Remain constant and serve your core audience, or consistently elevate and risk alienating your core audience? That is the question every time out. In Hip-Hop if you don’t evolve you might as well fall back and fade to black. Kanye sang on an entire album and you listened to it. Probably more than once. Common has put out some of the best music of his life in this decade and his latest Universal Mind Control is another giant leap. The title track is a sick introduction to the project with a spaced out Neptunes beat that Common blesses with a back in the day flow. Pharrell and Chad serve as the conductors on this go round and nothing sounds out of place. Com smashes the beat so hard on Punch Drunk Love, it's like he's making sure he's still on your top ten emcees list. Sex 4 Suga is on an entirely different level and stands alone. Skateboard P and his co-D cook up one of them "once in a blue moon" Neptunes heaters and Common continues his old school cool, splashing rhymes like early Jungle Brothers jams. From the first strum of Announcement, you just know ya boy is gonna flip Biggie’s flow from Unbelievable. Com and P volley back and forth with such ease on this sincere tribute, spittin' some of B.I.G.’s highlight lyrics. Being eight albums deep is something that most emcees will never accomplish, especially given the current state of music, but things look bright here. Known for introspective, laid back tracks, Chi Town’s older brother doesn’t disappoint with the insightful Changes. This one really speaks for itself, “Life is in front of you…no need to look back again/ victory can be claimed while you still battlin'.” Universal Mind Control is definitely aiming to set itself apart from Be and Finding Forever. Lyrically the vibe is completely retro, and with the Neps on all but three cuts, the soundscape is coehesive. At this stage of the game Common doesn’t care what you think, he is just out to make timeless music.