A sonic exploration and tonal analysis of contemporary creative music in a myriad of improvisational/composed settings, textures, and expressions.
Welcome to Sound Projections
I'm your host Kofi Natambu. This online magazine features the very best in contemporary creative music in this creative timezone NOW (the one we're living in) as well as that of the historical past. The purpose is to openly explore, examine, investigate, reflect on, studiously critique, and take opulent pleasure in the sonic and aural dimensions of human experience known and identified to us as MUSIC. I'm also interested in critically examining the wide range of ideas and opinions that govern our commodified notions of the production, consumption, marketing, and commercial exchange of organized sound(s) which largely define and thereby (over)determine our present relationships to music in the general political economy and culture.
Thus this magazine will strive to critically question and go beyond the conventional imposed notions
and categories of what constitutes the generic and stylistic definitions of ‘Jazz’, ‘classical music’, ‘Blues.’
'Rhythm and Blues’, ‘Rock and Roll’, ‘Pop’, ‘Funk’, ‘Hip Hop’, etc. in order to search for what individual
artists and ensembles do cretively to challenge and transform our ingrained ideas and attitudes of what
music is and could be.
So please join me in this ongoing visceral, investigative, and cerebral quest to explore, enjoy, and pay
homage to the endlessly creative and uniquely magisterial dimensions of MUSIC in all of its guises and expressive identities.
Saturday, August 11, 2018
Lauryn Hill (b. May 26, 1975): Legendary, iconic, and innovative composer, rapper, singer, songwriter, arranger, ensemble leader, producer, and teacher
Lauryn Hill broke through with multi-platinum-selling, Grammy-winning group the Fugees, but with her 1998 solo debut The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,
the singer, songwriter, rapper, and producer established herself as a
creative force on her own. She successfully integrated rap, soul, and
reggae into a singular sound. Eclectic, uplifting, and empowering, the
album was often cited by younger artists as a touchstone. Following its
success, Hill
was something of an enigma, her recorded output limited to a live set,
scattered compilation appearances, and a handful of collaborations.
Disenchantment with the entertainment industry, along with legal issues
and erratic performances, did not lessen the impact of her '90s work.
Raised in South Orange, New Jersey, Hill
spent her youth listening her parents' multi-genre, multi-generational
record collection. She began singing at an early age and snagged minor
roles on television (As the World Turns) and in film (Sister Act II:
Back in the Habit). Her on-again/off-again membership in the Fugees
began at the age of 13, but was often interrupted by both the acting
gigs and her enrollment at Columbia University. After developing a
following in the tri-state area, the group's first release -- the
much-hyped but uneven 1994 album Blunted on Reality -- bombed, and almost caused a breakup. But with the multi-platinum 1996 release The Score, the Fugees
became one of the most prominent rap acts on the strength of hit
singles "Killing Me Softly," "Ready or Not," and "No Woman, No Cry." Hill followed it in August 1998 with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, her first solo release. Apart from a cover of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," popularized by Frankie Valli, each song was either written or co-written by Hill.
She was also credited with the arrangement and production of the whole
album, which was steeped in her old-school background, both musically
(the Motown-esque singalong of "Doo Wop [That Thing]") and lyrically
(the nostalgic "Every Ghetto, Every City"). As Miseducation began a long reign on the charts through most of the fall and winter of 1998, Hill
became a national media icon, as magazines ranging from Time to Esquire
to Teen People vied to put her on the cover. By the end of the year, as
the album topped best-of lists, she was being credited for her part in
assimilating hip-hop into the mainstream. The momentum culminated at the
February 1999 Grammy Awards, during which Hill
took home five trophies from her 11 nominations, including Album of the
Year, Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best
R&B Song, and Best R&B Album -- the most ever for a woman.
Shortly after, she launched a highly praised national tour with Atlanta
rappers OutKast.
Hill
continued shaping her solo career, though it hit some significant
snags. She faced a lawsuit from musicians who claimed they were denied
full credit for their work on Miseducation
-- a matter that was eventually settled out of court. After some film
projects fell through, she retreated from the music scene as she raised
her family and partially attributed her hiatus to feeling too
compromised. The double-disc MTV Unplugged No. 2.0
appeared in May 2002 and documented a raw, deeply personal performance.
It debuted at number three but quickly slid off the Billboard 200.
During the next several years, her recordings and performances were
infrequent and erratic, highlighted by a Fugees
reunion for Dave Chappelle's Block Party. In 2013, she spent almost
three months in prison for tax evasion but was more active after her
release. The following year, the English-language version of the Swedish
documentary Concerning Violence was released with Hill as its narrator. She executive produced and recorded six songs for the 2015 release Nina Revisited: A Tribute to Nina Simone, including interpretations of "Feeling Good" and "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair."
Frannie Kelley, co-host and producer of "Microphone Check," a podcast about hip-hop history and culture. Former NPR reporter. (@frannie_kelley)
Interview Highlights:
On the impact of the album at the time of its release
Joan
Morgan: "The album takes us back to a really wonderful breath of fresh
air at a time in hip-hop that was particularly trying. The community is
coming off the murders of Biggie and Tupac. Post-'96 becomes a really
rocky time for hip-hop fans with some rude awakenings. The misogyny in
the music is making a lot of female listeners question, 'Is there really
a place for me in the music in the culture anymore?' And I think 'The
Miseducation' for a lot of us was a breath of fresh air."
On what listeners should take away regarding the album's relevance and resonance
JM:
"I tried to write the book as a cultural history giving us an
opportunity to look at where we were, really, at the end of the 20th
century in terms of music, black music, hip-hop and pop culture, but
also politically. And why Lauryn kind of ascended to this role of icon —
and it wasn't just about the music. I think a lot of people burdened
her with this role of saving the music, saving the genre, being the
thing that was going to turn the music around. And it was a really heavy
burden, I think, to place on a woman that was barely 23 years old. So
I'd like us to look back and look at 'The Miseducation' and be
self-reflective and see where we were, and own the love that we have,
but possibly look back and ask ourselves some tough questions about
unrealistic expectations."
On the album's message:
Frannie
Kelley: "I think it's really useful to think of the album as a critique
and as self-reflection. So it's a critique of a lot of things that are
happening in pop culture, in politics and in hip-hop, specifically, at
that time. ... Complicated conversations were happening all over the
place. It's completely true that it was very male-dominated at that
time. So the way that Ms. Hill came in and was fully herself, that she
was vulnerable, that she would question some things that she had done in
the past — a lot of the times it felt like she was talking to a younger
version of herself when she was, in actual fact, speaking to other
people, to strangers. I was a junior in high school when that happened,
when it came out. And it really cut through the noise for me. It really
seemed like somebody could be flawed and still very successful. And I
think it was inspiring for a lot of people to proceed on their own
merits, on their own truth, and work it out even if that has to happen
in public."
On "Lost Ones," and the tone of the album
JM:
"Lauryn speaks strongest to me as an emcee. I think she has a beautiful
singing voice, but a lot of people have beautiful R&B singing
voices. But as an emcee, she is singular. So, for me, it was the album
... like it was a missed opportunity to showcase a little bit more, for
those who fell in love with her as an emcee first, I do see L. Boogie as
a very different persona than Ms. Hill. I missed more of L. Boogie on
that album for sure."
FK: "The best
thing about 'Lost Ones' is that it's this reminder at the top of an
album that became almost pop — that was pop, became mainstream, that
Lauryn was a rapper. She was one of the best rappers of all time. And
there are some ways in which the success of 'Miseducation' lets us
forget that. As I recall, there was a slight sense of disappointment
that there was so much singing on 'Miseducation.' "
On the legacy of the album
Our
caller, Rashad: "It showed artists or people at that time that you just
didn't have to be one way. I mean, it was a neo-soul album, it was a
rap album, it was an R&B album, and that crossover ability that it
had is really what we hear in music today. I think it was a brilliant
move, I think that we still are — I think that a lot of artists are
still chasing that Lauryn Hill feel in the sense of the ability to cross
over and have lyrics that stay true to themselves."
FK:
"I think that Lauryn's influence has a lot to do with this sort of
fearlessness of genre borders that people rock all the way to the bank
these days. I think Frank Ocean is an inheritor of some of her sort of
flouting of the rules. Personal and visual, but with a prioritization of
melody and harmony. Making sure that these ideas really worm their way
into your heart and are a part of the memories that you make."
JM:
"I think that to look at Lauryn's contribution to black music and
popular culture just through the lens of 'The Miseducation' is a little
short-sighted. I write that she is really as much of a visual
intervention as she was a musical one. At the time that she came on in
1998, there were no women who looked like her. When she did that cover
of Harper's Bazaar, Harper's Bazaar didn't put black people on the
cover. Like, there was this chocolate women with dreadlocks surrounded
by all these little black heads on a high-fashion — and was at the time —
a lily-white fashion magazine. Now we see Gucci models with short
natural hair, we see Yves Saint Laurent models with cornrows. There was
no natural hair movement when Lauryn did her thing. This is pre-the
digital age. There was no #BlackGirlMagic. It wasn't that there weren't
women who looked and dressed like her, but they were not lauded by the
public.
"I asked a lot of
the people that I interviewed about this album — most people still love
it. They say they still love the album. And I'd say, 'Do you still play
it?' And pretty much everyone said that they had certain songs that
they'd like and that they might reach for but no one really sat down and
listened to it from beginning to end. But they're never upset when they
hear it, like out in public if someone else is playing it. And it
started to emerge to me like that really good friend you made from
college who you are happy when you run into them, or high school, you're
happy when you run into them and you wanna know how they're doing, but
you don't necessarily stay in touch on a day-to-day basis. I think for a
lot of people this album got them through a particular period of time
and they have very fond memories of it, and a reverence for it, but not
necessarily a day-to-day engagement."
Unlike
The Roots, who were considered masters of live performance, the early
Fugees shows were a mess, peppered with “cultural” acts of randomness
meant to illustrate the group’s ties and affinity to the Caribbean, and
Haiti in particular. “Sometimes they’d bring a goat out on stage to give
props to their Haitian roots. It was weird stuff. The audience would
laugh at them every time. People thought they were a joke.” The
laughter, however, would quickly end as soon as the crowds heard Hill
crooning from backstage, a strategy that the group quickly implemented.
“Clef and Pras would come out rhyming and people would still be drinking
and talking like, ‘Whatever. These dudes is whack.’ Then Lauryn would
start singing from behind stage and the audience would go quiet, every
f---ing time. That’s when it would be like, ‘Okay. Now let’s start the
show.’ ”
"She Begat This: 20 Years of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," by Joan Morgan
The
demand for Lauryn to go solo would start almost immediately, but
Jackson, who watched the group’s collaboration process almost from the
beginning, felt assertions that Lauryn was carrying them with her talent
were at best short-sighted. “I think the idea that her talent was being
pimped to make a name for Clef and Pras began with the live shows. Then
the press would write reviews of songs and claim Clef was a musical
genius, which he is—that (guy) can play every instrument, sing in four
or five different languages—but then they’d start to write things that
made it seem like Lauryn was just an instrument to his genius. Really,
they were more like The Beatles. Clef was Paul and Lauryn was John. They
were best together, but apart, they were amazing too.” Time would bear
this out. Wyclef Jean’s first solo effort, The Carnival, was released in
1997 to wide critical acclaim and eventually certified at double
platinum with two Grammy nominations. Miseducation followed it with ten
nominations and a record-setting five wins, breaking the one set for
female artists by Carole King and her album Tapestry in 1971.
"In spite of and perhaps because of her greatness, Lauryn Hill left
many of her fans conflicted. Released on August 25, 1998, her solo
debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, gave depth and cathartic
dimension to the subject of black women in love. She sang about pulling
away from an ex and finding salvation in motherhood, rapped about
self-improvement, and presented these stories as tense reflections of
her own entangled life, without fully disclosing her truth. 'The album
at its core was always about love, both the deciphering of it and the
search for it,' Joan Morgan writes in her new book."
Twenty
years ago this month, Lauryn Hill released her masterful, hugely
influential solo album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." Fierce,
complicated, beautifully contradictory, the iconic album continues to
have a giant impact on hip-hop, R&B and pop today.
This hour, On Point: "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."
Just 17 years ago, Hill released “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” on Aug. 25, 1998. This was her first and last studio album which was created in the midst of her own personal struggles. She wanted to “make honest music,“ Chris Nickson quoted in his written biography on her life — and she did.
“[I wanted to] write songs that lyrically move me and have the integrity of reggae and the knock of hip-hop and the instrumentation of classic soul,” she told Rolling Stone in 1999. “[My engineer and I worked on] a sound that’s raw. I like the rawness of you being able to hear the scratch in the vocals. I don’t ever want that taken away.”
Hill went on hiatus after she recorded the live concert album “MTV Unplugged No. 2.0” in 2001 and returned to the music world recently in the past few years. The former Fugees member hasn’t announced plans for a new album, but she has been performing more frequently and recorded new tracks titled “Neurotic Society” and “Black Rage.”
Still, nothing she has done has been as impactful for hip-hop and R&B as her debut solo album. Take a look at some of the ways “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” redefined music:
1. She broke barriers for black female artists.
“Miseducation” lifted boundaries for female artists. Though she wasn’t the first person to play with both genres, Hill’s songs resonated with the masses when she married hip-hop with R&B. Her debut album sold more than 420,000 copies it’s first week, surpassing Madonna’s record, and has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide to date. “What Lauryn is doing is opening doors for female artists who aren’t materialistic and flashing their titties,” Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA told MTV in 1998. “She represents a beauty and a wholesomeness that’s more down-to-earth. She makes music that people can relate to, which is why she’s done so well.”
2. “Miseducation” was the first hip-hop album to win a Grammy for Album of the Year.
Hill didn’t open doors for just women in the industry, but for the entire hip-hop genre. She was nominated for 10 Grammys and won five in 1999, a record for a female artist at that time. Her five wins created a more widespread audience and crossover appeal for hip-hop.
Fotos International via Getty Images
3. The album was a subtle and honest act of feminism.
Not only did Hill burst through the industry’s glass ceiling, but many may not know that she created this masterpiece while pregnant. The emcee, songstress rejected society’s notion that they must choose between family and a career. The fourth track, “To Zion,” was for her son whom she carried while creating the album. “‘Look at your career,’ they said/’Lauryn baby use your head’/ But instead I chose to use my heart,” she sings, referencing those who told her to consider an abortion so she wouldn’t ruin her career.
4. She helped pioneer conscious lyrics in hip-hop.
Hill was “woke” before many artists like Talib Kwele, Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar came onto the music scene. She put her personal testimonies in her lyrics. Hill helped to create an avenue for honest and socially-conscious dialogue in music, from speaking about sexual objectivity in “Doo Wop (That Thing)” to failed relationships in “Ex-Factor” and other topics considered too taboo at the time. In 1999 she predicted that the music industry was about to shift without knowing that she would pave the way for many of today’s artists. “I think now people feel a little more comfortable playing with the parameters. Writing more intensely,” she told Rolling Stone.
5. Her sound transcends beyond hip-hop and R&B.
The soulfulness and realness of “Miseducation” knocked down boundaries in the music industry, especially for black artists. This year, it earned a place in the Library of Congress. D’angelo noted that “churches were substituting God in the lyrics [for ‘Nothing Even Matters’]. Whenever they make a gospel version from a secular song, that’s significant.”
