Hip-hop album of the year? Arguably Freddie Gibbs & Madlib’s recently released Bandana has emerged as the frontrunner. But their collaborative effort may just encounter some stiff competition come August 30th, when Common unveils his twelfth studio album Let Love. The aural companion to the legendary Chicago-bred emcee’s memoir Let Love Have The Last Word, the new LP features a host of impressive guests including BJ The Chicago Kid, Leon Bridges, Daniel Caesar, Jill Scott and Swizz Beatz. The latter partnered with Common on the project’s latest offering entitled “Hercules,” the follow-up to lead single “HER Love.”
“This album is inspired by the book, Let Love Have The Last Word, which gave me a path to write about things I had never written about before,” Common explains in an official statement. “It forced me to go deeper and because I opened up about so many things in the book, I was charged to go to raw, personal and spiritual places in the music. … I just took that energy and went running into my artistry without focusing on anything else. No movies, no commercials, no parties (well, I don’t do that too much anyway) and I just worked on music. So this album is the culmination of this journey, this passion and this Divine Love that I have for one of GOD's greatest gifts—MUSIC.”
Available for your viewing and listening pleasure below, the accompanying video for “Hercules” finds Common teaming up with Vince Staples and Baby Lungs to subdue would-be robbers. And be sure to catch Common on the North American legs of the Let Love tour, which kicked off last night in Denver and concludes August 29th in Kansas City, before he heads overseas to thrill European fans in September.
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