Chi-Town emcee Common is gearing up for the release of his eighth studio album, 'Invincible Summer,' which is due this July. "I created this music for the summer time, it's about feeling good," Common said when explaining the inspiration for his upcoming album. "This is the type of music I felt was missing from my body of work."

Straying from the neo-soul meets old school hip hop flow, 'Invincible Summer' is leaning toward an electro-rap sound (think Gnarls Barkley) thanks to production by the Neptunes and Mr. DJ, and guests Cee-Lo and pop group Chester French. The rapper is also waiting on a verse from indie-scene singer/rapper Santogold. The album's expected first single, 'Universal Mind Control (U.M.C.)' is due to hit radio in the coming weeks.