“The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” is musical genius and has influenced artists like Adele, Beyonce, Talib Kwele, Kanye West, Nas, John Legend (who launched his career playing the piano on the background of Hill’s song “Everything is Everything”) and many more. Legend said to Rolling Stone, “She did it better than anybody still has done it. People are still trying to capture that moment.”
Though no one knows if the world will see another studio album from Hill, the impact of this particular album is undeniable.
Tickets
and VIP Experiences for the North American Portion of the Tour Go On
Sale to the General Public Starting Friday, April 20 at LiveNation.com
Citi Presents Ms. Lauryn Hill at the Apollo Theater Announced for May 1 Los Angeles, CA (April 17, 2018) – Ms. Lauryn Hill is celebrating twenty years of her anthemic debut solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
with a newly announced World Tour produced by Live Nation. The GRAMMY®
Award-winning artist will kick off the North American summer leg of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 20th Anniversary World Tour
on July 5 in Virginia Beach, VA. Tickets and VIP experiences go on sale
to the general public beginning Friday, April 20 at 10am local time at
LiveNation.com. More details will be announced soon, including
international dates, as well as the full lineup with Special Guest
performers at each show on the tour. Ms. Hill uses her platform
to raise money and awareness for frontline charity initiatives through
touring. A portion of the ticket sales go towards the MLH Foundation,
which directly contributes support for education, health, agriculture,
technology, and community based businesses and development initiatives
throughout the Diaspora. Your contribution will be put to use through
donations made from ticket sales to support community building
worldwide. See the full list of charities below. Of the tour Ms.
Hill notes, ”This album chronicled an intimate piece of my young
existence. It was the summation of most, if not all, of my most hopeful
and positive emotions experienced to that date. I Loved and believed
deeply in my community’s ability to both Love and heal itself provided
it received the right amount of support and encouragement. Our world
today, both complex and changing, is in need of the balance between
moral fortitude and cathartic expression. I hope the Love and energy
that permeated this work can continue to inspire change with Love and
optimism at the helm.” In addition to her scheduled tour dates,
Ms. Lauryn Hill will also be playing at the iconic Apollo Theater on
Tuesday, May 1st exclusively for Citi cardmembers. The tickets will be
$20 in honor of the twentieth anniversary of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill album. All ticket proceeds will go directly to the MLH Foundation. https://mslaurynhill.tmverifiedfan.com
The
Citi Presents Ms. Lauryn Hill at the Apollo Theater show will be
powered by Verified Fan – the newest technology to ensure tickets get
directly to the most passionate fans. Not scalpers or bots. Starting
Tuesday, April 17 at 10AM ET, Citi cardmembers can register through
Thursday, April 19 at 10PM ET to unlock access to tickets and use their
Citi card to complete the ticket purchase if verified. Only fans that
have received a unique code will have the chance to purchase tickets for
performances on Monday, April 23 at 10AM ET. Register now for the Citi
Presale powered by Verified Fan at: citiprivatepass.com and for additional information. Exclusive
VIP experiences will be available for all tour dates. VIP experiences
include a meet and greet with Ms. Hill, complete with photo opp and
autograph signing, as well as a package where fans will have an
opportunity to watch a portion of the show from on stage. VIP
experiences can be purchased as an upgrade when buying tickets. Limited
edition specialty merch items, designed by Ms. Hill, will also be
available at all shows and online. For more details on VIP experiences,
please visit www.MsHillVIPs.com and www.MsLaurynHill.com.
Citi® is the official pre-sale credit card of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hil 20th Anniversary Tour. As such, Citi cardmembers will have access to purchase pre-sale tickets beginning Tuesday, April 17at
2:00pm local time until Thursday, April 19 at 10:00pm local time
through Citi’s Private Pass® program. For complete pre-sale details
visit https://www.citiprivatepass.com/.
Multi-platinum
artist Ms. Lauryn Hill rose to prominence with The Fugees and took the
world by storm two decades ago as a solo artist with The Miseducation of Ms. Lauryn Hill.
Singles including “Doo Wop (That Thing)” and “Everything Is Everything”
catapulted her to superstardom, ultimately lauding her with ten GRAMMY®
nominations and five GRAMMY® Award wins.
MS. LAURYN HILL TOUR DATES:
Thu Jul 05 - Virginia Beach, VA - Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach Sun Jul 08 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live Wed Jul 11 - Boston, MA - Blue Hills Bank Pavilion Fri Jul 13 - Philadelphia, PA - Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing Sun Jul 15 - Wantagh, NY -Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater Wed Jul 18 - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage Fri Jul 20 - Detroit, MI - Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill Wed Jul 25 - Charlotte, NC - Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre Thu Jul 26 - Raleigh, NC - The Red Hat Amphitheater Sun Jul 29 - Tampa, FL - Al Lang Stadium Tue Jul 31 - Miami, FL - Bayfront Park Amphitheater Thu Aug 02 - Jacksonville, FL - Daily’s Place Fri Aug 03 - Atlanta, GA - State Bank Amphitheatre At Chastain Park Sun Aug 05 - Nashville, TN - Nashville Municipal Auditorium Wed Aug 08 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center Fri Sep 07 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint Sun Sep 09 - San Diego, CA - Open Air Theatre Wed Sep 12 - Portland, OR - Portland Memorial Coliseum Fri Sep 14 - Vancouver, BC - Festival Lawn at Deer Lake Park Sat Sep 15 - Seattle, WA - ShoWare Center** Thu Sep 20 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre Sat Sep 22 - Phoenix, AZ - Comerica Theatre Mon Sep 24 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheater Wed Sep 26 - Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater Sat Sep 29 - Houston, TX - Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land Sun Sep 30 - Dallas, TX - The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory Wed Oct 03 - New Orleans, LA - UNO Lakefront Arena Fri Oct 05 - St Louis, MO - Chaifetz Arena
The Next Generation of Lauryn Hill: 16 Artists on Their Favorite 'Miseducation' Songs
This week, Billboard is celebrating the music of 20 years ago with a week of content
about the most interesting artists, albums, songs, and stories from
1998. Here, Billboard asks musicians to look back on what one of the
era’s most seminal albums -- The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill -- means to them.
They
don’t really make 'em like this anymore. And, truthfully, they didn’t
really make 'em like this back then, either. By 1998, Lauryn Hill was
already a star with the Fugees, but the release of her debut solo album,
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, turned her into an icon,
showcased her visionary talents as the sole writer-producer on almost
every track, and taught a generation about the power of baring your soul
through song. At the time of its release, she was barely 23 years old;
within a few months, though, she’d set then-records for first-week sales
by a female artist, clean up at the Grammys, and take over the world
with blockbuster singles like “Doo Wop (That Thing).”
Watch: Normani, Rhapsody & More on Their Favorite Lauryn Hill 'Miseducation' Songs | Billboard News
Today, the album lives on -- not just in the songs thatsample it, or Hill’s own 20th anniversary tour
scheduled for later this year, but in the artists who grew up with it,
lived with it, and now make music that’s been shaped by it in big and
small ways.
Below, Billboard asked 16 artists -- from
rappers and soul singers to pop stars and beyond -- to pay tribute to
each song on the album, and share how Lauryn Hill’s masterpiece inspired
and influenced them.
“INTRO” By Maggie Rogers
I
come from a very non-musical family. Nobody plays instruments. My
brother and my dad don’t really listen to music. But every now and then
my mom would put on CDs. When my mom was in the kitchen and put on this
record, you knew she was feeling good. She would drive me to my harp
lessons and would always play The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, but I never asked what it was.
In
high school, I mostly listened to folk music and didn’t think I had any
connection to neo-soul. But I studied music production and engineering
in college, and I remember going to class one day and hearing my
professor play Miseducation. My jaw dropped. I knew every
single word but had no idea what it was. It’s like smelling a smell that
you know from your childhood. Lauryn is just woven into my fiber of my
musical DNA.
When I think about this album, I think about Lauryn
as a producer. I definitely feel connected to the way she expresses her
vision of her music and brings it to the listener. What she’s doing on
this record is really creating a world. She’s so perfectly, wonderfully
human, and she opens you up the process. On the album, there are audio
clips of people talking around a table, there are samples. When that
record comes into my living room, it becomes her living room. She has so
much presence and personality in the atmosphere and texture with which
she shows you her world.
You can see it in the album cover too. It is so deeply personal, but it’s something all of us can recognize. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
is an autobiography, but it is oozing with different narratives. The
most powerful artists that I look up to tell their stories with enough
vulnerability that they become everybody’s stories.
Lauryn
brought something to hip-hop that I had never experienced: Her talent
was beyond, but she was also mad relatable. She was a tomboy who could
hang with the guys, but there was also this femininity about her too.
That spoke to me: I love being a tomboy, but at the same time, I still
embrace my womanhood when I want.
Lauryn’s music reached so many
people because of her style. She knew how to incorporate melody into a
rhyme so people could sing along with her, even as she was rapping about
things that might have been complex. When I started making music, my
cadences weren’t easy to learn, my lyrics were a puzzle. Through
studying Lauryn and songs like “Lost Ones,” I learned how to simplify: It’s funny how money change a situation/ Miscommunication leads to complication.
The way the words fall on the beat -- it’s like the ABC song or “Mary
Had a Little Lamb" -- but lyrically, she still really goes in.
On
“Lost Ones,” you’re going to get the real Lauryn, not a manufactured
person. She didn’t care whether you liked it or not. You can tell
without a doubt that she walked in her own light -- nobody could dim
her. Maybe that's one of the reasons she left, because she knew she had
that power. There's no fame, there's no amount of money that defines
Lauryn.
The very first time I met her, I asked her for advice, and
she told me to seek knowledge -- and as simple and as cliché as that
may be, nobody had ever really told me that. I learned a lot just from
her saying that one thing.
Rapsody’s 2017 album, Laila’s Wisdom, was nominated for best rap album at this year’s Grammy Awards. Read Billboard’s recent profile of Rapsody here.
“EX-FACTOR” By Chloe Bailey of Chloe x Halle
Nothing in this world is perfect, but The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
definitely got close to it. I remember being a young girl in Atlanta
hearing this angelic voice on these great songs. I never really knew
what songs like “Ex-Factor” meant at the time, but the feeling I got
from them always gave me joy. The first thing that grabs me is her rapsy
“yo-yo-yo” ad-libs over this smooth track. It’s something so simple,
but it gets my attention immediately. Her harmonies and vocals are
completely hypnotic, so I tend to get lost in them. And on top of that,
the production has this groove that makes me want to bop my head back
and forth.
Fast-forward to many years later: I had this record on
loop in my car for like a whole year. I never got tired of it. It gave
me that same feeling of joy it gave me as a little girl. But now when I
actually listen to the lyrics of “Ex-Factor,” I’m like “Preach it!” When
I learned what the project truly meant, I was blown away. Being able to
understand and hear every detail that went into the creation of this
body of work had me floored.
And knowing how hands-on she was with
this phenomenal project is incredibly inspiring to my sister and me.
She paved the way for so many women in this male-dominated industry. And
as young, black, female songwriters and producers, Ms. Hill has made us
feel confident in our abilities. We look at her and say, “If she can do
it, then so can we.” There are no limits.
Chloe x Halle released their debut album, The Kids Are Alright, in March. The duo will open for the North American leg of JAY-Z and Beyoncé’s On the Run II tour this summer.
“TO ZION” (FEATURING CARLOS SANTANA) By Jessie Ware
The Miseducation
album is like an old flame -- you never really leave each other. All
the memories come flooding back as soon as you put it on. I was 13 when I
got it. It was the first proper hip-hop album that I digested fully,
and it was one of the first concerts I went to on my own. I saw her at
Wembley Stadium on the Miseducation Tour, and it was just so
captivating. The things she can do with her voice! I swear, she makes up
notes that don’t exist. She’s like a magician.
What I loved about
“To Zion” was the drama. It had everything -- the passion, the
desperation, the love. It’s got this intimacy: She was being so open
talking about her child, and then it has this yearning Latin guitar.
She’s the perfect storyteller. The song grows and grows and grows and
becomes huge; it’s almost overpowering. It’s about a mother’s love, but
weirdly I felt like I could relate to it when I was 13 years old. It
definitely made me think about how you put together a record: The album
just felt so whole and confident and imaginative. As an artist, I can
learn a thing or two about the beauty of an album through The Miseducation.
Jessie Ware’s third album, Glasshouse, is out now. She’s also the host of Table Manners, a podcast about food, family, and the art of conversation that’s currently in its third season.
“DOO WOP (THAT THING)” By Lizzo
“Doo Wop (That Thing)” is so special because she was her own hook singer.
That was something that didn’t happen in that time, period. Normally,
you had other people singing the hooks -- Nate Dogg, Ashanti. But Lauryn
Hill was singing her own hook and spitting intricate verses. I don’t
think people realize how amazing and incredible that is -- and how
difficult it is to pull that off.
Singing Destiny’s Child songs,
that was something I could learn. Reciting Ludacris raps, that was
something I could learn. But Lauryn Hill, being such a fierce rapper and
such a soulful singer? It was almost unattainable to me. She set the
bar. I was always afraid of being a singer, but then when I heard Lauryn
Hill, I was like, “Maybe I can do both.”
When The Miseducation
came out, I don’t think I appreciated it as much as I do now. I didn’t
know how gifted one had to be to accomplish what she did: singing and
rapping as a dark-skinned woman with natural hair. I just internalized
the music and thought it was good. But now I respect everything about
it, culturally and intellectually.
Lauryn Hill taught me to say everything. My debut album Lizzobangers
was my attempt at doing what Lauryn Hill does naturally: rapping,
singing, being political. I remember being like, “You know what? I’m
going to cram all these words into this verse because I want to say
‘em.” That helped me get a lot off my chest. At the time, I didn’t have
Twitter, the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, the #UnfairBeautyStandards
hashtag -- I didn’t have an online community of people to have as a
sounding board. I didn’t have a release for my anger and all of my hurt
of being a black woman, a big woman. So I just let it out in music, and I
said everything I wanted to say. And Lauryn Hill taught me that.
Lizzo’s latest single, “Fitness,”
is available now. She recently finished the first leg of Haim’s Sister
Sister Sister tour and will hit the road with Florence + the Machine
this fall.
“SUPERSTAR” By Ruth B
Both
of my parents emigrated from Ethiopia, so a lot of the music I grew up
with listening to was Ethiopian. But there were three artists they
listened to that I could understand: Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, and
Lauryn Hill. As Miseducation quickly became my favorite album, I
started looking more into what Lauryn was all about as a person -- who
she was, how she carried herself. I really respected her as a strong
woman who did her thing and told her own stories.
My number one priority on my album was making sure that these songs were my truth, because that’s the impact Miseducation
had on me: I know that all those songs on here are coming from her, and
she means every word. On “Superstar,” she talks about making music
that’s real and saying things that have an impact, and I really related
to that.
I remember thinking, “If I ever get a chance to work in
music, I hope I can be a little bit like her.” I always knew that if I
were ever given the opportunity, I would do things to the best of my
ability and never do anything halfway, and the lyrics of that particular
song really address that. I don’t know her personally, but I think she
was really intent on making sure that her music had purpose, and
sometimes I feel like maybe that’s why we only got one album from her:
She’ll never put out anything just to put something out. Ruth B’s debut album, Safe Haven, arrived last spring.
