>Thanx to all those who helped make Common's 7th album his
>first #1 debut overall!
>
>(post jack, sorry LG)
>
>***PRESS RELEASE***
>
>THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN: RAP ARTIST COMMON ACHIEVES FIRST
>CAREER #1 ON BILLBOARD ALBUM CHART WITH FINDING FOREVER
>
>Santa Monica, CA August 8, 2007 – On his 7th album, Finding
>Forever, Grammy winning rap superstar Common hits the jackpot,
>scoring his first career #1 on the Billboard Album Chart.
>
>The G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen Records album scanned 155,329 in its
>first week, 32,187 more than the next best selling title.
>Common’s previous best ranking on the chart was #2 for 2005’s
>BE. Like BE, Finding Forever has fellow Chicagoan Kanye West
>in the role as executive producer. Guest artists on the album
>include West, Lily Allen, will.i.am, D’Angelo, and Gang
>Starr’s DJ Premier. Along with production by West; will.i.am
>and the late Detroit legend J. Dilla (So Far To Go) produce
>tracks.
>
>What’s extraordinary about the best selling Finding Forever is
>that it was truly the people who made Common #1. With songs
>and an album that have received critical acclaim and consumer
>interest, Common’s music has not yet penetrated mainstream
>commercial radio. Those who bought the album bought it for the
>artist and his brand, not a particular song. Very few artists
>make the connection with the public as Common does. As his
>hometown paper Chicago Tribune wrote, “Common has become the
>rarest of pop success stories: a mainstream hip-hop artist who
>projects a mature, compassionate image and thrives on
>thoughtful, soul-fired albums designed for repeated listening
>rather than short-lived singles.”
>
>Common is an anomaly, who thrives with the multi-impressions
>he gets outside the traditional hip hop avenues from his Gap
>television commercial a few months back to him being the face
>of Converse’s (Product) Red campaign to his album being
>carried at Starbucks as well as him playing and doing a very
>successful album signing at a Starbucks in Santa Monica, which
>according to the Fire Marshal drew over 1,500 people. On-line
>Common has been everywhere. Finding Forever and Common have
>been the main featured title at iTunes, and was featured with
>Verizon, to currently being Artist of the Month at Microsoft
>Windows Media, to performing for Live Sets on Yahoo! and AOL’s
>“Sixteen Bars” and the album previewed with MTV.com’s The
>Leak.
>
>In the press, which has always been with Common from his 1992
>debut Can I Borrow a Dollar? through 2000’s acclaimed Like
>Water for Chocolate and 2005’s multi-Grammy-nominated BE,
>Common is often cited as one of the best observers and
>masters of wordplay in rap history and critics believe that
>Finding Forever continues that legacy. In a stellar review XXL
>wrote: “Common makes timeless hip-hop seem easy.” Both People
>and USA Today bestowed their highest rankings on the album.
>Rolling Stone wrote, “…his ear grabbing command stands up to
>almost any MC out there.” And for the first time in his career
>Common graces the cover of the Source in their August 2007
>issue. In the last few months Billboard, Ebony, and Uptown
>magazine have put him on their cover.
>
>On top of his music success Common has recently launched a
>burgeoning acting career with roles in Smokin’ Aces with
>Jeremy Piven as well as the soon-to-be released American
>Gangster with Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington as well as
>filming both Wanted with Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman and
>The Night Watchman with Keanu Reaves and Forest Whitaker.
>
>There are very few artists who consistently deliver such
>thought provoking cutting edge material who are accepted by
>the mainstream as Common. The chart topping may have signaled
>a new era in not just hip hop but in credible music overall,
>and Common and his fans have led the charge to this era.
>