives you power so you don't abuse your vocal chords. I probably rap more from my stomach for live shows than during recording. I keep the tools shining by drinking tea before the show. I think that is cool for a rapper to say!” [Laughs.]

INSIDE THE CAMP

Majordomo behind Camp David Records and Dungeon Ratz Productions, Mr. DJ cut his teeth as Outkast's live DJ before producing such classic tracks as “Ms. Jackson,” “Bombs Over Baghdad” and “Da Art of Storytellin'.” He produced Universal Mind Control's “Everywhere,” “Changes” and “Make My Day” (featuring Cee-Lo). Speaking from the gated Atlanta mansion that houses his studio and business, Mr. DJ explains his contributions to UMC.

“Most of my tracks were completed before Common began recording so he could drive and listen,” he says. “I would add live instruments to the mix afterward. When I do a track, there will be some live elements before the vocals, but it's just a skeleton to hear the melodies. I do the bulk of the live instruments post-vocal so I can add sounds that accentuate the vocal and the words.”

Mr. DJ samples kicks, hi-hats and snare drums from his 6,000-plus-piece vinyl collection, blended with MPC3000 grooves and Reason or Logic sweeteners.

“I program sampled drums as if they are a live set, then get a real drummer to play the exact thing that I've programmed,” Mr. DJ illustrates. “I mix the two together in Pro Tools for that real live feel. When you do tom overdubs and hi-hat fills, nothing sounds better than a real kit. I put live drums on ‘Make My Day,’ and I actually used a marching bass drum on ‘Changes.’ I put it behind the regular kick, just turned down.”

When sampling from vinyl, it's a combination of old-school sampler and old-school vinyl that best suits him. “I use the MPC3000 because it has a grittier sound than the newer MPCs,” he says. “I usually get my drums from old '70s records; they sound grittier coming from vinyl. Everybody has computers now, so all of the sounds are crispy and bright. But they don't have the texture that sounds from records have.”

Mr. DJ also enhances his sampled beats with software-based samples, a trick he learned from his early Outkast days. “When I finish the beat, I open up Reason or Logic and take a couple hi-hats and some brighter drums and add to what I already have just so it sonically competes with everything on the radio. Back in the day, we would listen to Outkast music on the radio compared to other producers' music, and it wasn't that their music was better, but sonically it sounded better. So I layer my drums to make them sound good.”

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