(CNN) -- The rapper Common wants to take hip-hop in a new direction, he says, and he has an unsuspecting ally -- President-elect Barack Obama. Common says he was looking for a new sound on his eighth album, "Universal Mind Control." Obama "is going to change hip-hop for the better," predicted the rapper, whose eighth album, "Universal Mind Control" (G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen), hits shelves Tuesday. "I really do believe we as hip-hop artists pick up what's going on in the world and try to reflect that," he told CNN, outlining his belief that mainstream as well as so-called "conscious" rappers -- the more socially aware -- will pick up on what he sees as the more optimistic prospects of an Obama presidency.
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Barack Obama should inspire a "more positive" message in hip-hop, Common says
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Common sat down with CNN to discuss "Universal Mind Control," his movie career
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Producers Pharrell Williams, Kanye West pushed Common lyrically, he says
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Common concedes he didn't do enough to promote his music in his early years
Not that @placeholder, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr., is altogether removed from the temptations of his hip-hop brethren.