For a few years it seemed as if writing and acting put a strain on Grammy Award-winning rapper Common's musical career.

After releasing Be in 2005 and Finding Forever in 2007 - instant successes - Common began creating music that just did not resonate with his fans.

His 2008 album, Universal Mind Control, which was released after Common (real name Lonnie Lynn) had successful acting roles in Wanted and American Gangster, was a bizarre experimental mash-up of amateur electro and sex raps that alienated his hardcore fans. The album demoted him from Chicago hip-hop icon to Kanye West's older, less cool cousin.

But Common has rebounded from that disappointing album with his ninth offering, The Dreamer/The Believer. Reuniting with his long-time producer No ID, Common has returned to lacing slick rhymes and smart storytelling on 1990s hip-hop beats.

As the title suggests, the album revolves around two states of mind. Can a dream come true if you don't believe?

We are introduced to the 12-track album with the song Believer, which has an infectious uplifting melody and features US writer-poet Maya Angelou reciting a poem created exclusively for the track.

Other guest appearances include Nas on Ghetto Dreams and John Legend on the penultimate track, The Dreamer.

But the track that attracted the most attention is Sweet, on which Common flexes his battle-rhyme muscles by taking subliminal punches at Drake with lines like "soft" rappers, rhyming: "Y'all niggas man, y'all soft motherf**kers / Singing all around me man, la la la / You ain't motherf**king Frank Sinatra / Uh, lil' bitch / Sweet ass motherf**ker."

The track seems out of character for a poetic hip-hop artist of Common's stature.

But all in all, on The Dreamer/The Believer he returns triumphantly, cementing his status as one of the greatest emcees of the last two decades.