We’re now into the shirts designed by Common. This one has a DOS-era green-screen look, but it makes reference to his well-known 1994 song “I Used to Love H.E.R.” Which, Wikipedia reminds us, “criticizes the direction that hip hop music was taking during the mid-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.” (Okay, okay, I admit it: I’d never heard of “I Used to Love H.E.R. until this evening.)
By Harry McCracken | Sunday, December 7, 2008 at 12:32 am
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