Common gets the blues on 'The Dreamer/The Believer'

Early on in Common's "The Dreamer/The Believer," the Chicago-bred rapper goes after those he believes are "too soft" on "Sweet," targeting those he sees as putting too much of an emphasis on singing rather than rapping. Yet two tracks later, Common goes all "808s & Heartbreak" himself with "Lovin' I Lost," a Curtis Mayfield-referencing slow-jam.

"Is this our new forever?" Common asks throughout the track, wondering whether he'll be permanently alone. If Common doesn't quite sing on the dusty, soul-inspired song, he does get awfully reflective. As he reminisces about a dead relationship, he asks, "How could someone you could talk to, each and every day, that you about to marry, be on their merry way?"

"That song is like a blues song," Common said when asked about the track earlier this month. The song was one of the last written for "The Dreamer/The Believer," and Common admitted he bared his soul for it. 

Common has got it all going on

The rapper, actor and writer has a new album that's a return to his roots with 'The Dreamer/The Believer.' 

Common was trying not to crack a smile. The rapper-turned-actor-turned-author was in the midst of having his face powdered in preparation for an interview with a cable music channel. His eyes were shut, as the makeup artist had requested stillness, and he had just been asked if he'd ever made any money off album sales.

“Naw,” he said, doing his best to keep a straight face. “I never made a lot of money from album sales.”

It's not for lack of trying. Common's first album for Warner Bros., “The Dreamer/The Believer,” was released Tuesday, and it follows five albums released under various Universal Music Group brands that have collectively sold 2.9 million in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine: 10 Common Lessons

“My album sales are good,” continued Common, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr. on Chicago's South Side almost 40 years ago. “I'm not taking anything away from them. But when you sell 5 million of your albums, that's when you're seeing money. You won't make your money off of record sales. You make it off of branding and other opportunities, if you're afforded those.”

It's safe to say that Common has been. The former Gap model has multiple films in the pipeline, including a trip to Sundance for the upcoming indie film “LUV” and a role alongside Jennifer Garner in next year's “The Odd Life of Timothy Green.” He will soon have completed a starring role on the first season of AMC's post-Civil War drama “Hell on Wheels,” and he's written an autobiography, “One Day It'll All Make Sense,” and a children's book, “I Like You but I Love Me.” Somehow, amid all the above, Common found the time to return to hip-hop. The completed album, “The Dreamer/The Believer,” backs away from the studio gloss of 2008's “Universal Mind Control” and returns to his wordy, socially aware roots.

“It's an album about putting out music for the love of it, and I think that's the tone of the album,” Common said. “It's now not my only source of expression, and it's also not my only way to make a living. I do this because I love it, and I owe it to the culture that helped me live my life and gave me a voice.”

Common isn't leaving much to chance. Earlier on that late December day, the artist was getting ready for a mid-afternoon taping of Chelsea Handler's E! talk show, “Chelsea Lately.” A dressing room debate as to whether to wear a sweater or a black jacket would ultimately last longer than the interview with Handler, and Common was setting aside outfits for events that were six weeks away. When it was call time, Common gathered everyone around the dressing room for a prayer of thanks.

“There's something about his presence,” said Joe Gayton, creator, writer and executive producer of “Hell on Wheels.” “He has a dignity to him.”

Grammy countdown: Is Eminem's 'Relapse' a lock for best rap album?

Pop & Hiss will be handicapping the major Grammy categories leading up to the Jan. 31 telecast. Read our picks, and vote for your own, below.

The category: Best rap album

The field at a glance: Three of the last five years, the best rap album went to Kanye West. During the eligibility period for the 2010 awards, West drifted from his hip-hop past, offering up a collection of moody pop with "808s and Heartbreak," and thus opening up the rap album field.

But West isn't the only superstar absent from this category. Due to a one-month advance in the eligibility period from Sept. 31 to Aug. 31, Jay-Z's "The Blueprint 3" missed the window to be considered for the 2010 awards, having been released on Sept. 8. The omission of the 2010 Coachella headliner will be felt, as the album has sold more than 1.5 million copies in just four months, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

What's left, however, is a rather broad snapshot of hip-hop over 2009. Flo Rida maintained his dominance as a singles artist, as his "Right Round" featuring Ke$ha sold more than 4 million downloads throughout 2009. His album "R.O.O.T.S.," however, didn't make the same impact as its individual cuts.

Introspective rapper and perennial nominee Common went the party route with his more lighthearted "Universal Mind Control," and indie-minded artists such as Mos Def and Q-Tip are also represented in the field. Q-Tip's album, "The Renaissance," was released in late 2008 and featured him melding hip-hop and neo-soul, as well as working with an impressive group of collaborators including Norah Jones and Nelly Furtado. It should be the kind of easily approachable album Grammy voters love, but it's far from the biggest success in the category, as Eminem's first album in five years, "Relapse," rounds out the field.

Live review: Kanye West, Queen Latifah highlight 'Common & Friends' benefit show

“I’ve been to a lot of charity events, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Old-school rapper Heavy D surveyed the sold-out Hollywood Palladium crowd gathered for the second annual “Common & Friends,” a star-studded affair that featured appearances from a seemingly endless cavalcade of A-list hip-hop stars to benefit Common's Common Ground charity.

The audience had already seen a series of highlights. De La Soul opened the show with a quick, high-energy set, punctuated by a surprise appearance from masked rapper MF Doom, who ferociously ripped through his verse from “Rock Co.Kane Flow.”

Black Thought and Amir “Questlove” Thompson represented for the Roots, and Ludacris ignited concertgoers with a crowd-pleasing set that culminated with “I Do It for Hip-Hop.” The latter allowed him to introduce Nas, who appears on the recorded version (video here).

After a simmering take on “One Mic,” Nas looked on in appreciation as the night’s host, Common, proceeded to spit most of Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind” verbatim.

The crowd was also treated to an impromptu Black Star reunion, with Mos Def and Talib Kweli hitting the stage together. The two galvanized the audience with solo hits “Umi Says” and “Get By,”  respectively.

But it was Heavy D who offered up one of the most surprising highlights of the show. Among the many unbilled performers of the evening, even those too young to remember Heavy D's late '80s/early '90s hits such as “We Got Our Own Thang” and “Now That We Found Love,” responded to his showmanship and the enduring qualities of the songs.

Word had been circulating throughout the day that one Kanye West would also be among the surprise performers, a fact that Common teased the audience with briefly.

“He’s still going through some things, trying to deal with everything that’s happened because of a choice he made, so he couldn't make it tonight” Common said, obviously referencing West’s meme-generating mike grab from Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV VMAs. “But he still wanted me to send his love to everyone.”