For a frontline rapper the practise of "staying ahead of the game" is arguably the thing requires the maximum amount of  dedication and concentration. And, 17 years into his career, Lonnie Rashid Lynn certainly qualifies as a frontline hip hop artist.

The spiritual awakenings of the ?uestlove/J Dilla assisted Like Water for Chocolate and the rocking thrust of Electric Circus powerfully illustrate his innovative drive. The Chicagoan pioneer has helped take hip hop into new, uncharted waters - while maintaining his evident charisma and a lyrical flow fresh as a mountain spring.

Around this album's release an over-excited Common hailed  it as part of "a new music", but that seems like unwarranted bravado. It's not, as some unforgiving American critics have claimed, a bad album, but in Common's canon it's certainly a lesser work, one where the emphasis is on sex rhymes and good times. Enjoyable but largely functional, rather than barrier-breaking, beats from title track vocal collaborator Pharrell Williams strengthen the feeling of an album idling in cruise control, rather than blazing down the highway.

There may be significant reasons why Universal Mind Control is largely devoid of the philosophical and sonic searching that has marked Common's best work. As his acting career has gathered pace there's been other demands on those essential elements of concentration and dedication; Kanye West had been scheduled to produce the album but had some innovation of his own to take care of on 808s and Heartbreak; and the sheer omnipresence of the Neptunes sound here - Pharrell and partner Chad Hugo produce seven of the album's ten core tracks - means that trailblazing is barely even on the agenda.

And yet, from the lovely summery joy and bounce of the Cee-Lo duet She Makes My Day to the avid statement of his artistic intent on Gladiator, the record has much to savour. The Quiet Storm synths of Inhale set the C-man up for a suitably quick-thinking lyrical barrage - and he shows superior taste in finding great chemistry with underrated Brit gal Martina Topley Bird on the electro-inflected Everywhere. Sex 4 Suga is Common at his least subtle, but don't cringe too hard - even psychedelic vegans are allowed to appreciate the joys of the flesh sometimes. And the invocation of '80s funk with Chester French on What a World is a fine retro pleasure too.

Overall, Universal Mind Control shows that staying ahead of the game need not be the be-all and end-all of a rapper's existence. Common is still a class act and, when you are one of those, simply playing the game can produce abundant rewards.