Common Announces Plans to Drop New Mixtape

With the rapid pace of music turnover and the constant delays in between albums releases, veteran MCs are starting to embrace the benefits of the increasingly popular mixtape platform. Scarface recently announced plans to release his first mixtape after producing 11 solo albums, and now Chi-Town MC, Common will follow suit.

Common made the announcement on his Twitter page this past weekend. "Been in the studio a lot this week, releasing a mixtape soon," he wrote on Friday (March 26). "It's gonna be crazy! Keep posted for it." Common has released eight solo albums, since his 1992 debut 'Can I Borrow a Dollar?' His most recent album was 2008's 'Universal Mind Control.' In addition to the upcoming mixtape, Common is also set to release his highly-anticipated album 'The Believer,' later this year. Kanye West, No I.D. and Twilight Tone will produce the album, which has been in the works since early 2008. In October, Common explained that he planned to take it back to his roots, after experimenting with a different sound on 'Universal Mind Control.'

"The beginning of it is raw hip-hop, it's just soulful," he said. "And working with Kanye and No I.D. and Twilight Tone -- Twilight Tone and No I.D. they produced my first three albums, the majority of them. They were the first producers I worked with and Kanye is an extension of them, so for me to have those three working on my album is really going home again."

There have been no official release dates set for 'The Believer,' or Common's mixtape.