I Used to Love H.E.R.

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"I Used to Love H.E.R."
Single by Common
from the album Resurrection
B-side "Communism"
Released August 23, 1994
Format 12-inch single, Vinyl
Recorded 1993
Genre Chicago hip hop, jazz rap, alternative hip hop, Rap
Length 4:39
Label Relativity Records
Writer(s) Common
Producer No I.D.
Common singles chronology
"Soul by the Pound"
(1993)		 "I Used to Love H.E.R."
(1994)		 "Resurrection"
(1995)

"I Used to Love H.E.R." is a hip hop song by the Chicago-born rapper Common. Released on the 1994 album Resurrection, "I Used to Love H.E.R." has since become one of Common's best known songs. Produced by No I.D., its jazzy beat samples "The Changing World" by George Benson. A video directed by Chris Halliburton was made for this song. The song is also found on Common's greatest hits album, Thisisme Then.

Contents

[edit] Overview

[edit] Content

The song uses an extended metaphor, using a woman to represent hip hop music. The acronym H.E.R. stands for "Hip Hop in its Essence is Real."[citation needed] It is also believed that it means Hearing Every Rhyme, therefore possibly stating "I Used to Love Hearing Every Rhyme."[1]

The song criticizes the direction that hip hop music was taking during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It specifically refers to the fall of conscious and Afrocentric rap; as well as the rising popularity of West Coast hip hop and G-funk. In the song, Common makes an analogy comparing the degradation of a woman with the deterioration of hip hop music after its commercial success forced it into the mainstream. This criticism ignited a feud with West Coast rapper Ice Cube, and helped fuel the growing animosity towards the West Coast hip hop scene during the early stages of the East Coast-West Coast rivalry despite Common hailing from the Mid-West.

[edit] Acclaim

It is often regarded as one of the greatest hip hop recordings ever.[2][3][4] Tiffany Hamilton of AllHipHop.com describes it as a "timeless ode to Hip-Hop [...] that established Common as one of the pioneers in conscious Hip-Hop."[5] Vukile Simelane of RapReviews.com claims it to have one of the "fattest beat[s] ever constructed".[6] Alex Henderson of Allmusic considers it to be the standout track on Resurrection.[7] Mark Anthony Neal of PopMatters considers it to be Common's best single ever.[8] Andrea Duncan-Mao of XXL considers it to be a "bittersweet ode to hip-hop" and a "classic" track.[9] Pitchfork Media's Ryan Dombal considers it to be a "classic hip-hop parable".[9] In 2008, it was ranked number 69 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.It was ranked #1 on About.com's Greatest Rap Songs Of All Time.

[edit] Significance

  • In 1999, "I Used to Love H.E.R." was featured on the Chuck D hosted compilation album Louder Than a Bomb.
  • In 2005, Jin released a single named "Top 5 (Dead or Alive)", where he mentions Common and the song :"Trying to figure out the fly chick I discovered... At the same time Common said he used to love her".

[edit] Remixes

  • Jazz band Vitamin Jazz covered "I Used to Love H.E.R." on their 2006 album Commonication: The Smooth Jazz Sessions to the Music of Common.
  • American rapper Sivion also made a song named "I Still Love H.E.R." for his 2006 album Spring of the Songbird.
  • Chinese hip hop group TriPoets wrote a song named "Used to Love Her" which alludes to "I Used to Love H.E.R.".

[edit] Music video

The video was filmed in August 1994 and released later that year. It shows clips of Common's home of Southside Chicago and a woman, who is obviously the main subject of the video because of the extended metaphor. It shows how she "became a gangster" when this woman is seen with two other ghetto-looking women in allusion to the rise of gangsta rap.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] A-side

  1. "I Used to Love H.E.R." (4:29)
  2. "I Used to Love H.E.R. (Instrumental)" (4:43)
  3. "I Used to Love H.E.R. (Acapella)"

[edit] B-side

  1. "Communism (2:16)"
  2. "Communism (Instrumental)" (2:39)
  3. "Communism (Acapella)"

[edit] Chart positions

Chart (1994) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 91
U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Singles 31

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Abbreviations and acronyms from Acronym Finder: What Does Her Stand For?". http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?acronym=HER. Retrieved November 13, 2007. 
  2. ^ "100 Greatest Rap Songs at About.com". http://rap.about.com/od/top10songs/ss/Top100RapSongs_10.htm. Retrieved March 25, 2007. 
  3. ^ "Top 100 Greatest Hip-Hop/Rap Singles of All Time at Top40-Charts.com". http://top40-charts.com/features/top100_greatest_hiphop2.php. Retrieved March 25, 2007. 
  4. ^ "The Source's 100 Best Rap Singles at Rocklist.net". http://www.rocklist.net/source.htm. Retrieved March 25, 2007. 
  5. ^ Hamilton, Tiffany. "AllHipHop Feature - Common: Invocation". http://allhiphop.com/features/?ID=1083. Retrieved April 22, 2007. 
  6. ^ Simelane, Vukile. "Resurrection Review at RapReveiws.com". http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/BTTL_resurrection.html. Retrieved March 25, 2007. 
  7. ^ Henderson, Alex. "Resurrection Review at Allmusic". http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:it4uak6khm3m. Retrieved March 25, 2007. 
  8. ^ Neal, Mark Anthony. "Like Water for Chocolate Review at PopMatters.com". http://www.popmatters.com/columns/criticalnoire/000505.shtml. Retrieved April 27, 2007. 
  9. ^ a b Duncan-Mao, Andrea. "XXL Magazine Features: Common". http://xxlmag.com/Features/2005/june/common/index.html. Retrieved May 24, 2007. 

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Common
Studio albums
Compilations
Singles
Guest singles
"Confusion" · "Respiration" · "Jam" · "Hurricane" · "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)" · "Where I'm Going" · "Wouldn't You Like to Ride" · "SupaStar" · "Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now" · "Make Her Say"
Films
Related articles
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