Released in September 27, 1994 as the lead single from his second studio album Resurrection, "I Used to Love H.E.R."

[7] Duke University professor Mark Anthony Neal considers it to be Common's best single ever.

[8] Andrea Duncan-Mao of XXL describes it as a "bittersweet ode to hip-hop" and a "classic" track.

It shows clips of Common's home of Southside Chicago and a woman, who is 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 gangster-looking women in allusion to the rise of gangsta rap.