Common Sense or currently known as Common was born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr was on March 13, 1972 in Chicago, Illinois. He is an African-American hip-hop artist and actor and is widely and mostly known for his positive and clean hip-hop style. He has been in the industry for 18 years and has received many awards for his work. One of Common’s biggest hits is “I used to love H.E.R” from the cd Resurrection. This song not only became a hit single but also started a feud with West Coast Rapper Ice Cube because his words spoke so much truth.
“I used to love H.E.R” is basically a song that personifies hip-hop and compares the degradation of a woman with the deterioration of hip hop music after its commercial success forced it into the mainstream. The song criticizes the direction that hip hop music was taking during the mid-1990s. It specifically refers to the fall of Afrocentric rap and the rising popularity of West Coast hip hop. I researched the acronym for H.E.R and it can stand of either of the following: "Hearing every rhyme", therefore stating "I Used to
Love Hearing Every Rhyme and also Hip Hop in its Essence is Real."
Love Hearing Every Rhyme and also Hip Hop in its Essence is Real."
I want to first point out the part where he says,
“Talkin' about popping glocks serving rocks and hitting switches
Now she’s a gangsta rolling with gangsta bitches
Always smokin’ blunts and getting drunk
Telling me sad stories, now she only fucks with the funk
Stressing how hard core and real she is
She was really the realest before she got into show-biz..”
Now she’s a gangsta rolling with gangsta bitches
Always smokin’ blunts and getting drunk
Telling me sad stories, now she only fucks with the funk
Stressing how hard core and real she is
She was really the realest before she got into show-biz..”
He is talking about how now artists feel the need to feel tough and they stress how "gangster" and "hood" they are in every track, yet hip-hop was at its realest before it became a major trend. This is part of the song is what the west coast rappers had a problem with. They felt Common was degrading their rap style. And this is exactly what he was doing. He felt the materialistic things the West Coast rappers rapped about wasn’t real like hip-hop.
“
I did her, not just to say that I did it
But I'm committed, but so many niggaz hit it
That she's just not the same lettin all these groupies do her
I see niggaz slammin her, and takin her to the sewer"..
This is Common’s way of saying he made a commitment to hip-hop, how he stuck with it, grew with it, but never forgot his roots while he was growing. He grew with hip hop while preserving the realness of hip hop, while the other rappers came and deteriorated hip-hop with commercialism.
This song is featured in the movie Brown Sugar. This movie also personifies hip-hop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxbF7T9FzEU&feature=relmfu
Questions:
1. Has hip-hop been deteriorated?
2. Why is the "westernized" way of hip-hop more appealing to the 21th century?
3. Has everyone accepted the west coast style of hip-hop over the "real" hip-hop?
Suggestions:
1.Talib Kweli
2.Mos Def
3.The Roots
1. Has hip-hop been deteriorated?
2. Why is the "westernized" way of hip-hop more appealing to the 21th century?
3. Has everyone accepted the west coast style of hip-hop over the "real" hip-hop?
Suggestions:
1.Talib Kweli
2.Mos Def
3.The Roots
Just like most people in class said, I do not believe that hip hop has deteriorized at all. It is changing just like every other style of music has changed. The beginning of rock went through many changes to get to a variety of rock genres now so it is still possible for whatever style of hip hop there is now to be in the category of hip hop. I also think that it has only changed because people want something new all the time, something original is sometimes better than sticking to the way things are already.
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