The Uncommon Ventures of Common

Article written by: SoJones Asmara
Posted on: May 1, 2009

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. or better known as rapper Common, launched his partnership with Microsoft last year, for a t-shirt line titled “Softwear“. In addition to lending his name and face as the product spokesperson, Common himself designed a few t-shirt including the one he wore in the picture above, titled “The Reminisce. 1985: Word Is Born” t-shirt. Common’s designs feature the retro look of computer graphics. After several months since the launch, Common has unveiled the first Hip-hop centered products from the brand, with the best one titled “The Creator: The Code of Hip Hop”.

The t-shirt features the full lyrics of Common’s 1994 hit: “I Used to Love H.E.R” in DOS-style fonts. The song I Used to Love H.E.R gained its popularity because it ignited a feud with West Coast rap group “Westside Connection”. The lyrics of the song criticized where hip-hop music was going and some interpreted it as directing the blame towards the popularity of West Coast Gangsta rap. Westside Connection responded with the song “Westside Slaughterhouse” in 1995, mentioning Common by name and forced the emcee to respond with the song “The Bitch in Yoo”. The feud continued on until Louis Farrakhan came along, putting an end to the madness.

Common explained that the Softwear brand is ‘very fly and progressive’ as he stated:

“I’m very enthused about it. No matter what the size, it’s gonna look right on you. Stay up and check out the Softwear.”

As the brand’s motto says: “Tap the nostalgia of when PCs were just starting to change our lives,” Microsoft seeks to reach out to younger generation who have been influenced by the trendiness of Microsoft’s biggest rival: Apple. Offering cutting-edge designs, Microsoft also launched classic design t-shirts featuring Bill Gates’ mugshot and a retro MS-DOS font logo.

Aside from the t-shirt line with Microsoft, Common is also busy with his acting career -which seems to be the highlight of his existence nowadays. After starring in Terminator Salvation, Common isslated to star in a comedy titled Date Night, alongside comedian Steve Carrell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, James Franco and Taraji P. Henson.

The rapper has also been busy with his other venture, collaborating with Diesel and releasing a men’s fragrance, “Only The Brave”, and will be appearing in print and tv ads promoting the fragrance.