Conversation so far:
what happened to Common in 1996?
Initially scheduled for an October 1996 release, Common finally released his third album, One Day It'll All Make Sense, in September 1997.
how did the album One Day It'll All Make Sense do for rapper Common?
The album, made a point of eschewing any gangsterism, was critically acclaimed and led to a major label contract with MCA Records.

Question: which year was this contract?
Self-contained rewrite: which year was the contract for rapper Common with MCA Records?