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Rap Grammy predictions

The 411 Online has kept a record of every rap Grammy ever awarded, but we've never tried predicting who would win before. That changes now. It's not easy getting into the warped mind of the Grammy voters, who often overvalue pop artists, fall in love with creating repeat winners or just generally have no clue.

Here are our predictions (in bold):

Best Rap Solo Performance
"Best I Ever Had," Drake
"Beautiful," Eminem
"D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)," Jay-Z*^
"Day 'N' Nite," Kid Cudi
"Casa Bey," Mos Def

Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group
"Too Many Rappers," Beastie Boys & Nas*
"Crack A Bottle," Eminem, Dr. Dre & 50 Cent^
"Money Goes, Honey Stay," Fabolous & Jay-Z
"Make Her Say," Kid Cudi, Kanye West & Common
"Amazing," Kanye West & Young Jeezy

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
"Ego," Beyoncé & Kanye West
"Knock You Down," Keri Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo
"Run This Town," Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West*^
"I'm On A Boat," The Lonely Island & T-Pain
"Dead And Gone," T.I. & Justin Timberlake

Best Rap Song
"Best I Ever Had," Drake
"Day 'N' Nite," Kid Cudi
"Dead And Gone," T.I. & Justin Timberlake
"D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)," Jay-Z*
"Run This Town," Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West^

Best Rap Album
Universal Mind Control, Common
Relapse, Eminem^
R.O.O.T.S., Flo Rida
The Ecstatic, Mos Def
The Renaissance, Q-Tip*

*-who we'd pick, given the choices
^-actual winner

More: Every Rap Grammy from 1989-present

Common unearths classic De La Soul video

Common posted this video used to promote De La Soul's first album, 3 Feet High and Rising, on his blog.

The video, which was posted on YouTube in 2006, includes the trio explaining the meaning behind their names, classic interviews with DMC, KRS-One and DJ Red Alert, as well as placards reminiscent of the "Me Myself & I" video. Toward the end, Big Daddy Kane says, "I think they're gonna be around for a while." Indeed.

Common simply posted "This is DOOOOOPE!" along with the video. Who are we to disagree? Make the connection:

And a bonus:

De La Soul - Me Myself and I
Uploaded by hushhush112 - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Common album debuts at No. 12

The critics have spoken and now the fans have as well. But the conversation isn't necessarily over. After two successful albums -- critically and commercially -- Common's Universal Mind Control debuted with a disappointing 81,000 units moved.

That's almost half as many as last year's Finding Forever sold and more than 100,000 less than Be did in its first week. And UMC's chart position of 12th was 11 behind Forever, which was the first No. 1 album of his career. Common's past two albums went gold, but this one will need to pick up some steam to reach that status.

Elsewhere, Kanye West stayed put at No. 4 with nearly 127,000 sales of the already gold 808s and Heartbreak.

Hip-hop album covers in Lego

Ever wondered what your favorite hip-hop albums would look like if they were portrayed by those little, yellow Lego men you played with as a kid? No? Me neither. But then again, I never envisioned Star Wars and Indiana Jones characters in that shade either, playing video games no less.

But you've gotta see what Format has done with some of hip-hop's classic albums. From Common and Run DMC to EPMD and Dr. Dre, to De La Soul and Gang Starr, they've got them all. Some work better than others, but all are worth a look. (Found via Cool Hunting)

Review: COMMON, Universal Mind Control

The late MC Breed told The 411 Online in 1995 that after a successful album, he celebrated by taking risks on the next one. If the public rejected it, he'd go back to the tried-and-true and hope to "open their minds" again on the one after that. It seems Common yearns to do the same thing. Electric Circus was proof of that. Common rallied from that setback and reached the peak of his career so far by teaming up with fellow Chicagoan Kanye West on the next two albums, with one unanimous classic and one split decision. But even if all critics don't agree with our high assessment of Finding Forever, it still was his first No. 1 album. So maybe Common should have kept the Kanye formula for one more album.