“FINAL HOUR” By K.Flay
Like just about everything in my life, I discovered Miseducation
five years after everyone else. I’d heard all the singles on the radio
and on MTV back in junior high, but it wasn’t until college that I
bought the record and fell in love with it. I had moved from the Midwest
to California and was, for the very first time in my life, developing a
deep emotional connection to music, especially a connection to hip-hop.
I
think what drew me to this record in particular was its density. It
feels so full of everything -- words, experiences, modes of expression,
politics. All of the tracks are long. Take "Final Hour" for
instance. When I listen to it now, I’m struck by how much is packed in
that one song: dense, complicated verses; thematic tension between
materialism and spirituality; different rhyme schemes and cadences, with
a classic drum loop undergirding the whole thing. Plus it has one of my
favorite lines: “It ain’t what you cop, it’s about what you keep.”
What
I love so much about the record is that it’s about a whole person. And
more specifically, a whole woman. As an 18-year-old, it was incredible
to hear someone expressing all of herself -- not just the sexual or the
wild or the prototypically female. And I think for me, it was a reminder
that I could be my full self musically, that I could be intellectual
and in love and political and pathetic and whatever else I felt like,
all at once.
K.Flay released her Grammy-nominated second album, Every Where Is Some Where, in 2017. She’ll tour the U.S. with Thirty Seconds to Mars this summer.
“WHEN IT HURTS SO BAD” By Anne-Marie
My
sister and my best friend are a little older than me, and I remember
them introducing me to this album. From the first moment I heard it, I
couldn’t stop playing it, and I couldn’t just play one or two songs -- I
had to play it the whole way through. “When It Hurts So Bad” and all of her songs are very empowering. They make you feel something. They make you think. That is a massive
part of what I try to do in my lyrics, so she is a big influence. I
write a lot about bad experiences in relationships -- most of them ended
badly, and cheating was involved -- but I always try to turn it around
and be the stronger one in the end. She helped me understand that being
honest and open with everyone makes you strong, not weak. She taught me
to not be embarrassed when telling people my thoughts or problems or
stories.
Music helps people, and that’s exactly what she did for people by
being honest. She spoke about real shit. She wasn’t scared to challenge
the world. This album will never be out of fashion, and it will live on
as a classic for as long as the human race lives.
Anne-Marie’s debut album, Speak Your Mind,
featuring “2002” and the Marshmello collaboration “Friends,” is
available now. She’ll tour with Ed Sheeran in Europe this summer.
“I USED TO LOVE HIM” (FEATURING MARY J. BLIGE) By Jess Glynne
I
was about 12 years old when I discovered Lauryn Hill and Amy Winehouse
around the same time. The way they pieced songs together was so
exciting, especially when you’re young and listening to so much pop, as I
was then. Listening to her lyrical content and what she spoke was
totally different from anything I had listened to previously. Lauryn
inspired me to start writing songs -- that was something I hadn’t really
thought about at a young age. I used to write down all the lyrics to
her songs to absorb them, and through that, I learned a little about
structure and how to put songs together. I’ll always be grateful to her
for showing me how to think outside the box musically. One thing
Lauryn taught me was that, when you write songs about people you’ve been
in relationships with, write about your own journey and your own
experiences. I find therapy in my music: It’s my way of letting things
out, letting things go, and understanding my emotions. “I Used to Love
Him” is her doing that -- she’s being so honest about something we all
go through. She sings and writes in such a way that makes us feel like
we’re not alone. I know that sounds really cheesy, but that’s what I
love about it.
Jess Glynne’s new single, “I’ll Be There,” is out now. Her second album will arrive later this year.
“FORGIVE THEM FATHER” By Jazmine Sullivan
Even
at age 11, I knew there was something different about this album. It
drew me in immediately, more than anything that was being played at the
time. It felt classic. Most albums at the time seemed to be
over-produced -- every riff and phrase perfectly constructed. But
Lauryn's just felt like it was flowing from her soul.
The
harmonies on the hook of “Forgive Them Father” stand out the most to me.
There is something so sweet about the simplicity of harmonizing without
stacking vocals over and over -- it feels nostalgic. My style of
background vocals are a lot like hers: I kept it simple and just let the
voice and the three-part harmony do the work. I attribute that to her
and Missy Elliott. It felt like she used the album to let her fans
know what she had learned. The album -- besides being dope sonically
-- taught us so much about life. The lyrics of “Forgive Them Father”
really moved me: She’s talking about having empathy for people who
betray you and asking God to forgive them, but also not being stupid
enough to let it happen again. Those were life lessons. I definitely
can’t compare my music to Lauryn’s, but I strive to teach people without
being preachy or condescending, and I think she mastered that..
Jazmine Sullivan’s most recent album, Reality Show, was released in 2015.
“EVERY GHETTO, EVERY CITY” By Seinabo Sey
There’s
no artist who has meant as much to me as Lauryn Hill. I will love
Beyoncé till the day I die, but musically? Lauryn is the one for me. I
wanted to be her so badly growing up. I was too young to notice the
album when it first came out, but I later found it on sale as a kid,
went back home to beg my mom for money for it, and then came back to get
it. And after that, my life changed. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
made me realize how I wanted to write songs. I remember lying in my bed
listening to this album over and over again, visualizing everything. I
lived inside of this album. I walked through this album in my head. I
was always trying to rap along to “Every Ghetto, Every City,” but it’s
really hard to sing because there’s a lot of words: Bag of Bontons, twenty cents and a nickel/ Springfield Ave. had the best popsicles.
There was so much American culture I had to research, but I couldn’t
Google at that point: What is Munn Street? What is Hawthorne? What are
Bontons? There were so many things I couldn’t understand, but the groove
was really dope, and that influenced me a little.
I loved the wisdom of Miseducation -- she
was giving me advice. A lot of Gambian culture is about giving advice,
but I’d never really heard it in song format. I’ve been thinking about
that as I work on my new album: the balance between being totally
personal and giving advice. Lauryn’s verses are super personal, but the
bridge or some other part of it is always very universal. Every day I
find myself trying to be as good as her. I really don’t know how my
music would have sounded like or what I would have written about without
her. I could tattoo her face on my arm today, that’s how much I love
her.
“NOTHING EVEN MATTERS” (FEATURING D’ANGELO) By Andra Day
I was about 14 when Miseducation hit us like a bomb, and I say “us” because everyone
I knew had the record on repeat. It transformed a generation. I was a
late bloomer when it came to puberty, and her album really helped me
through that awkward phase. It was also one of my early experiences with
“woke-ness” -- I was really focusing on lyrics more at that time, and
she was like a teacher for our generation. The album caused me to think a
little deeper about being a girl becoming a woman; about how I viewed
myself and other girls; about love and relationships; about God and
spirituality. It was a testimony.
I remember hearing “Nothing Even
Matters” for the first time pulling into school in the morning. I had
my normal anxiety about going to school and not being cool enough. And
then this song came on. The music drew me in and created such a peaceful
space and moment in my heart and mind. It silenced all the noise around
me and completely transported me. And when she sang those first few
lines -- “Now the skies could fall/ Not even if my boss should call/ The
world it seems so very small/ ‘Cause nothing even matters at all” -- it
put me in such a state of euphoria.
The song and the album really
helped me see that you can bring the rawness of classic records to a
modern generation without compromising the grit. It taught me that the
more open you are with your experiences, the more free you become.
“Nothing Even Matters” in particular also showed me that writing
authentically about simple concepts like feeling love in one moment in
time can actually be incredibly complex, and create a real, tangible
moment for the listener.
Lauryn Hill and The Miseducation
are a part of the cradle of musical inspiration from which I create. I
am a bit of a chameleon when it comes to music and art, but no matter
which direction I go in, the things this album imparted to me will
always be fundamental to my process.
Andra Day is a Grammy-nominated singer whose debut album, Cheers to the Fall, was released in 2015.
“EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING” By Saweetie
My
mom had this really dope old-school Mustang that was Candy Paint red.
We’d be in the car in the summer with the windows down. She always had
good taste in music, but one of her favorite albums was The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
She would laugh at me trying to sing along -- if camera phones were
around back then, she would have definitely recorded me. Seeing someone
that I loved so much love the album made me love it anymore.
I think that not only is “Everything Is Everything” a great song, but it’s informing you that, in life, truly everything is
everything. I feel like as a young girl listening to that, I really
didn’t understand it until I went through my adolescence, and now I feel
like I’m an adult. I can see why everything is everything.
What I
love about Lauryn is I feel like there’s a constant battle between mind
and heart. At the end of the day, you have to do what your passion is.
Logically, it would have been better for me to graduate college and get a
9 to 5, but that’s not what my heart wants to do. Sometimes you have to
follow your heart, that’s what I learned from her as an artist.
Saweetie’s High Maintenance EP, featuring the song “ICY GRL,” is available now.
“THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL” By Normani
I
have been listening to Lauryn Hill for as long as I have been able to
speak. I was always beyond my years when it came to music. I loved her
soulful essence and commitment to always being honest through every
lyric. And I have a greaterappreciationfor The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill now that I’m an adult and can fully comprehend the meaning behind every word. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is
a body of art that truly can’t ever be remade. Lauryn has her own
unique way of storytelling and capturing every woman’s truth in a matter
of minutes. She makes music with purpose that means something. I strive
to become the artist that she is. The title track, “The
Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” is definitely a favorite. I have found
inspiration in this particular record, which will be a huge influence on
my project to come. This album sets the bar very high for me. I
can take away so much from this body of work -- most importantly,
feeling what I’m singing about and connecting it to people’s lives in a
real way. I believe the reason that this album remains timeless is
because of its connection. I’m so excited to create my own story and
share it with the world. I want everyone to feel just I do when
listening to the queen herself. Normani is working on her debut solo album. “Love Lies,” her collaboration with Khalid, is available now.
“CAN’T TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU” By Teyana Taylor
Lauryn
Hill opened a lot of doors for us. She’s how I got my start. Before I
even got signed, when people asked me to sing to them, I would sing Lauryn Hill’s version
of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.” I sang that song for Pharrell. I
sang that song for Jimmy Iovine. It’s how I got my first record deal.
The other day I was on Instagram and saw somebody posted a video of me actually singing the song
at age 14 or 15, before I was even signed. I just loved singing it. It
wasn’t super fast, it wasn’t super slow, it was just a rock-out. It was a
good vibe. And it was appropriate for my age at the time! It could have
been dedicated to anyone at the time -- a mother, a family member, a
friend.
Her music has always rubbed off on me. I had a whole mixtape called The Misunderstanding of Teyana Taylor.
When I did my remix of Drake’s “Marvin’s Room,” I sung the bridge of
“Ex-Factor” over that. That’s something that’s always going to be in
music. Even on this album coming up, you’ll definitely hear a lot of
Lauryn Hill influence -- everybody who knows me knows how much I love
Lauryn.
She could sing “Happy Birthday” eight different ways and
it would still sound complete amazing. She could sing about cheddar
cheese and it would still sound good because she had that soul in her
voice. She has that sound will make anything sound gold. Her raspy voice
showed me that it’s okay to have a raspy voice, that it’s okay to be
different. To have a beautiful voice like that and have the lyrics to go
with it? The style go with it? The swag? The personality? With a lot of
artists, there’s always a catch. But with her, there’s no catch. What
you see is what you get.
Teyana Taylor will release her second studio album on June 22. Teyana & Iman, her VH1 reality show with husband Iman Shumpert, premiered this past March.
“TELL HIM” By Ella Mai
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
is my favorite album of all time, and “Tell Him” is one of my favorite
songs on the album. From the very first lines, she asks for patience and
understanding on her journey in love. Although the song has a slight
desperation to it, I love how passionate she is and how willing she is
to do whatever it takes. It shows a lot of character.
Her music
oozes with honesty, and that is something I respect and have always
looked up to. The album simply taught me to be myself and not be afraid
of the different situations and emotions life takes you through. She
taught me that it was okay to be unapologetically vulnerable -- but not
naive. She put it all in her music, and that I thoroughly respect. If
you can listen to an album 20 years later and still feel it as much as
you did or -- in my case -- even more, it is a true and undeniable
classic.
Ms. Hill, you are love. You are light. Thank you for truly being yourself.
Ella Mai’s breakout single “Boo’d Up” recently cracked the top 10 on the Hot 100 chart. See her cover of “Tell Him” here.
"(Ain't Got No) I've Got Life" Original song lyrics sung by Nina Simone, 1968
Ms. Simone's performance sampled by Lauryn Hill, 2015 Original rap lyrics by Ms. Hill:
[Intro: Nina Simone]
I ain't got no home, ain't got no shoes Ain't got no money, ain't got no class Ain't got no friends, ain't got no schooling Ain't got no hurt, ain't got no job Ain't got no money, no place to stay Ain't got no
[Verse 1: Lauryn Hill]
Programmed inequity, it's in the nervous system Listen, watch the words, how they twist 'em Two thirds of the world turned victim Subtle energy, they capture and block chi The unseen violence behind the democracy Some call it hypocrisy, turn freeman into property And logically justify not treatin' 'em properly Invisible ink in the constitution Meant to preserve the institution, unequal distribution Of wealth, goods and services Revolvin' door, no floor, just anxiety and nervousness Trapped in circuses Herds of us, not understandin' our purposes When appetites and psychological types Get caught in the hype, it's tight from morning 'til night I'm demanding my rights Women's suffrage then black suffrage Or Jim Crow, the KKK American terrorism Murders and beatings on television It's in the cells now, you thought that was yesterday? But the compression stays, trauma still got most afraid Stuck in the memory, fear gives birth to lethargy Generations of children in jeopardy History written in jealousy, scribes full of heresy Full of barbarians, ch-ch-check out my melody Musical therapy, reprogram Africa full of coal tan Coltrane was a cold man Black genius in a cold land tryna be the whole man Heal the homeland Pastime for our own land Where a grown man can be a grown man The system has benefit for robbery is robbery You can't run from it, God is a natural monopoly Divine creator stuck in monotony Bureaucracy, psyche on poverty Self-esteem broken like pottery No more, not me, codename anomaly Cause there's just no match for the prodigy Sovereignty, the god in me Walking university, living cosmology Without apology
[Hook: Nina Simone]
I’ve got life I’ve got laughs I’ve got headaches and toothaches And bad times too like you
[Verse 2: Lauryn Hill]
OK The more you suppress life the stronger it gets With death life the longer it gets I know it’s hard to admit That you follow some bullshit Swallow the wrong pill looking for mr bill Repression, oppression: same thing (same thing) Fear the shadow that’s the main thing (main thing) They keep running from Every action yields an equal and opposite one Yes that means the consequence comes Fields of cumbersome back breaking labor Can’t be healed with just a cummerbund I was homecoming queen call me number one Yep that’s another one, now give the drummer some Tell every mother’s son expression can be far more powerful than a hundred guns See my Kalashnikov lyrics with the safety off Now dance around these niggas like Baryshnikov Street sweeper my words are my keeper It’s in the ether [?] It’s done let loose your tongue Gifted, black and young Watch these devils run They knew a change was gonna come Sinner man looking for a place to run Tell the truth in tongues’ enemy reduced by one's Thousands 2 can put 10,000 in flight Speak truth to power every 24 hours
[Hook: Nina Simone]
[Verse 3: Lauryn Hill] (Ay let me tell you) Imperialism is a form of Jihad They killed and enslaved millions for gold bullion, in the name of God The children of mammon called it spiritual famine Can we examine, how they stole bauxite, rubber, labor, diamonds and platinum? The building blocks of society and economy, broke humanity to build the colonies Using reverse psychology to keep us from knowing our quality No more human tragedy, no more mis-recognition, no more addiction Let’s accurately diagnose our condition! Listen: 400 years of the abuse and misuse of religion Don’t give me another person’s prescription! I need what I need, my deeds are my deeds As a man thinketh so is he, Mezanmi! Take the land back, every child, woman and man back Reevaluate history, expeditiously Can’t live my life in apostasy Emulate the apostrophe hang with S, you can rock with me I come in love and truth (truth) Look at what I went through Now it’s time to acknowledge just what I give you: Life
[Hook]
[Verse 4: Lauryn Hill]
There’s a whole lotta wrong to be righted. I get excited I'ma kick this shit off like I’m on Manchester United & my attention is undivided, so you can’t divide and conquer me! I’m sitting comfortably in a SUV, up in my SUV taking artistic liberties Making musical history, a lil' acupuncture, structural integration, my meditation, liberating a generation & beyond that, I’m taking the bomb back. I’m splitting atoms for freedom, America needs more FREED men, able to talk right, not prone to GREED men (It’s just not what you need man) Let your words and deeds line up, master the mind, young king man??, put your signs up, intelligent designs up!, plant your seeds, keep your dimes up, cuz no man knows when the time’s up It’s elemental like Solomon in the temple, Ark of the Covenant, accountable to a higher government I’m looking for love (in all the wrong places) Somebody tell me, where them brothas went, reclaim your wealth, no more giving the enemy help, no more sympathy for the devil, let'em hang himself Get all the billion Black people out of these bottles, suffer while grown people get coddled, you know the novel
On July 10th a Nina Simone tribute album titled “Nina Revisited: A Tribute To Nina Simone” will be released. Featuring artist’s Mary J. Blige, Common, Usher, Gregory Porter
She Begat This: 20 Years of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
by Joan Morgan
Atria, 2018
[Publication date: August 7, 2018]
Celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the acclaimed and influential debut album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill with this eye-opening and moving exploration of Lauryn Hill and her remarkable artistic legacy.
