Common Ditches Kanye West For New Sound On Upcoming CD

Chicago emcee Common is opting for a new electro sound for his eighth studio album, Invincible Summer, and will do so without the help of Kanye West.

West, who was at the forefront of Com's Gold selling albums Be and Finding Forever, did not contribute any of the beats for Invincible Summer. According to Billboard, this time around Com enlisted the help of The Neptunes and OutKast producer Mr. DJ.

"Kanye was focusing on his 'Glow in the Dark' show, so he hasn't been able to make it to the studio to weigh in," Common, who is signed to West's G.O.O.D. Music imprint, told Billboard. "But it worked out well, organically. The Neptunes & Mr. DJ came up with a fresh sound for me."

Cee-Lo and The Neptunes' pop group, Chester French, also appear on the album, as does singer-MC Santogold who Common says is "one of my favorite artists right now."

As for the inspiration for the album, Common said, "I created this music for the summer time, it's about feeling good. This is the type of music I felt was missing from my body of work."

In related news, Common will appear in the summer film "Wanted," which debuts on June 27th and co-stars James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman.