No ID: Common's 'Pushing The Envelope Further' With 'The Believer'

While Common’s Universal Mind Control LP may have gained him some new pop-locking party people as fans, the MC isn’t standing around on the same old dance floor.

“With this record we’re trying to push the envelope a little farther,” says legendary Chicago producer No ID, who’s sharing production duties with Kanye West for Common’s upcoming The Believer album. “It has the potential to be one of Common’s biggest records.”

According to No ID, who last extensively worked with Com on 1994’s Resurrection, the artists are looking to bring Com back to a vintage boom-bap sound with a twist. “We’re still thinking of who to throw into the mix to add a different element to it,” No ID told VIBE, “but at the same time keeping Common true to his form.”

Don’t expect a mixtape-length guest list, though. Common says he’s using his features spots sparingly.

“When someone goes to buy an artist’s record, you want to hit them with some good collaborations, but you don’t want to hear an entire album with everybody else,” the actor/rapper said following a film screening of his new love-and-basketball twist, Just Wright. “Me, No ID, Twilite Tone and Kanye can come up with a pure sound that could fulfill the album.”

No ID, who fell to The Alchemist in the first round of VIBE’s Greatest Hip-Hop Producer Of All-Time Tournament, says they’re planning to drop the first single this summer. The beatsmith is also working closely on the as-yet-untitled debut of J. Cole, VIBE.com's first-ever cover subject.

Common's ninth album, The Believer, is slated for a late fall release. —Emmanuel Ureña