Released in 1998, Lauryn Hill’s first solo album is often cited by music critics as one of the most important recordings in modern history. Artists from Beyoncé to Nicki Minaj to Janelle Monáe have claimed it as an inspiration, and it was recently included in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, as well as named the second greatest album by a woman in history by NPR (right behind Joni Mitchell’s Blue).
Award-winning feminist author and journalist Joan Morgan delivers an expansive, in-depth, and heartfelt analysis of the album and its enduring place in pop culture. She Begat This is both an indelible portrait of a magical moment when a young, fierce, and determined singer-rapper-songwriter made music history and a crucial work of scholarship, perfect for longtime hip-hop fans and a new generation of fans just discovering this album.
Reviews:
“Joan Morgan schools like no other. While reading this masterful, rich, and amazingly concise cultural history of the Nina Simone Defecating On Your Microphone Nineties, I learned two lessons. One, you cannot tell the story of Hip Hop or Black womanhood in the 1990s without a deep understanding of the prototype for Black Girl Genius that is Lauryn Hill. And two, you cannot tell the story of Hip Hop or Black womanhood in the 1990s without the fiya-spitting, Jamaican, Bronx-girl pen of Joan Morgan. Lauryn gave us the soundtrack, the artistry, and the permission. Joan and her crew of badass, pioneering Hip Hop journalists, many of whom are featured here, continue to give us the language and the frameworks to understand the singularity of turn-of-the-21st-century Black cultural production. Absent either of these Black girl geniuses, the story is incomplete. Indeed, she begat this.”— Brittany Cooper, author of Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower
"Pioneer hip-hop feminist Joan Morgan takes on Lauryn Hill, the complicated star whose monumental album changed the world, and we finally get the loving, vibrant, critical attention the artist, her work, and her generation has been due. This book is a listening companion with attitude and a sure-shot conversation starter. You may never hear Ms. Hill the same again.”— Jeff Chang, author of We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation
“The dope shit always needs a remix, if only to be reminded of the brilliance of the original joint. And if you were on the scene back in ‘98, you knew it would be Joan Morgan who would remix The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, because who else would it be but another Caribbean sister stepping in the world fly AF and with the gift of verse? Lauryn might have Begat This, but Joan Morgan is giving it back to us all lovely and new and as vital as it was that summer of ‘98.” — Mark Anthony Neal, Chair of the Department of African & African American Studies at Duke University
“With She Begat This, Joan Morgan brings the full lyrical prowess of her unstoppable flow and ferocious prose to tell the multilayered saga of Lauryn Hill’s seminal masterpiece. Morgan serves up an intimate artistic portrait that is compassionate, unflinching, and imbued with the razor-sharp analysis and from-the-heart truth-telling that made her a legend of hip-hop journalism.”— Daniel José Older, New York Times bestselling author of Shadowshaper and Dactyl Hill Squad, winner of the International Latino Book Award
"A new book by Joan Morgan would be cause for celebration whether it was about Lauryn Hill, Bunker Hill, or ant hills. But for hip hop's founding feminist and most incisive critic to apply the force of her intellect, the power of her memory, and the dexterity of her cultural mixology to a record so fraught with meaning and misunderstanding makes me feel the way I did the first time I heard the needle drop on 'Lost Ones.' In fact, I'm dancing with one fist in the air as I write this." — Adam Mansbach, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Part storytelling, part cultural commentary; part cipher, part praise-song, Joan Morgan’s She Begat This is perhaps the most necessary read for the present Black cultural moment. Twenty years after the release of Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Morgan’s frame of the moment, solidifies its importance as Hip Hop zeitgeist occurrence; as catalyst to our age of fierce Black outrage, and millennial Black claim. That it also serves to re-establish Morgan as Hip Hop feminism’s high-priest must be recognized, and we mean it in the manner of Hip Hop imperative . . . Recognize!”— Roger Bonair Agard, National Book Award nominee and author of Bury My Clothes and Where Brooklyn At
About the Author:
A pioneering hip-hop journalist and award-winning feminist author, Joan Morgan coined the term “hip-hop feminism” in 1999 with the publication of When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost, which is now used at colleges across the country. Morgan has taught at Duke University, Stanford University, and The New School.
At 43, Ms. Lauryn Hill's lasting legacy is her resilience
RaheemVeal
May 26, 2018
Revolt
The world’s first introduction to Lauryn Hill was her pivotal role in Sister Act 2
(1993), in which she played a rebellious, outspoken Catholic student.
In the film, she performed a stunning rendition of the gospel hymn “His
Eye is on the Sparrow” and brought an energy that was beyond her years.
Although this role was only the beginning of Hill’s legendary career, it
was indicative of her true essence. Here was a supremely-talented,
young female artist who was uncompromising in her faith and beliefs.
Armed with a powerful voice and iconic presence, Lauryn Hill’s awareness
of her human weakness was her strongest weapon. Her words would change
the world.
In a 2012 interview with The Jewish Chronicle, rapper Drake
claimed to be “the first person to successfully rap and sing.” Hip-hop
purists were rightfully outraged—many of them instantly naming someone
who was a better emcee and vocalist in her era: Lauryn Hill. The East
Orange, N.J. native began her music career as a member of innovative rap
group The Fugees in high school with the nickname “L Boogie.” Their
sound—tailored by Haitian producer, rapper, and singer Wyclef Jean—mixed
traditional hip-hop with reggae and R&B. On their standout album The Score,
the group achieved massive critical and commercial success. However,
the conglomerate would not last. As the group’s most gifted vocalist and
lyricist, Hill was pressured by record execs to embark on a solo
career. She initially refused. With tensions rising over a failed
romance between her and Wyclef, Hill began to reconsider. This decision
led to the creation of what is universally accepted as one of the
greatest albums of all time.
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
is widely considered the most important artifact of feminism in
hip-hop. Hill’s solo debut sold over 10 million copies worldwide and set
records with its critical acclaim. She won five Grammy awards for The Miseducation—including
Album of the Year— which became the first hip-hop album to bring home
the award show’s highest honor. Her ten nominations and five wins were
the most ever by a female artist. Critics lauded the album’s themes of
pain, empowerment, uplift, and motherhood from a black woman’s
perspective. The album made such an impact that it was added to the
permanent Library of Congress collection in 2015. Her eccentric style,
multi-genre musicianship, and youthful brilliance gave her massive
crossover appeal. Hill had the music industry in her palm, at just 23,
seemingly for decades to come. As her songs revealed, however, Hill’s
smile and cool persona masked a tumultuous internal struggle with fame.
On
a body of work ripe with vulnerability, “To Zion” is the album’s rawest
cut. Hill confronts her battles with maternity and receiving advice
from friends and family that she should abort her first child for the
sake of her career. As described in the song’s intimate lyrics, keeping
her son was the most important decision she’d ever made. This dilemma
forced Hill to further define her idea of Christianity and faith.
Ultimately, she followed her intuition—a move that empowered women,
especially women of color, worldwide to exercise agency over their own
bodies. The Miseducation addresses marginalized communities
with the theme of universal love. In digging deeper than romantic love,
Hill reflects on her journey in learning to love God, the Earth, her
community, her loved ones, her enemies, and, finally, herself.
Unwilling
to compromise with label executives on her sound or appearance, Hill
soon began to fade from the public eye, taking her career with her. In
2002, she performed an intimate, acoustic set for MTV Unplugged.
Although many of the songs were improvised and perhaps only skeletons
for more refined tracks, the MTV special received negative reviews.
Critics slammed Hill for her “radical” lyrics and simplistic
arrangements. This rejection caused Hill to take a hiatus from music and
fade deeper into privacy.
Many fans, including Kanye West,
often lament over the fact that Ms. Hill never had the opportunity to
maximize her potential as a musician. Two or three more albums may have
redefined the career of an artist with as much pure talent as the
Michael Jacksons and Stevie Wonders of the world. Nearly two decades
removed from her opus, many fans now identify Ms. Hill by her tendency to arrive late, cancel concerts, or make inflammatory statements. The beauty is that we cannot change or define her. She cannot be contained. There
are reasons, other than her dexterous flow and pointed lyricism, that
this artist is widely respected in hip-hop. Lauryn Hill inspired
generations of black women to love limitlessly, carry themselves with
pride, follow their own intuition, and create community in each other.
The last line of the album’s title track states the legacy Ms. Hill
carved out for herself: “I made up my mind / to define my own destiny.” ALSO READ: We weren't ready for Lauryn Hill's Unplugged…in more ways than one https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/cardi-b-drake-and-the-art-of-sampling-lauryn-hill
Part of the point of sampling Hill is to tap into her cult of seriousnes. Photograph by Peter Pakvis / Redferns / Getty
Listening to Drake’s empowerment anthem “Nice for What,”
which was released last Friday, and Cardi B’s “Be Careful,” which came
out in late March, I have been taken back to 1998. Through something
like serendipity, the two singles both feature samples from Lauryn
Hill’s “Ex-Factor,” a track from her début solo album, “The Miseducation
of Lauryn Hill.” A work of love, God, and maternal ego, the album is a
modern masterpiece of Christian poetics that has prompted worship as a
thesis on hip-hop and soul. In the two decades since its release,
however, Hill has become a volatile symbol. There is the
twenty-three-year-old Hill, whose rhythms, lyrics, and voice have been
sampled nearly two hundred times. And then there is the Hill of the
present, a black female artist whose exquisite sensitivity to the
material world has apparently provoked her withdrawal from it. After
the disbandment of the Fugees, in 1997, Hill, who had spent her
childhood in the mixed-race suburbs of New Jersey, travelled to Tuff
Gong, the studio that Bob Marley built in Kingston, Jamaica, to record a
solo album. At the time, Hill was pregnant by Marley’s son, Rohan. “The
Miseducation” arrived as the dispatch of a woman who speaks of herself
as a Marian figure, touching “her belly overwhelmed,” as she sings on
“To Zion,” channelling the ancient link between the onset of motherhood
and the flow of creativity. (While most artists who sample Hill are
upstaged by her, Hill’s own dexterity in sampling only revealed her
musical prowess; “Ex-Factor” takes from the Wu-Tang Clan’s “Can It All
Be So Simple.”) Part of the point of sampling Hill is to tap into
her cult of seriousness. As an artist, she represents a purity almost on
the level of abstinence. Two years after the release of her début, she
parted ways with her management and fell in with a spiritual guru. She
spat at the wealth and sex of the day through her performance on “MTV
Unplugged No. 2.0,” the live acoustic effort she released in 2002, which
extends the provocations of “Miseducation” in alternately prophetic and
parodic ways. Since then, she has occasionally released singles,
including “The Passion,” for Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion of the
Christ,” but not another album. In the few interviews she has given, she
has emphasized that she finds not only the music industry but also the
whole of Western culture to be incompatible with her world view. “When
people capitalize on a persona, they forget there is a person there,”
she said in a statement, in 2013, before receiving her three-month
prison sentence for tax evasion. These days, when Hill performs,
she tends to be late—after one show in Atlanta, in 2016, she blamed
needing to “align her energy”—and sometimes leaves early. (Over the
years, I have waited a combined twelve hours for her to walk onstage.)
When she does complete a set, she is often puzzling—refashioning her
songs until they are nearly unrecognizable, for instance. “Ex-Factor,”
likely about her breakup with her former bandmate Wyclef Jean, is
soaring and plaintive, but lately Hill has translated the song into
furious bossa nova. And yet I resist the narrative that Hill is crazy or
lost—that she has failed because she has chosen not to participate in
that which causes her strain. Very few artists make work with such a
pulse, and this achievement seems even more vital in the age of
flash-in-the-pan releases. Interestingly, Cardi B and Drake are
both the kinds of artist that, one might imagine, would enervate Hill, a
known evangelist of “real hip-hop.” Hill is exactly the traditionalist
whom people cite when they argue that Cardi is not a proper musician—and
the twenty-five-year-old “new rap celebrity”
knowingly invokes the acrylic-nailed siren whom Hill cautioned men
against in “Doo Wop (That Thing).” And yet, for all that rap may have
changed, heartbreak connects the two women: using a sliver of Hill’s
“Ex-Factor” hook for the bridge on “Be Careful,” Cardi B transforms
Hill’s ecstatic loneliness into a warning: “Boy, you better treat me
carefully, carefully.” Drake, meanwhile, a stylish capitalist who looks
at music as a trend-forecasting business, tends to use female vocals
from the nineties to assert his emotional acumen. By sampling Hill, and
by showcasing the other female celebrities—Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa
Rae—who preen in the accompanying music video, he appropriates feminist
zeal for a carefree summer track. On “Nice for What,” Drake has spun his
globe and landed his finger on Louisiana; the song begins with the
rallies of the New Orleans bounce veteran Big Freedia, and then quickens
and stutters Hill’s vocals. Influential art has always spawned
second lives that appear to contradict their origins. And yet there are
quiet convergences even between Hill and Cardi B—two figures who might
appear to be opposites in tone, attitude, dress, and everything else.
