Maps of Music

Electric Circus (2002)

Where the lyrics of Electric Circus take you, and where it was really made.

Critics praised the album's ambition, yet it sold under 300,000 copies and MCA halted promotion soon after its release.

Key places

Recorded at Electric Lady Studios (2002)

Recording site Electric Lady Studios — Questlove said the recording atmosphere at Electric Lady Studios, built by Jimi Hendrix, mattered more to the album than Common's relationship with Erykah Badu. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Electric Circus: fifth studio album by American rapper Common
• Released December 10, 2002, on the now-defunct MCA Records
• Second and last album Common made for MCA
• Blends hip-hop with pop, rock, electronic and neo soul
• Lead single 'Come Close' features Mary J. Blige
• Sold under 300,000 copies, fewer than his previous album
• Label merged into Geffen Records about a year later

Background

• Common said his motivation came from other genres, such as Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix
• The album was highly anticipated and praised for its ambitious vision
• Collaborators include Mary J. Blige, The Neptunes, Lætitia Sadier, CeeLo Green, J Dilla, Bilal and Jill Scott
• Follows the earlier album Like Water for Chocolate

Recording

• Recorded with Electric Lady Studios, built by Jimi Hendrix, as a key influence
• Executive producer Questlove credited the studio atmosphere as the greater influence
• Erykah Badu duets on 'Jimi Was A Rock Star', a dedication to Hendrix
• That song is Common's first all-singing performance

Cover

• Cover appears to nod to A Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders and The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
• Photos show 87 people, a mix of famous figures, friends and family

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Lonnie Rashid Lynn, born March 13, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois.
• Began rapping in the late 1980s at Luther High School South in Chicago.
• Formed the rap trio C.D.R., which dissolved by 1991.
• Debuted as a solo artist in 1992 under the name Common Sense, later shortened to Common after a lawsuit from a reggae band of the same name.

Career

• Released Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992), Resurrection (1994), and One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997) on Relativity Records and then MCA Records.
• Gained mainstream success through the Soulquarians collective, especially with Like Water for Chocolate (2000), produced largely by J Dilla.
• Electric Circus (2002) was experimental and less commercially successful.
• Signed to Kanye West's GOOD Music; Be (2005) and Finding Forever (2007) followed, with Finding Forever debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
• Won Grammys for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Southside" and Best R&B Song for "Love of My Life" with Erykah Badu.
• Later albums The Dreamer/The Believer (2011), Nobody's Smiling (2014), Black America Again (2016), and A Beautiful Revolution Pts. 1 and 2 (2020–2021).
• Won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Glory" from Selma (2014) with John Legend.
• Acting career includes Hell on Wheels, Wanted, Date Night, John Wick: Chapter 2, and Silo.
• Won a Primetime Emmy for "Letter to the Free" from the documentary 13th.
• Made his Broadway debut in Between Riverside and Crazy (2023).

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics anticipated the album and praised its ambitious vision
• Some critics felt the experimental approach strayed from Common's earlier sound
• Stylus Magazine: Nick Southall gave a D+ in a 2003 review
• PopMatters: all ten stars, describing it as pushing past the accepted boundaries of contemporary black pop
• Playlouder: four stars out of five, calling it a brilliant, visionary album
• Rolling Stone: three stars out of five, seeing it as breaking hip-hop rules
• The Independent: favorable review
• The Village Voice: average review
• RapReviews: 7 out of 10
• Ink Blot Magazine: Matt Cibula called it his favorite record of 2002

Reappraisal

• Pitchfork described it as providing groundwork for black popular music
• Patrick Corcoran named it one of two albums showing hip-hop had no limits
• Record Collector chose it for its 70 Landmark Albums of the Last 70 Years

Records

• Debuted at number 47 on the Billboard 200, 31 spots below Like Water for Chocolate's peak
• Only single was Come Close; the album quickly left the charts
• Sold only 295,000 copies, per 2005 Nielsen SoundScan statistics

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Common worked with a large and eclectic number of musicians on the album.
• Questlove, the executive producer, said the Electric Lady Studios atmosphere mattered more than Common's relationship with Erykah Badu.
• The cover nods to Midnight Marauders and Sgt. Pepper's, and shows 87 people.
• Common's father, Lonnie Lynn, closes the 10-minute-plus Heaven Somewhere with an introspective look at his ideal place.
• Between Me, You & Liberation covers themes considered wholly unusual for a rap song at its release.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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