Common tests himself with a batch of electronic-infused beats on Universal Mind Control, as the conscious rapper calls upon The Neptunes to help push him out of his comfort zone. Pharrell and Chad channel Afrika Bambaataa’s pioneering electro-funk on the pulsating title track, and their funky licks and thumping percussion tease out a more barbed, boastful Common on “Announcement.” The more gleeful “Changes” finds the MC at his politically engaged best, as he celebrates the rise of his fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama.