Wiki
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Release Date
16 December 2011
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Length
12 tracks
The Dreamer/The Believer is the ninth studio album by American rapper Common. It was released in the UK on December 19, 2011, and in the US on December 20 through Warner Bros. Records alongside Common's newly launched Think Common Music Inc. Common's longtime friend and frequent collaborator, No I.D. handled the album's production entirely himself.
Recording sessions for the album began in 2009, and was originally due for a spring release, but was not completed because Common wanted to concentrate on acting. The album was scheduled for an April 2011 release but was pushed back to late 2011. The first single was "Ghetto Dreams" featuring Nas. The music video was directed by Matt Alonzo and executive produced by Leah Harmony. It was released on iTunes on July 6, 2011. In preparation for the album's release, Common spoke with The BoomBox about how the LP was taking shape and that he and No I.D. were crafting the album in a more positive direction: "It's going to be positive hip-hop. Hip-hop that can really generate good spirit, the spirit of the music and just good energy. I'm excited about the album 'The Dreamer, The Believer'. I feel blessed that I got to work with No I.D. I'm enthused to do hip-hop, which is something that I have to do when I feel it. It's the spirit and energy of hip-hop that made you just enjoy it and love the music and not feel like, 'Man, is this gonna sell?' or 'I sold this many.' It's stuff that made you feel something, it's stuff that you can use that inspired your life. I think about hip-hop like Brand Nubian and KRS-One and N.W.A and Rakim, that stuff inspired my life. Those things really shaped who I am." The Target Exclusive Edition comes with two additional tracks.
The second single off the album was "Blue Sky" which was officially made available on iTunes on October 7, 2011. The song samples "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra.
The album debuted at number eighteen on the US Billboard 200 chart, with 69,000 copies sold in its first week in the United States. As of July 2014, the album has sold 154,000 copies in the United States.
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