Upon news of Barack Obama’s Presidential victory, Grammy winning hip-hop artist, actor, and children’s book author Common decided to leak the song “Changes” early off his upcoming album “Universal Mind Control,” which is set for release on December 9th, 2008. The song, which features singer Muhsinah Abdul-Karim as well as a special spoken word appearance by his daughter Omoye, is about this redefining moment in our country and the world.

“I wrote this song to inspire the young world to believe that change can happen. To be honest, I also envisioned it as a great inaugural song for Barack Obama,” said Common from his hometown of Chicago.

Common has always been vocal about his support of Barack Obama and was even the first hip-hop artist to name check him in a song almost four years ago. Hopeful about Obama’s chances of a victory, Common was inspired to pen “Changes” during the campaign, but when hope became a reality, he was moved to leak the song ahead of schedule.