New Common Album Tastes Nothing Like Chocolate,
?uestlove Says
09.18.2001 7:56 AM EDT



Despite the critical and
commercial success of Like
Water for Chocolate, Common is
going in a completely different
direction with his follow-up
project, according to the
Chicago MC's good friend and
frequent collaborator Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson.

" is called Electric Circus," said ?uestlove, who laid
down tracks for the LP and is one of the project's executive
producers. " Dark Side of the Moon
plus Ziggy Stardust plus Prince Paul in a blender.
He is breaking every rule known to man."

Common hasn't completely turned a deaf ear on the age-old
adage "If ain't broke don't fix it." ?uestlove said that as he did
on Like Water for Chocolate, Common is calling on fellow
members of the Soulquarians clique, such as singers Erykah
Badu and Bilal and producers Jay Dee and James Poyser, to join
him on Electric Circus. English dance artist Omar will also be a
part of the lineup this time around.

"The usual suspects ," ?uest said. "But
we're doing stuff we normally wouldn't do. I know
doesn't want to do an album that sounds like his last album. ...
We have songs that defy form, defy time, defy melodic structure.
This is his version of ... I won't say On the Corner by Miles Davis,
but it's gonna be controversial. A lot of his die-hard people are
going to be thrown off. But at the end of the day he makes
music for him."

?uestlove said Common won't be dropping his LP until close to
the middle of next year despite being just a few songs away
from completion. He cited the hefty competition of the
fourth-quarter release schedule and the need for proper setup
time as the reasons for the delay.

A spokesperson at MCA, Common and ?uestlove's label, could
not be reached.

—Shaheem Reid

can't wait. like the new title. sounds great.

--
"Maybe this world is another planet's hell" -- Aldous Huxley