Instead, he enlists the Neptunes, who make their presence known right away on the Afrika Bambaataa-influenced title track. In that respect it fits right in with Kanye's effort to bring the '80s back. And it appears we might have a movement. But not so fast. Common's got sex on the brain, as evidenced by the escapade outlined on the next track, "Punch Drunk Love." (Is Serena to blame?) After all of the slow jams that closed his last album, it should come as no surprise that it led to all this fornication. But it's a little jarring coming from Common, especially when he's stomping all over the song that made him on "Announcement" ("I still love her, she's just eatin' a d--- / when it come to hip-hop it's just me and my b----") or whispering the chorus of "Sex 4 Suga" like the Ying Yang Twins. Along the same lines, "Make My Day" sounded a lot like Gnarls Barkley, but thankfully it's because the actual Cee-Lo is in the house. That doesn't save lyrics like "her ass cracked a smile," though.

We wanted to give Common the benefit of the doubt, so we delayed our review, especially after he responded to early critics by saying it was a "fun" album and that he'd give it an "11 out of 10." But no, we're not missing something. We won't be giving this much time outside of a few tracks -- "Universal Mind Control" and perhaps "Changes" and "Inhale," which seemed to bring the album back to life late before getting derailed again by another twist of the '80s. On "What A World," a retro rock hook is supplemented by a really basic, almost Sugar Hill Gang rhyme scheme. Then "Everywhere" closes the disc with what feels like '80s pop. If only they had stuck with Common's commercial co-star and his "Planet Rock," he and the Neptunes might have delivered a decent concept album, but it just isn't working as it is. Hopefully, Common can forgive us for joining the chorus or criticism. After all, we've been good to him. Click here to find out how to buy this album.

-- Mason Storm

Around the Way
allmusic: 2.5
Entertainment Weekly: C
HipHopDX: 2.5
Rolling Stone: 3

Common responds to album's critics

Last week, HipHopDX made an issue out of the fact that Chicago music critics did not support hometown star Common's newest effort, Universal Mind Control. They then proceeded to give the album a rating of 2 (out of 5). So what gives? Are Chicago-based critics supposed to give some sort of home-field advantage? Common said himself that "if I don't like it, I don't like it. It don't mean that I'm hatin'." Sometimes an album just doesn't work. Chicago critics are not alone on this one.

But now Common has a different message for his critics, which, truth be told, includes The 411 Online for the first time in a while: "After listening to this album extensively and really assessing it and just listening to the songs and seeing how I really thought about it, I would say I'd have to give this album an A-plus. A 10 -- really an 11 -- on a scale of 1 to 10. Five stars if I was Rolling Stone, XXL if I was XXL." And no doubt a $50 if he was The 411. But he's already got a few of those, so he shouldn't get too upset that this one didn't reach that standard. The people will have the last word.

Common archive 1994-2008

The following news, reviews and interviews were published in The 411 between 1994 and 2008:

Common News Common No. 1 for first time Common's 'Finding Forever' gets release date Ludacris wins best rap album, song at Grammys Common launches hat line, stars in 'Aces' Common, RZA join T.I. in film Kanye sounds off on Lollapalooza Kanye, Common highlight Lollapalooza A Tribe Called Quest reunion is on See Cee-Lo at Lollapalooza Kanye, Common added to Lollapalooza Common blows away Windy City Common wants Kanye, Dre R. Kelly leads Soul Train nominations Nelly, Eminem share Grammy nomination lead Hip-hop invades television Dr. Dre leads Grammy nominations Common & The Roots plan tour Mos Def, Common in new film DJ Quik will perform at UrbanFest L.A. Common releases web-only video Goodie Mob's Cee-Lo gets hitched Common launches new web site Q-Tip, Common might tour with D'Angelo Common's "Sixth Sense" Hip-hop invades Cuba Jazzy Jeff goes back to the lab The 411 honors Common The 411's Best of 2005 The 411's Best of 2000 The 411's Best of 1995 The 411's Best of 1994 Reviews COMMON, Universal Mind Control COMMON, Finding Forever COMMON, Be COMMON, Like Water for Chocolate Interviews COMMON SENSE, August 1995

Discography 1992 Common Sense Can I Borrow a Dollar? Listen to samples Buy the album 1994 Common Sense Ressurection Listen to samples Buy the album 1997 Common One Day It'll All Make Sense Listen to samples Buy the album 2000 Common Like Water for Chocolate Listen to samples Buy the album 2003 Common Electric Circus Listen to samples Buy the album 2005 Common Be Listen to samples Buy the album 2007 Common Finding Forever Listen to samples Buy the album 2008 Common Universal Mind Control Listen to samples Buy the album