The Music Of Common & Stevie Wonder Is A Perfect Match In This Mash-Up Album (Audio)

Amerigo Gazaway is the sort of musical innovator whose work is nothing short of remarkable. He has forged a path entirely his own through ingenious mash-up projects dating back several years: 2011’s Fela Soul, featuring the works of Fela Kuti and De La Soul; 2014’s Yasiin Gaye, the marriage of Yasiin Bey/Mos Def and Marvin Gaye; and 2015’s B.B. & The Underground Kingz: The Trill Is Gone, a U.G.K. and B.B. King masterpiece. Today (August 3), the Master Masher is back with A Common Wonder – The Sixth Superstition, a brilliant pairing of Common’s Hip-Hop with Stevie Wonder’s timeless Soul.

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As explained by Amerigo, the inspiration behind A Common Wonder is in part the musical bridge that exists between the music of the Motown legend and the Chicago MC’s celebrated catalog. “Stevie Wonder’s early use of synthesizers, drum machines, and samplers, in a lot of ways, paved the way for Hip-Hop and sampling,” he explains. “Part of my motivation for this project was to highlight those contributions.” Also partly inspired by the magic that was Common’s recent collaboration with Stevie, “Black America Again,” Amerigo used this new project as a way to bring to life an “imagined recording session” between the two icons using “a slew of uncovered resources (including multitrack instrument stems, interview audio, and documentary soundbites).”

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Released via his Soul Mates Project imprint, A Common Wonder is anchored by its first single, “The Sixth Superstition,” pairing Common’s “The 6th Sense” with Wonder’s “Superstition.” Officially dropping on Tuesday (August 8), Ambrosia For Heads is giving fans an early listen to the album, as well as its second single, “Sugar by the Pound.” Heads will recognize not only Common’s “Soul by the Pound” but of course the song’s A Tribe Called Quest sample. It’s all mixed with Stevie’s “Sugar,” a sweet combination of music that’s good for the soul.

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Side One of A Common Wonder is titled Wonder It’ll All Make Sense, and Side Two Like Wonder For Chocolate. The ingenuity extends into all of the song titles, including tracks such as “I Was Made to Love H.E.R.” and “Resurrection to Higher Ground.” Heads will also hear the voices of Erykah Badu and Bobby Caldwell, as Amerigo includes some of Common’s collaborative works on the mash-up.