Last year, with “Bodak Yellow,” Cardi B became the first female rapper
since Hill to have a No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100. On last
week’s episode of “Saturday Night Live,” as Cardi performed “Be
Careful,” the camera slowly zoomed out to reveal her pregnancy. Women
artists are still criticized for the false choice of motherhood over
career; in the defiance of Cardi, I couldn’t help but recall the
defiance of Hill, who sang in “To Zion” about finding joy in the new
life of her son. As I watched Cardi B
on Saturday night, I imagined her younger self, captivated by Hill as a
child, taking from her what she needed, as she began charting her own
path.
Doreen St. Félix is a staff writer at The New Yorker.
Previously, she was a culture writer at MTV News and an editor-at-large at Lenny. Her writing has appeared in the Times Magazine, New York, Vogue, The Fader, and Pitchfork.
A Star, More Than Just a Voice, Is Back Onstage With Her Magnetism Intact
Lauryn Hill Re-Emerges at the Bowery Ballroom
Lauryn Hill performing Wednesday at the Bowery Ballroom on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She reimagined some of her songs.Credit
Chad Batka for The New York Times
It wasn’t just a club date and the start of a tour; it was also a video shoot. When Lauryn Hill
performed at the Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday night, the camera
swiveling over the heads of the audience suggested that the show was
something more than Ms. Hill’s re-emergence after her recent three-month jail term
for failing to file taxes. It was gathering the kind of material
performers use to promote new releases — which, in Ms. Hill’s case,
would be more than welcome.
She
has extraordinary gifts. Though her voice is lower and raspier than it
was when she emerged in the 1990s, she is a supercharged soul singer who
stokes her songs all the way through, and her rapping is breakneck,
articulate and vehement. She’s also an improvisatory, drama-building
bandleader. Throughout her two-hour set, her musicians were watching for
her signals; to bear down on a vamp or silence it, to unveil pretty,
elaborately planned vocal counterpoint from her three backup singers or
to whip up a churchy fervor.
There
were some moments that seemed like an open rehearsal, but many more
that had been well plotted to give old songs new life. “Lost Ones,” from
1998, arrived with two reinvented grooves, switching halfway through:
first 1960s soul, then reggae. “I have to make these songs sustainable
to perform,” Ms. Hill said. “You wouldn’t want me to just, like a robot,
do the same thing every night.”
Yet
on a larger scale, Ms. Hill has been in a holding pattern for more than
a decade. After she made two albums as a member of the Fugees, she
released her only solo studio album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,”
in 1998; it won five Grammy Awards. It was followed by a skeletal live
recording, “MTV Unplugged No. 2.0,” released in 2002, that backed new
songs with only an acoustic guitar. Since then, while raising six
children, Ms. Hill has toured on and off, released occasional songs
online and on film soundtracks, and collaborated with rappers and
R&B singers. This year, bracketing her jail term, she has released
two new songs: the angry, tongue-twisting, polysyllabic raps “Neurotic Society (Compulsory Mix)” and “Consumerism,” both taking aim at greed, immorality, abuse, materialism and obliviousness.
At
the Bowery, she made “Consumerism” her first encore, riding the shouts
and squeals of the crowd as she returned to the stage. After she
performed it, she recited some of it far more slowly to let it sink in:
But
that was the only new material, except for a rap that her son Joshua,
appearing amid the encores, read from a smartphone. The rest of the
songs were familiar: songs from “Miseducation,” Fugees material (in
which Ms. Hill rapped verses from the other two Fugees members along
with her own), songs from Stevie Wonder and Bob Marley and a full-length
version of “I Only Have Eyes for You” leading into the Fugees song that
sampled it, “Zealots” (with an unrehearsed guest appearance from the
Fugees’ producer and bassist, Jerry Duplessis). Songs that had been
hip-hop were recast as reggae, funk and rock; the Fugees’ “How Many
Mics” was mashed up with “Can’t Stand Losing You” by the Police. Ms.
Hill also sang “Happy Birthday” for an audience member.
It
was an exultant show, and anything but robotic. But it was also an
oldies show from a performer who probably has something more to say now.
Lauryn Hill’s tour continues
in Washington (Dec. 15); Boston (Dec. 18); Red Bank, N.J. (Dec. 22);
Huntington, N.Y., (Dec. 26); and Port Chester, N.Y. (Dec. 28).
Information: lauryn-hill.com.
A version of this review appears in print on November 29, 2013, on Page C16 of the New York edition with the headline: A Star, More Than Just a Voice, Is Back Onstage With Her Magnetism Intact. Order Reprints|Today's Paper
In 1993 Lauryn Hill was the girl with the "big joyful musical voice."
In 1996 she was the great rap hope. In 1998 she was the stunning force
behind one of the year's most beloved albums. And in 2010 Lauryn Hill
is more than an emcee. She's more than a singer, more than a woman, at
this point. She's a myth and a legend, regarded by many as a symbol of
hope for hip hop and music at large, spoken and sung about with a sigh of what could have been.
Yes,
Sunday night, on the last stop of the Rock the Bells tour, she kept DC
waiting for three hours—the first hour of which her loyal fans sat
through patiently, waiting for their chance to catch a glimpse of this
elusive figure in their personal hip hop histories. Yes, people started
booing and the frustrated tweets started pouring into the #rockthebells
Twitter feed. Yes, she performed a rushed set with unfamiliar
arrangements to fans eager to hear their beloved classics as they were
first created. But those calling her a "shell of her former self," saying that she's "punishing her legacy,"
would be wise to heed Jelani Cobb's words: "The artist who left your head spinning with her debut,
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, is long gone. But then, so is the you
that first heard it." We're not the same person we were 13 years ago,
and neither is Lauryn.
When it comes to L-Boogie, you have to just be thankful you even got to see her.
The
former member of the Fugees collected her five Grammys in 1998 for The
Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and then disappeared from the national
spotlight. Her hiatus seemed normal enough at first, but soon rumors of
bizarre behavior and reports
from those close to Hill said that the pressure accompanying such
quick, enormous success pushed her further into seclusion. She focused
on her family, raising her five children from Rohan Marley—with whom
she is "spiritually together," but does not reside—in New Jersey,
living with her mother.
In the years since Miseducation, she's
emerged only now and again with a recording or performance, most
memorably during a reunion with the rest of the Fugees for Dave
Chappelle's Block Party. There were hopes that the Fugees would get
back together, but those plans were quickly thwarted after group
members Pras Michel and Wyclef Jean (who dated Hill for most of their
time as the Fugees) cited her increasingly erratic behavior and
tardiness to shows as barriers in future work together. She had begun
seeing a reportedly cult-ish spiritual advisor, whom many cite as
having a hand in her detachment from the public eye, and she's released
a slew of bizarre comments in the media, ranging from her rants during MTV Unplugged to her comments criticizing the Catholic Church during her performance at the Vatican in 2003.
Given
this knowledge of Hill and her elusive nature, her history of abandoned
or tardy performances, and untouchable, otherworldly presence in music
and culture, I took the formal announcement of her inclusion in the
Rock the Bells tour with a grain of salt. Words printed on a festival
poster meant nothing—I'd have to see her with my own eyes.
The
stage was set with her band's equipment and Hill was expected to take
the stage at the Merriweather Post Pavillion at 4:20 p.m. Forty minutes
quickly passed and there was still no sign of the singer. Rapper
Supernatural came out to freestyle and ease the testy crowd, and after
two hours concert organizer Chang Weisberg came out to inform the crowd
that Lauryn was "sick" and suffering from "dehydration in her throat."
"Don't kill the messenger!" he pleaded as the crowd erupted in boos and
groans. Strangers turned to each other in disbelief and anger, "How
could she do this to us?" Rapper Phonte referenced a Hill lyric, tweeting: "To all my tweepies out at DC #RockTheBells, I guess you just lost one. #toosoon #?" A
Tribe Called Quest came onstage and performed a raucous and impeccable
set—as they always do—to an audience just thankful that someone was
performing at all. But, even as Busta Rhymes came onstage in a surprise
performance toward the end of the set, it wasn't quite enough to erase
the feeling of betrayal we had all experienced from our girl Lauryn. As
my friends and I went to refill our water bottles during the
intermission, it was clear that no one was over the realization that
the main event, the reason so many visitors spent over $100 to attend
the show, had proven to be only a tease.
Then, we heard a
voice—even in its raspiness, it's unmistakable—Lauryn was onstage.
Crowds waiting for water, bathrooms, and food all began to scramble for
their seats. My friend and I sprinted for the photo pit—coming to a
halt at the gate before descending down to take photos. There she
was—vibrant and strong, moving, dancing, shaking, and commanding the
crowd at a frenzied pace. She opened her set with a manic rendition of "Lost Ones,"
dancing and rhyming at spitfire speed. "Ex-Factor" was not the same
nuanced song of pain as it is on the album, but it had its own furious
energy about it—how she might have sounded in the heat of the moment of
a messy breakup, rather than after having reflected for a minute.
She
ripped through all three Fugees members' verses no problem on "Ready or
Not," to the crowd's crazed delight, proving that her flow and lyrical
dexterity had not escaped her. (Though her dehydration story seemed to
be true—her voice gave out during one section of the song. Her fans were
right there to pick her back up, screaming the words out for her as she
looked back and smiled, appearing grateful and surprised.) Hill brought
out Nas for "If I Ruled the
World," an unexpected guest, though he could barely be heard due to
microphone trouble and the volume of the band. Lauryn walked back and
forth across the stage, dabbing her face with a towel. The expressions
of pain and sorrow from the album were palpable in her performance, as
she sung out and beads of sweat rolled down her face. And it was for
us. She was letting us in, letting her guard down and allowing us to
share in her world for a moment. And just as quickly and
unexpectedly as she came, she left. Heart racing, we all looked around.
Like a shot of a drug, our 20 minutes with Lauryn was intense, strange
and ecstatic...and left us wondering what just happened after it was all
over. While her set didn't make those yearning to hear her original
classics particularly happy, the energy and fun that the crowd was
enjoying during her performance (at least in the pit) is undeniable. Yes,
she's an artist and should be held to the same standards we've always
held other artists to—a subpar performance should yield a subpar
review. Her tardiness was unprofessional, though not entirely
surprising. But Lauryn has never been just another artist. She
captivated the world in the late '90s, unprepared for the sudden and
intense projection onto her of all that hip hop was supposed to be—the
torch was shoved into her hand and she was expected to lead in a race
she wasn't sure she signed up to even be in. Despite her absence, her
music has lived on; she's not just a rapper's rapper or a Top 40
R&B darling—she's considered one of the greatest emcees ever, with
Talib Kweli recording a song begging her to come back and Chris Rock literally falling to his knees in her presence. With that kind of pressure, I'm just happy to see her slowly taking steps to come back to us.
Aylin Zafaris a freelance writer based in New York.
Now tell me your philosophy On exactly what an artist should be Should they be someone with prosperity And no concept of reality? Now, who you know without any flaws? That lives above the spiritual laws? And does anything they feel just because There's always someone there who'll applaud?
1998 was, perhaps, the last great year for hip hop: OutKast’s Aquemini; DMX and Big Pun making their debuts; Mos Def and Talib Kweli teaming up for Black Star; and Gang Starr reappearing with Moment of Truth. Then there was Lauryn Hill. At a time when the music was striking an interesting balance between
serving its original audience, evolving its ideals and becoming part of
the mainstream on its own terms, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill vastly
raised that particular game. It was a collection so all-embracing it
laid down a new set of standards that articulate black pop needed to pay
attention to. What put so much musical daylight between Hill the solo
artist and Hill the former Fugee
– themselves a previous benchmark for mainstream-friendly hip hop – is
how she approached the work from a pop perspective, layering it gently
on a hip hop soundbed, then garnishing it with splashes of soul, gospel,
reggae and funk. Musically the album retains its integrity yet won’t
challenge an unfamiliar audience, allowing Hill’s lyrical ideas to be
fully appreciated. And it’s in what she talks about that Miseducation
becomes the album that won a record five Grammy Awards from 10
nominations. The album is all about love in its many manifestations: joy (To Zion
and Nothing Even Matters); pain (I Used to Love Him); disappointment
(Doo Wop and Lost Ones); and optimism (Can’t Take My Eyes Off You).
Sometimes it’s intensely personal (Ex-Factor), or takes a wider
perspective (Everything Is Everything and Every Ghetto, Every City), or
might even be an attack on her former bandmates (Superstar and Forgive
Them Father). In every case, though, there’s an astuteness and
sensitivity disproving the notion that hip hop audiences have only two
speeds – radical or licentious. Hill’s poetry assumes a liberating
intelligence among her listeners, to be repaid as they follow her
unflinchingly into some of the more intimate aspects of her life. This in itself is another balancing act: the album is self-possessed
without being self-obsessed, and while an enduring vibe is empowerment
nothing is immodest. Hill’s songs bring the craft of Joni Mitchell or Carly Simon
to the dawn of the 21st century, rooted in a specific genre but
delivered with universal empathy that makes it impossible for anybody
ignore. Indeed, you can nearly forgive the ultra-cheesey skits between
the tracks, in which kids discuss what love means to them.
American pop and rhythm & blues musician Lauryn Hill, 1998. Anthony Barboza/Getty
LAURYN HILL NEVER DID MAKE IT back to Columbia University; her
formal education was put on hold when she and her Fugees band mates cut The Score,
changed the summer of ’96 and sold 17 million records worldwide. After
the band won two Grammys, Hill embarked on an ambitious course of
independent study, giving birth to Bob Marley’s grandson (with Rohan
Marley), writing a song for Aretha Franklin and taking a break from
Fugee mates Wyclef Jean and Pras. Now Hill, 23, who’s pregnant again,
presents the term’s final project, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,
a soulful solo debut that’s more than a dissertation — it’s one of the
most personal, provocative R&B narratives of the decade.
Do you think the album’s title will throw people off? It’s
supposed to throw people off. It’s not anything that my teachers should
take offense to, because it’s not really about me being miseducated.
It’s more about me finding myself. I think we receive lots of
information that’s supposed to be good for everyone, but we’re all
unique.
What have you had to figure out? I make mistakes.
I’ve had my heart broken. I’m not embarrassed to expose myself in the
sense that I’m human. I’m not embarrassed to tell someone how happy I
was when I had my child, or how conflicted I was, or how much I love
God. I don’t feel like I have to put up a front to the people who want
to hear my music.
Did you cry while you were making this album? Wow. Um, the album came after so much hurt that by the time I had done these tunes, I’d gotten out all my tears.
People expected a hip-hop album from you. I think it’s an honest
album. When I think of honest music, I think of soul. Music’s more
technical now; it strives for perfection. Soul music strives for the
heart.
There’s some tension on “Lost Ones.” Is that song about Wyclef? That’s
just people trying to start controversy. In any group you’re going to
have different dynamics. We have real relationships, and when you have
that you’re going to have issues. You have to remember, I’ve been with
these guys every day for six or seven years.
What was it like writing a song for Aretha Franklin? It’s
amazing to have Aretha singing words that you wrote. You wanna hear
something funny? When I recorded with her in Detroit, I went into the
vocal booth after she came out, and it smelled like church, like paper
fans with wooden sticks. I’m not kidding. Like it came out of her pores.
How has motherhood changed you? Having
a child puts everything back in perspective. You start to realize
what’s important. If I stopped enjoying this business, I could quit. I
never want the industry to drive me; I want to drive it. I want to be a
part of a new class of artists who don’t have to fall apart to be dope.
I’d rather not chronicle my demise. When you’re young and everything
dramatic is exciting, you start to believe that you have to suffer to be
an artist. I’ve graduated from that school. The song “Superstar” is very critical of the quality of hip-hop and R&B. Once
I had my child, I was forced to sit still. Had I not sat still, maybe I
would have been caught up in the whirlwind, too. But because I was on
the outside, I could see just how materialistic the industry was…. It
frustrated me that it had nothing to do with talent and musical merit.
MCs didn’t have to write their rhymes; singers didn’t really have to be
able to sing. I just felt like the world of music was upside down. But you have hope? One of the things that keeps
me excited about hip-hop is that no matter what’s out there on the
airwaves blowing up, there’s some kid in a basement somewhere,
developing that new style, just waiting to be discovered. Hip-hop has a
way of purging itself. Right now we’re in kind of a holding pattern,
waiting for that next kid, that next wave.
Last night, Nina Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and as part of the induction ceremony, Andra Day and Lauryn Hill
paid tribute to the late musician with a heartfelt medley of her songs
“I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free,” “I Put a Spell on You,”
and “Feeling Good” in Cleveland.
Day and Hill revealed the true variety of Simone’s catalog,
as they transitioned from the Civil Rights anthem “I Wish I Knew How It
Would Feel to Be Free” to the upbeat “I Put a Spell on You” that Simone
made her own later in life. Backed by the Roots,
the pair found a new side of Simone’s material, bridging the gap
between the music’s original release and the many challenges of the
current moment politically. Watch the performance below.
Nina Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with The Moody Blues, Dire Straits, The Cars, Bon Jovi, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Watch Andra Day and Lauryn Hill’s tribute below.
It's been 20 years since Ms. Lauryn Hill dropped her iconic debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. To celebrate, the legendary singer hasput on pop-up performances,
embarked on a major world tour, and thanks to Woolrich, nabbed a
starring role in a fashion campaign for the first time in her career.
Titled Woolrich: American Soul Since 1830, the
campaign shines a spotlight on "artists whose creative ingenuity is at
the very heart of American culture." It follows Ms. Lauryn Hill
throughout the streets of Harlem, which is also where she shot the video
for her 1998 single "Doo Wop."
In addition to posing in front of the camera, Ms.
Lauryn Hill also worked behind the scenes co-creating an exclusive
capsule collection that features Woolrich's classic outerwear styles
reworked into Lauryn Hill-approved designs. Shot and filmed by Jack
Davidson, the singer makes her way to the famed Apollo Theater where she
performs a live rendition of her single "Ex-Factor" while wearing the
Arctic Parka (with a black and white portrait of herself printed on the
back) and the Silverton Coat featuring Woolrich's trademark buffalo
check.
"The opportunity to work with Ms. Hill was the
perfect start to our ongoing ‘American Soul’ project, highlighting
Woolrich’s American heritage," Andrea Canè, creative director of
Woolrich said in a press release. "We wanted Ms. Hill to bring her
unique artistic eye to the product and DNA of the brand so we invited
her to put her own spin on these classic Woolrich styles, reflecting her
interpretation of ‘American Soul.’ ”
On June 1, 2015, guests in Harlem’s historic Apollo Theater
were perched at the edge of their seats. The house lights were up,
and the credits from the premiere of the Netflix documentary, What Happened, Miss Simone?,
had wrapped. Next would be a live performance from an undisclosed
artist affiliated with the film, and the audience — myself included —
whispered guesses as to who it might be. After a five-minute speech from director Liz Garbus, out stepped a tiny, muscular woman encased in angelic, flowing white: Lauryn Hill — actually, that’s Ms. Lauryn Hill to
you. The crowd, which included R&B royalty like Usher and Mary J.
Blige — plus Nina Simone’s singer/actress daughter, Lisa — were audibly
(and understandably) elated. Confidently charging forward as though
she’d never spent a moment out of the limelight, the stately
singer surged into an earnest cover of Simone’s take on Jacques Brel’s “Ne me quitte pas.” The
moment’s significance wasn’t lost on her eager spectators. Hill, one of
the most elusive figures in popular music, was back, and we’d get to
hear more of her — six songs in fact, the most at once since 2002 — via RCA’s tribute album, Nina Revisited: A Tribute to Nina Simone (out last week). Today, it’s being said that Hill takes on new projects to pay back taxes, for which she spent three months in prison. As of March 2014,
she still owes the federal government approximately $900,000. But the
“why” of her return shouldn’t matter — her live vocal gifts, although
gruffer with time, continue to garner widespread coverage and critical praise. “This album mainly showcases Lauryn Hill’s breadth and dexterity,” NPR Music applauded. On Nina Revisited,
Hill’s room-expanding trill has grown huskier, and a drop more rigid
than her ’90s-era malleability, but the textural change hasn’t limited
her ability to hypnotize audiences. Even compared to her fellow
standards singers on Nina Revisited (Blige and Usher again, plus more R&B principals like Grace and Jazmine Sullivan), Hill’s long-missed pipes easily surpass her contemporaries in power and presence.
Though she has made sporadic live appearances over the last few
years, playing international and Stateside fests including Rock the
Bells in 2010 and Coachella in 2011, Hill’s most recent step forward
follows an abyss of mixed reviews and hopeful-sounding career updates. Even when rumored collaborations with Kanye West or a brand-new album haven’t come to fruition, audiences still flock to her sometimes-unpunctual sets and stay put through “clunky”
set arrangements. When she stopped the orchestra three times at her
Apollo set (she wanted to get the sound on “I’ve Got Life” just right),
no one booed or jeered. The audience stayed still and affixed their
collective gaze to Hill. So, what does this latest reemergence mean? Some — and I count myself among them — feel optimistic. Others argue that
we should stop expecting the unpredictable 40-year-old to “devolve
into” her erstwhile 20-year-old self. Whether or not Hill’s overwhelming
involvement on Simone’s tribute record is another avenue to
write checks to the federal government (or simply the musical equivalent
of a short-lived pop-up art gallery), this latest reemergence remains
an effective, true-to-Hill way to satisfy that debt. Her genre-spanning
covers, spoken-word re-workings, and all-instrumental productions of
undulating tracks like “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” and
“Feeling Good” indicate that yes, like Simone, she’s (still) got life.
Passion project or not, Hill’s attachment to Simone’s memorial is a good thing. She rarely, if ever, does interviews, but she did release a single statement
commenting on her connection to Simone: “Because I fed on this music … I
believed I always had a right to have a voice. Her example is clearly a
form of sustenance to a generation needing to find theirs. What a
gift.” The onetime Fugee’s newfound enthusiasm is clear: Originally booked to contribute just two songs to Revisited,
she later expanded her role to four more and even hooked an executive
producer credit. It’s a long-awaited return to music on her terms. And Simone, who spent too many years being held at arm’s length by the mainstream due to an undiagnosed bipolar condition and
her heavy involvement in the Civil Rights movement, will find new ears
via world-famous acolytes like Hill, whose own legacy looks remarkably
like her musical predecessor.
Hill grew up in South Orange, New Jersey in the ’80s. It
being the post-Jim Crow era, she didn’t spend her childhood suffering
through the degree of poverty and isolation as Simone did in 1930s North
Carolina. “Even when the kids used to play, they always just wanted me
to play the piano for them to dance,” Simone says in a What Happened, Miss Simone?
voiceover. Hill also didn’t face the same level of blatant racial
discrimination as her progenitor, who, in 1951, was infamously denied a
scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in
Philadelphia. (To make amends, the school prepared an honorary degree
for her in 2003, but Simone died shortly before the ceremony.)
Still, the connection between the two artists takes root beyond
simply musical affiliations — both women have evaded taxes for
reasons rooted in protest, been termed “erratic,”and publicly gravitated toward political extremes involving the United States’ treatment of black communities.
Hill, like Simone, shot to fame in her 20s. In the ’90s, she enjoyed a
tremendous swell of success as a breakout star with hip-hop trio the Fugees, and then again when her epochal solo debut dropped in 1998. A Grammy-winning hip-hop/neo-soul compendium, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
showcased chart-dominating singles like “Doo Wop (That Thing)” and
“Everything Is Everything” and, in the years since its release, sold
more than 19 million copies worldwide, but her post-Miseducation output has been scarce — something observers have attributed to self-imposed exile, frustration with corrupt music business practices, wanting to focus on motherhood and “personal-growth things,” and even struggles with mental illness.
Simone’s early commercial work took the form with piano-jazz
hits like George Gershwin’s “I Loves You, Porgy” (1958) and “My Baby
Just Cares For Me” (1958). Come the ’60s, though, Simone became heavily,
even obsessively, involved in activist circles, something Garbus’
documentary pores over in detail. “When the Civil Rights thing came,”
Simone says in the film, “I could let myself be heard [with] what I’d
been feeling all the time.”
The “High Priestess of Soul” fostered
close relationships with iconic and controversial figures of the time:
novelist James Baldwin, poet Langston Hughes, playwright Lorraine
Hansberry, and black pride revolutionary Malcolm X and his wife, Betty
Shabaz — who also happened to be Simone’s next-door neighbors in Mt.
Vernon, New York. Through her “not nonviolent”
rallying for equal rights with strident anthems like the
irate “Mississippi Goddam” (“Alabama’s gotten me so upset / Tennessee
made me lose my rest / And everybody knows about Mississippi, goddam!”),
“To Be Young, Gifted and Black,” and the jazzy “Old Jim Crow,” Simone
frequently took her calls for action a step further, challenging audiences, “Are you ready to burn buildings?,” and her mainstream viability floundered.
“They didn’t have cursing on the radio or on television,” Lisa Simone
reminisces in the documentary. “DJs refused to play ‘Mississippi
Goddam.’ Boxes of the 45 used to be sent back from the radio stations
cracked in two.” Gerrit De Bruin, a friend of Simone’s, also recalls:
“At a certain point, Nina started to play only political songs and
nothing else, and that started to hurt her career. It became a problem
to book her because promoters were a little bit afraid it might only be
the political message they were getting.”
Hill has had her own public moments of lyrical fury (“Every Ghetto, Every City,” “Black Rage”),
which are echoed on the rapped and reconfigured “I’ve Got Life.”
Diverting from Simone’s criticism of how America has treated black
society (“I ain’t got no home, ain’t got no shoes / Ain’t got no money,
ain’t got no class”), Hill adjusts the language to meet for present-day
issues like the country’s institutional hypocrisy.(“Invisible ink in the
constitution / Meant to preserve the institution”), resulting in the
“unequal distribution of wealth, goods, and services.” Sometimes Hill’s point of view has snowballed into false rumor; in 1996 a Howard Stern Show caller claimed the singer/rapper had told MTV that she’d rather see her child starve than have a white kid buy her album. “What I did say,” Hill clarified later in a statement to critics, “Was that I love my people, black people, and I will continue to make music for them.” Around the time her tax evasion became public knowledge in 2012,
Hill released a brief smattering of politically incendiary singles (“Neurotic Society (Compulsory Mix),”“Consumerism”)
and, once freed from a three-month stint in a Danbury federal prison,
booked live sets here and there, some of which she either arrived late to or flat-out canceled. But her most recent appearances, save for one in London and another in Israel,
have run mostly on schedule — on top of her stint at the Apollo, in
just the past year alone, she successfully played back-to-back shows at New York’s Blue Note in February, and headlined Louis Armstrong’s Wonderful World in Queens just last month. Of her free Corona Park set, the Village Voice
wrote, “What we had was Ms. Hill being Ms. Hill: inconsistent — but
spellbinding at her best.” There’s no possible way to predict
the future, but Hill’s smooth(ish) 2015 has critics feeling optimistic
on her behalf.
In the ‘70s, Simone left her abusive second husband
and manager, Andrew Stroud, who also controlled her income. Abruptly
moving out of the U.S. (she bounced through a handful of European
nations and the Netherlands through the late ’70s and early ’80s), she
expected that he would notify her when there were shows to play in the
U.S., but her ex assumed that she’d quit the music industry
indefinitely. When she did eventually come back to the States in the mid ’80s, she
learned that a warrant had been issued for her arrest due to unpaid
taxes — a move she considered a protest against America’s involvement
with the Vietnam War. Perennially avoiding the
authorities, Simone periodically returned to the States to play
shows, but never stuck around for good. Hill’s own tax troubles, as she wrote on Tumblr,
stemmed from a rejection of pop culture’s “climate of hostility, false
entitlement, manipulation, racial prejudice, sexism and ageism.” She
continued, “When I was working consistently without being affected by
the interferences mentioned above, I filed and paid my taxes. This only
stopped when it was necessary to withdraw from society, in order to
guarantee the safety and well-being of myself and my family.” Later, in
May 2013, she told
U.S. Magistrate Madeline Cox Arleo, “I am a child of former slaves who
had a system imposed on them. I had an economic system imposed on me.” For better or for worse, Hill lives life with the same intractable
wish to bypass the industry status quo and engage with the public
according to her rules — just as Simone once did. (Even as early as 1996
with the Fugees, she spat, “So while you’re imitating Al Capone / I’ll
be Nina Simone / And defecating on your microphone” in “Ready or Not.”)
At this point in her career, she is not wanting for fan attention or
critical adulation (publicity has consistently been a source of anxiety
for her in the past), but, in order to pay her debts, she likely does
need to work. Fortunately, her prestige allows a certain the freedom of
choice when it comes to which projects she’s drawn to, such as, say,
singing to a packed Apollo Theater eulogizing one of the most
influential singers of the 20th century.
Hill’s path has already diverted sharply from Simone’s. Unlike the latter’s self-imposed exile, which evolved from a wish to join all-black communities
in Liberia and Barbados to literal legal evasion, Hill has also been
mindful about paying off debts. Hopefully she’ll feel motivated to
unveil additional — perhaps even original — recorded material in the
years to come. But as it stands, Hill has Simone for inspiration. Today, whether she knows it or not, Hill has fulfilled a wish of her idol’s. In a 1997 interview with Allison Powell for Interview,
Simone is asked if she likes that Hill referenced her in “Ready or
Not.” Ever straightforward, Simone replies, “Yes, I just wish she had
sung one of my songs.”
Lauryn Hill's iconic debut album,
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, turns 20 this year, and to celebrate,
the singer is heading out on tour.
Five dates have been scheduled
in the UK and Ireland in November and December, in London, Manchester
Glasgow, Birmingham and Dublin. She will also be taking on a US tour, with a 20-date run across many major cities. The singer will perform the multi Grammy-winning record in its entirety at each of the shows. After chart success with the Fugees, Hill went solo and released Miseducation - her only studio record. The seminal album has gone three times platinum in the UK since its 1998 release, selling more than 19 million copies worldwide. At
the 1999 Grammys, the record won five awards including album of the
year. Hill brought together the sounds of reggae, rap and hip hop
infused with a soulful sweetness mixed with authentic lyrics. Speaking to BBC News, broadcaster Trevor Nelson says the importance of Lauryn Hill's album should not be underestimated. "She
is by far the single most important female artist of my time. She was
the second coming," he says, going on to name her record as his all-time
favourite album by a female artist. "She was as powerful a singer, as say Mary J [Blige] - not perfect
like Whitney [Houston], but really emotive - and then, for me, she was
the finest female rapper of her generation as well." The Radio 1Xtra DJ says the content of the lyrics was as key to the success as the musicality. "It
was really pure. She went against the grain and it brought credibility.
People were looking at R&B records as very ghetto fabulous. At the
time it was all about shiny videos, with girls in bikinis - but the
substance was lacking.
"Lauryn Hill brought substance to the game
at a major level. There were a lot of artists who had substance that
didn't get heard but she just had it all - she had the whole package."
Lauryn Hill UK & Ireland tour dates
Glasgow's SSE Hydro - 23 November
Manchester Arena - 26 November
Birmingham Arena - 27 November
Dublin 3Arena - 30 November
London O2 Arena - 3 December
DJ and Hits Radio presenter Sarah-Jane Crawford agrees calling the content "articulate and intellectual". "She is an incredible rapper by anyone's standards - I can't think of another female rapper doing things like that at that time. "She talked about her family, about women respecting themselves and being honest about feelings. She was real. "She
had this emotional maturity beyond her years - every song you could
connect to. And she did it all to these Afro beats and was proud of her
heritage. "She was proud to be black, she didn't straighten her hair - which was a big deal. She was an original black beauty." Part
of Hill's unprecedented success was that she broke through to white
audiences as a rapper and hip-hop artist, Crawford adds. "Lauryn Hill managed to connect to a mass global audience and manage to be socially conscious at the same time. "She was telling young people not to be promiscuous and to have confidence. She touches on race and youth and gender." Nelson
says she was a lyricist second to none: "You feel you have to listen to
the words," he says, admitting he usually prefers a song's hook or
bassline. "Even if you're not a lyrical type of person. It forces you. I
listened to every lyric on her album." Unsurprisingly, Hill is still cited as one of the key influences on many of today's most successful artists. Beyonce said listening to Lauryn Hill was a key thing that inspired her music. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly,
the Lemonade singer said: "There's definitely something beyond Lauryn
Hill that's in her voice and her mind when she writes songs. She's
gifted and blessed." Adele said in 2011 that her "favourite album
ever" was The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and recalls stealing the
record from her mum's collection and "analys[ing] the record for about a
month at the age of eight". "[I] was constantly wondering when I
would be that passionate about something, to write a record about it -
even though I didn't know I was going to make a record when I was
older." "I love her... she's brilliant," the Hello singer added. Lauryn
Hill is also credited with helping launch the career of megastar John
Legend, whose major recording debut was playing piano on Everything is
Everything, from the Miseducation album. Legend says
he was a student when Hill heard him play piano and "liked what she
heard". She subsequently asked him to play keys on the hit track. The
Ordinary People singer says it was "pretty cool" going back to school
having been a part of the LP because "it was the soundtrack to
everyone's year". In an interview with Rolling Stone,
Hill herself said: "[I wanted to] write songs that lyrically move me
and have the integrity of reggae and the knock of hip-hop and the
instrumentation of classic soul." She added she had been trying
to make an LP with a "raw" edge to it, and had deliberately avoided
using computers to compress and "smoothe" out the sound. "I wanna
hear that thickness of sound," she said. "You can't get that from a
computer, because a computer's too perfect. But that human element,
that's what makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I love
that." But now Hill is influencing a new generation of stars.
Through pure chance, both Cardi B and Drake have sampled Ex Factor on
their latest releases. Cardi B's Be Careful more subtly plays on
some of the lyrics from Hill's heartbreak anthem than Drake's Nice for
What, which contains the sped-up hook from the record throughout his
song. The New Yorker says:
"Cardi B transforms Hill's ecstatic loneliness into a warning: "Boy,
you better treat me carefully, carefully", while Drake uses it to
"assert his emotional acumen". Nelson says the sampling by Cardi B
and Drake is to be expected since, according to him, every artist who's
followed Lauryn Hill has been influenced by her. "They've all
been influenced by her. All of them. You can put Whitney [Houston],
Mariah [Carey], Mary [J Blige], Amy [Winehouse] in there. None of this
is anything without Lauryn Hill." "Look at the immediate influence
of Whitney doing My Love is Your Love, (which was written and produced
by Hill's Fugees bandmate Wyclef Jean). You can't tell me Amy didn't
like Lauryn Hill - it's not possible. "Two of our greatest female singers ever, Adele and Amy Winehouse, have undoubtedly been influenced by Lauryn Hill." The
founder of the MOBO Awards, Kanya King told the BBC that the
"ground-breaking nature" of the album is why it remains "impactful"
today. King said: "Miseducation lifted boundaries for female
artists. Recorded while she was heavily pregnant, her debut album busted
through the industry's glass ceiling; rejecting society's notion that a
female artist must choose between starting a family and having a
successful career."
Lauryn Hill performing at the 2005 MOBO awards
She recalls Hill's performance at the 2005 MOBOs: "I
personally got to witness the dedication and effort she put into
preparing for her performance of Doo Wop (That Thing). When we confirmed
that she was going to be on the bill, the level of excitement from both
fans and the industry is hard to forget."
Crawford says she
enjoys hearing Lauryn Hill tracks sampled by other artists: "I'll always
think of the original, which is no bad thing." "They're paying homage to her, paying their respect, and it's great to hear the song in a different way." Will she ever release a follow-up to Miseducation? "Maybe not," says King. "But her one and only album continues to resonate with audiences 20 years on from its initial release." Nelson also doesn't think we'll see the like from Hill again. "20 years on and no-one's made an album to touch it." "The music business is all about timing," he adds. "We needed her at that time and we got her at that time." "Some artists have 20 albums and don't have one truly great record. She's given us one album and that's all we needed." A version of this article first appeared on 19 April 2018.
THE MUSIC OF LAURYN HILL: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH LAURYN HILL:
Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer,
songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actress. She is known for being
a member of Fugees and for her critically acclaimed solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which won numerous awards and broke several sales records. Raised mostly in South Orange, New Jersey,
Hill began singing with her music-oriented family during her childhood.
She enjoyed success as an actress at an early age, with her older
brother Graham Hill, appearing in a recurring role on the television
soap opera As the World Turns and starring in the 1993 film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. In high school, Hill was approached by Pras Michel to start a band, which his friend, Wyclef Jean, soon joined. They renamed themselves the Fugees and released the albums Blunted on Reality (1994) and the Grammy Award-winning The Score (1996). In the latter record, which sold six million copies in the United States, Hill rose to prominence with her African-American and Caribbean music influences, her rapping and singing, and her rendition of the hit "Killing Me Softly".
Hill's tumultuous romantic relationship with Jean led to the split of
the band in 1997, after which she began to focus on solo projects.
Soon afterward, Hill dropped out of the public eye, dissatisfied
with the music industry and suffering with the pressures of fame. Her
last full-length recording, the new-material live album MTV Unplugged No. 2.0
(2002), sharply divided critics and sold poorly compared to her first
album and work with the Fugees. Hill's subsequent activity, which
includes the release of a few songs and occasional festival appearances,
has been sporadic. Her behavior has sometimes caused audience
dissatisfaction; a reunion with her former group did not last long. Her
music, as well as a series of public statements she has issued, has
become critical of pop culture and societal institutions. Hill has six
children, five of whom are with Rohan Marley. In 2012, she pleaded guilty to tax evasion for failure to pay federal income taxes, and in 2013, served a three-month prison sentence.
Life and career
1975–1993: Early life and career beginnings
Lauryn Noelle Hill was born on May 26, 1975,[2] in East Orange, New Jersey[3]
to English teacher Valerie Hill and computer and management consultant
Mal Hill. She has one older brother named Malaney (born 1972).[4][5][6] Her Baptist[7] family moved to New York and Newark for short periods until settling in South Orange, New Jersey.[3] She had a middle-class upbringing, knowing both many Jewish families and many black ones.[3][6] Future actor Zach Braff lived in the neighborhood, and she attended his Bar Mitzvah.[8] Hill has said of her musically oriented family: "there were so
many records, so much music constantly being played. My mother played
piano, my father sang, and we were always surrounded in music."[3] Her father sang in local nightclubs and at weddings.[9][10] While growing up, Hill frequently listened to Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and Gladys Knight;[11] years later she recalled playing Marvin Gaye's What's Going On repeatedly until she fell asleep to it.[3] In middle school, Lauryn Hill performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before a basketball game. Due to its popularity, subsequent games featured a recording of her rendition.[4] In 1988, Hill appeared as an Amateur Night contestant on It's Showtime at the Apollo. She sang her own version of the Smokey Robinson track "Who's Lovin' You?", garnering an initially harsh reaction from the crowd. She persevered, though she later cried off-stage.[12] Hill attended Columbia High School, where she was a member of the track team, a cheerleader[4][5] and was a classmate of Zach Braff.[8] She also took violin lessons, went to dance class, and founded the school's gospel choir.[10] Academically, she took advanced placement classes[10] and received primarily 'A' grades.[5] School officials recognized her as a leader among the student body.[10]
Later recalling her education, Hill commented, "I had a love for – I
don't know if it was necessarily for academics, more than it just was
for achieving, period. If it was academics, if it was sports, if it was
music, if it was dance, whatever it was, I was always driven to do a lot
in whatever field or whatever area I was focusing on at the moment."[3] While a freshman in high school,[6] through mutual friends, Prakazrel "Pras" Michel approached Hill about a music group he was creating.[11][13] Hill and Pras began under the name Tranzlator Crew, chosen because they wanted to rhyme in different languages.[11] Another female vocalist was soon replaced by Michel's cousin, multi-instrumentalist Wyclef Jean.[11] The group began performing in local showcases and high school talent shows.[6] Hill was initially only a singer, but then learned to rap too; instead of modeling herself on female rappers like Salt-n-Pepa and MC Lyte, she preferred male rappers like Ice Cube and developed her flow from listening to them.[9] Hill later said, "I remember doing my homework in the bathroom stalls of hip-hop clubs."[14] While growing up, Hill took acting lessons in Manhattan.[10] She began her acting career in 1991, appearing with Jean in Club XII, MC Lyte's Off-Broadway hip-hop rendering of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.[6] While the play was not a success, an agent noticed her. Later that year, Hill began appearing on the soap opera As the World Turns in a recurring role as troubled teenager Kira Johnson.[4][14][15] She subsequently co-starred alongside Whoopi Goldberg in the 1993 release Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, playing Rita Louise Watson, an inner-city Catholic school teenager with a surly, rebellious attitude.[4][6] In it, she performed the songs "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" (a duet with Tanya Blount) and "Joyful, Joyful".[16] Director Bill Duke credited Hill with improvising a rap in a scene: "None of that was scripted. That was all Lauryn. She was amazing."[4] Critic Roger Ebert called her "the girl with the big joyful voice", although he thought her talent was wasted,[17] while Rolling Stone said she "performed marvelously against type ... in the otherwise perfunctory [film]."[6] Hill also appeared in Steven Soderbergh's 1993 motion picture King of the Hill,
in a minor but pivotal role as a 1930s gum-popping elevator operator.
Soderbergh biographer Jason Wood described her as supplying one of the
warmest scenes in the film.[18] Hill graduated from Columbia High School in 1993.
Pras, Hill and Jean renamed their group the Fugees, a derivative of the word "refugee", which was a derogatory term for Haitian Americans.[6] Hill began a romantic relationship with Jean.[13] The Fugees, who signed a contract with Columbia/Ruffhouse Records in 1993,[14] became known for their genre blending, particularly of reggae, rock and soul,[11] which was first experimented on their debut album, Blunted on Reality, released in 1994. It reached number 62 on the BillboardTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart[19] but overall sold poorly[4][14] and was met by poor critical notices due to being a (management-forced) attempt at gangsta rap attitudes.[6] Although the album made little impact, Hill's rapping on "Some Seek Stardom" was seen as a highlight.[20] Within the group, she was frequently referred to by the nickname "L. Boogie".[21] Hill's image and artistry, as well as her full, rich, raspy alto voice, placed her at the forefront of the band, with some fans urging her to begin a solo career.[6][20] The Fugees' second album, The Score (1996), peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200[22] and stayed in the top ten of that chart for over half a year.[6] It sold about six million copies in the United States[23] and more than 17 million copies worldwide.[10] In the 1996 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll, The Score came second in the list of best albums and three of its tracks placed within the top twenty best singles.[24] It won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album,[25] and was later included on Rolling Stone'slist of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[26] Almost all of the writing and producing for it was done by Jean.[6]The Score
garnered praise for being a strong alternative to the gangsta idiom,
and Hill stated, "We're trying to do something positive with the music
because it seems like only the negative is rising to the top these days.
It only takes a drop of purity to clean a cesspool."[9] Singles from The Score included "Fu-Gee-La" and "Ready or Not", which highlighted Hill's singing and rapping abilities,[27] and "No Woman, No Cry". Her rendition of "Killing Me Softly" became her breakout hit.[28] Buttressed by what Rolling Stone publications later called Hill's "evocative" vocal line[11] and her "amazing pipes",[26] the track became pervasive on pop, R&B, hip hop, and adult contemporary radio formats.[11] It won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[25][29] On the album, Hill combined African-American music and Caribbean music influences with socially conscious lyrics.[27]Newsweek mentioned Hill's "irresistibly cute looks" and proclaimed her "the most powerful new voice in rap."[9] At 21 years old, the now-famous Hill was still living at home with her parents.[6] She had been enrolled at Columbia University during this period, and considered majoring in history as she became a sophomore,[6][9] but left after about a year of total studies once sales of The Score went into the millions.[4] In 1996, Hill responded to a false rumor on The Howard Stern Show that she had made a racist comment on MTV,
saying "How can I possibly be a racist? My music is universal music.
And I believe in God. If I believe in God, then I have to love all of
God's creations. There can be no segregation."[14][30] In 1996, Hill founded the Refugee Project, a non-profit outreach
organization that sought to transform the attitudes and behavior of
at-risk urban youth.[31] Part of this was Camp Hill, which offered stays in the Catskill Mountains for such youngsters; another was production of an annual Halloween haunted house in East Orange.[31]
Hill also raised money for Haitian refugees, supported clean water
well-building projects in Kenya and Uganda, and staged a rap concert in Harlem to promote voter registration. A 1997 benefit event for the Refugee Project introduced a Board of Trustees for the organization that included Sean Combs, Mariah Carey, Busta Rhymes, Spike Lee, and others as members.[32] In 1997, the Fugees split to work on solo projects,[33]
which Jean later blamed on his tumultuous relationship with Hill and
the fact he married his wife Claudinette while still involved with Hill.[33][34] Meanwhile, in the summer of 1996 Hill had met Rohan Marley, a son of Bob Marley and a former University of Miami football player.[12] Hill subsequently began a relationship with him, while still also involved with Jean.[12] Hill became pregnant, and in August 1997, Marley and Hill's first child, Zion David, was born.[7] The couple lived in Hill's childhood house in South Orange after she bought her parents a new house down the street.[14] Hill had a cameo appearance in the 1997 film Hav Plenty. In 1998, Hill took up another small but important role in the film Restaurant;[35]Entertainment Weekly praised her portrayal of the protagonist's pregnant former girlfriend as bringing vigor to the film.[36]
Hill recorded her solo record The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill from late 1997 through June 1998 at Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica.[2][30] The title was inspired by the book The Mis-Education of the Negro (1933) by Carter G. Woodson and The Education of Sonny Carson, a film and autobiographical novel.[37] The album featured contributions from D'Angelo, Carlos Santana, Mary J. Blige and the then-unknown John Legend.[38]
Wyclef Jean initially did not support Hill recording a solo album, but
eventually offered his production help; Hill turned him down.[12]
Several songs on the album concerned her frustration with the Fugees;
"I Used to Love Him" dealt with the breakdown of the relationship
between Hill and Wyclef Jean.[37]
Other songs such as "To Zion" spoke about her decision to have her
first baby, even though many at the time encouraged her to have an
abortion so to not interfere with her blossoming career.[14][37] Indeed, Hill's pregnancy revived her from a period of writer's block.[30] In terms of production, Hill collaborated with a group of musicians known as New Ark, consisting of Vada Nobles, Rasheem Pugh, Tejumold Newton, and Johari Newton.[37]
Hill later said that she wanted to "write songs that lyrically move me
and have the integrity of reggae and the knock of hip-hop and the
instrumentation of classic soul" and that the production on the album
was intended to make the music sound raw and not computer-aided.[37] Hill spoke of pressure from her label to emulate Prince, wherein all tracks would be credited as written and produced by the artist with little outside help.[37] She also wanted to be appreciated as an auteur as much as Jean had within the Fugees.[12]
(She also saw a feminist cause: "But step out and try and control
things and there are doubts. This is a very sexist industry. They'll
never throw the 'genius' title to a sister."[27])
While recording the album, when Hill was asked about providing
contracts or documentation to the musicians, she replied, "We all love
each other. This ain't about documents. This is blessed."[12] Released on August 25, 1998, the album received rave reviews from contemporary music critics,[39] and was the most acclaimed album of 1998.[40] Critics lauded the album's
blending of the R&B, doo-wop, pop, hip-hop, and reggae genres[14] and its honest representation of a woman's life and relationships.[40]David Browne, writing in Entertainment Weekly,
called it "an album of often-astonishing power, strength, and feeling",
and praised Hill for "easily flowing from singing to rapping, evoking
the past while forging a future of her own".[41]Robert Christgau quipped, "PC record of the year—songs soft, singing ordinary, rapping skilled, rhymes up and down, skits de trop, production subtle and terrific".[42] It sold over 423,000 copies in its first week (boosted by advance
radio play of two non-label-sanctioned singles, "Lost Ones" and "Can't
Take My Eyes Off You")[43] and topped the Billboard 200 for four weeks and the Billboard R&B Albums chart for six weeks. It went on to sell about 8 million copies in the U.S.[23] and 12 million copies worldwide.[12][44][45] During 1998 and 1999, Hill earned $25 million from record sales and touring.[12] Hill, along with Blige, Missy Elliott, Meshell Ndegeocello, Erykah Badu, and others, found a voice with the neo soul genre.[46] The first single released from the album was "Lost Ones", which reached number 27 in Spring 1998.[47] The second was "Doo Wop (That Thing)", which debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[47] It exemplified Hill's appeal, combining feelings of self-empowerment with self-defense.[46] Other charted singles from the album were "Ex-Factor", "Everything Is Everything" and "To Zion".[47] In the 1998 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll, Miseducation came second in the list of best albums and "Doo Wop (That Thing)" second in best singles.[48] In November 1998, Marley and Hill's second child, Selah Louise, was born.[5][49]
Of being a young mother of two, Hill said, "It's not an easy situation
at all. You have to really pray and be honest with yourself."[14] In the run-up to the 1999 Grammy Awards, Hill became the first woman to be nominated in ten categories in a single year. In addition to Miseducation works, the nominations included her rendition of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" for the 1997 film Conspiracy Theory, which had appeared on Billboard charts,[50] and Hill's writing and producing of "A Rose Is Still a Rose", which became a late-in-career hit for Aretha Franklin.[51] She appeared on several magazine covers, including Time, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Teen People and The New York Times Fashion Magazine.[27] During the ceremony, Hill broke another record by becoming the first woman to win five times in one night,[27] taking home the awards for Album of the Year, Best R&B Album, Best R&B Song, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist.[52] During an acceptance speech, she said, "This is crazy. This is hip-hop!"[27] Hill had brought forth a new, mainstream acceptance of the genre.[10][27]
In February 1999, Hill received four awards at the 30th Annual NAACP Image Awards.[53] In May 1999, she became the youngest woman ever named to Ebony magazine's 100+ Most Influential Black Americans list;[54]
in November of that year, the same publication named her as one of "10
For Tomorrow" in the "Ebony 2000: Special Millennium Issue".[55] In May 1999, she made People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People list.[5] The publication, which has called her "model-gorgeous",[21] praised the 5-foot-4-inch (1.63 m) Hill for her idiosyncratic sense of personal style.[5] In June 1999, she received an Essence Award,
but her acceptance speech, where she said there was no contradiction in
religious love and servitude and "[being] who you are, as fly and as
hot and as whatever,"[56] drew reaction from those in the public who thought she was not a good role model as a young, unwed mother of two.[57]
This was a repetition of criticism she had received after the birth of
her first child, and she had said that she and Marley would soon be
married.[14] In early 2000, Hill was one of many artists and producers to share the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Santana's 1999 multi-million selling Supernatural,
for which she had written, produced, and rapped on the track "Do You
Like the Way" (a rumination on the direction the world was headed, it
also featured the singing of CeeLo Green and the signature guitar runs of Carlos Santana). She was also nominated for Best R&B Song for "All That I Can Say", which she had written and produced for Mary J. Blige. Also, her concocted duet with Bob Marley on "Turn Your Lights Down Low" for the 1999 remix tribute album Chant Down Babylon additionally appeared in the 1999 film The Best Man and later received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.
In November 1998, New Ark filed a fifty-page lawsuit against
Hill, her management, also her record label, claiming that Hill "used
their songs and production skills, but failed to properly credit them
for the work" on Miseducation.[58]
The musicians claimed to be the primary songwriters on two tracks, and
major contributors on several others, though Gordon Williams, a
prominent recorder, engineer, and mixer on Miseducation, described the album as a "powerfully personal effort by Hill" and said "It was definitely her vision."[40] Hill responded that New Ark had been appropriately credited and now were seeking to take advantage of her success.[58] New Ark requested partial writing credits on most of the tracks on the album as well as monetary reimbursement.[59] After many delays, depositions took place during the latter part of 2000.[58][59]
In part, the case illustrated the difficult boundaries between
songwriting and all other aspects that went into contemporary arranging,
sampling, and recording.[58] The suit would eventually be settled out of court in February 2001, with Hill paying New Ark a reported $5 million.[37]
A friend of Hill's later said of the suit, "That was the beginning of a
chain effect that would turn everything a little crazy."[12]
2000–2003: Self-imposed exile and MTV Unplugged No. 2.0
Hill began writing a screenplay about the life of Bob Marley, in which she planned to act as his wife Rita.[12] She also began producing a romantic comedy about soul food with a working title of Sauce, and accepted a starring role in the film adaptation of Toni Morrison's novel Beloved;[12] she later dropped out of both projects due to pregnancy.[12] She also reportedly turned down roles in Charlie's Angels (the part that went to Lucy Liu), The Bourne Identity, The Mexican, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.[12] During 2000, Hill dropped out of the public eye. The pressures of fame began to overwhelm her.[12][21] She disliked not being able to go out of her house to do simple errands without having to worry about her physical appearance.[12][37] She fired her management team and began attending Bible study classes five days a week; she also stopped doing interviews, watching television and listening to music.[37] She started associating with a "spiritual advisor" named Brother Anthony.[12] Some familiar with Hill believe Anthony more resembled a cult leader than a spiritual advisor,[12][60] and thought his guidance probably inspired much of Hill's more controversial public behavior.[60]
She later described this period of her life to Essence
saying "People need to understand that the Lauryn Hill they were
exposed to in the beginning was all that was allowed in that arena at
that time… I had to step away when I realized that for the sake of the
machine, I was being way too compromised. I felt uncomfortable about
having to smile in someone's face when I really didn't like them or even
know them well enough to like them."[61]
She also spoke about her emotional crisis, saying, "For two or three
years I was away from all social interaction. It was a very
introspective time because I had to confront my fears and master every
demonic thought about inferiority, about insecurity or the fear of being
black, young and gifted in this western culture."[61]
She went on to say that she had to fight to retain her identity, and
was forced "to deal with folks who weren't happy about that."[61]
In July 2001, while pregnant with her third child, Hill unveiled her new material to a small crowd, for a taping of an MTV Unplugged special.[12][62] An album of the concert, titled MTV Unplugged No. 2.0, was released in May 2002 and featured only her singing and playing an acoustic guitar.[62] Unlike the near-unanimous praise of Miseducation, 2.0 sharply divided critics. AllMusic
gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, saying that the recording "is the
unfinished, unflinching presentation of ideas and of a person. It may
not be a proper follow-up to her first album, but it is fascinating."[63]Rolling Stone called the album "a public breakdown"[12] and Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times said the album's title opened Hill up for jokes that she had become unhinged.[64]NME wrote that "Unplugged 2.0
is a sparse and often gruelling listen, but there is enough genius
shading these rough sketches to suggest that all might not yet be lost."
With the mixed reviews and no significant radio airplay, 2.0 debuted at number three on the Billboard 200,[65] but then quickly fell down the charts[64] and ended up selling less than 500,000 copies in the U.S.[12] Neither the album nor its songs placed in the 2002 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.[66] Her song "Mystery of Iniquity" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rap Solo Performance[67] and used as an interpolation by hip-hop producer/songwriter Kanye West for his single "All Falls Down", as sung by Syleena Johnson.[68] Around 2001, Marley and Hill's third child, Joshua Omaru, was born.[49] He was followed a year later by their fourth, John Nesta.[49]
While Hill sometimes had spoken of Marley as her husband, they never
married, and along the way she was informed that Marley had been
previously married at a young age.[12] Furthermore, according to a 2003 Rolling Stone report, he had never secured a divorce;[12] but Marley later disputed this and made public to a blog a 1996 divorce document from Haiti.[69] The two had been living in a high-end Miami hotel, but around 2003 she moved out into her own place in that city.[12] Hill later said that she and Marley "have had long periods of separation over the years".[70] Hill slowly worked on a new album and it was reported that by 2003, Columbia Records
had spent more than $2.5 million funding it, including installing a
recording studio in the singer's Miami apartment and flying different
musicians around the country.[12] By 2002, Hill had shut down her non-profit Refugee Project.[71]
She said, "I had a nonprofit organization and I had to shut all that
down. You know, smiling with big checks, obligatory things, not having
things come from a place of passion. That's slavery. Everything we do
should be a result of our gratitude for what God has done for us. It
should be passionate."[71] In December 2003, Hill, during a performance in Vatican City, spoke of the "corruption, exploitation, and abuses" in reference to the molestation of boys by Catholic priests in the United States and the cover-up of offenses by Catholic Church officials.[72] High-ranking church officials were in attendance, but Pope John Paul II was not present.[72] The Catholic League called Hill "pathologically miserable" and claimed her career was "in decline".[73]
The following day, several reporters suggested that Hill's comments at
the Vatican may have been influenced by her spiritual advisor, Brother
Anthony.[60]
2004–2009: Sporadic touring and recording
Hill performing in Central Park, New York, 2005
In 2004, Hill contributed a new song, "The Passion", to The Passion of the Christ: Songs. A remix version with John Legend of his "So High" ended up receiving a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Around this time, Hill began selling a pay-per-view music video of the song "Social Drugs" through her website.[74]
Those who purchase the $15 video would only be able to view it three
times before it expired. In addition to the video, Hill began selling
autographed posters and Polaroids through her website, with some items listed at upwards of $500.[74]
For the first time since 1997, the Fugees performed in September 2004 at Dave Chappelle's Block Party in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The concert featured Hill's nearly a cappella rendition of "Killing Me Softly". The event was recorded by director Michel Gondry and was released on March 3, 2006, to universal acclaim.[75] The Fugees also appeared at BET Awards 2005
during June 2005, where they opened the show with a 12-minute set. One
track, "Take It Easy", was leaked online and thereafter was released as
an Internet single in late September. It peaked at number forty on the BillboardR&B Chart.[76] In 2005, she told USA Today,
"If I make music now, it will only be to provide information to my own
children. If other people benefit from it, then so be it."[77] When asked how she now felt about the songs on 2.0,
she stated "a lot of the songs were transitional. The music was about
how I was feeling at the time, even though I was documenting my distress
as well as my bursts of joy."[77] The Fugees embarked on a European tour in late 2005.[78]
Old tensions between Hill and the other members of the group soon
resurfaced, and the reunion ended before an album could be recorded;
Jean and Michel both blamed Hill for the split.[21]
Hill reportedly demanded to be addressed by everyone, including her
bandmates, as "Ms. Hill"; she also considered changing her moniker to
"Empress".[21] Hill's tardiness was also cited as a contributing factor.[21]
Lauryn Hill performing in Brazil in 2007
Hill began touring on her own, although to mixed reviews; often
arriving late to concerts (sometimes by over two hours), performing
unpopular reconfigurations of her songs and sporting an exaggerated
appearance.[21][79] On some occasions, fans have booed her and left early.[80] In June 2007, Sony Records
said Hill had been recording through the past decade, had accumulated
considerable unreleased material and had re-entered the studio with the
goal of making a new album.[81] Later that same year, an album titled Ms. Hill, which featured cuts from Miseducation, various soundtracks contributions and other "unreleased" songs, was released. It features guest appearances from D'Angelo, Rah Digga and John Forté.[82] Also in June 2007, Hill released a new song, "Lose Myself", on the soundtrack to the film Surf's Up.[83] In early 2008, Marley and Hill's fifth child, Sarah, was born.[21][49]
The couple were not living together, although Marley considered them
"spiritually together" even while listing himself as single on social
media.[21]
Hill later said that she and Marley "have [had] a long and complex
history about which many inaccuracies have been reported since the
beginning" and that they both valued their privacy.[70] By August 2008, Hill was living with her mother and children in her hometown of South Orange, New Jersey.[21] Reports in mid-2008 claimed that Columbia Records then believed Hill to be on hiatus.[21]
Marley disputed these claims, telling an interviewer that Hill has
enough material for several albums: "She writes music in the bathroom,
on toilet paper, on the wall. She writes it in the mirror if the mirror
smokes up. She writes constantly. This woman does not sleep".[80] One of the few public appearances Hill made in 2008 was at a Martha Stewart book-signing in New Jersey, perplexing some in the press.[84]
In April 2009, it was reported that Hill would engage in a 10-day tour
of European summer festivals during mid-July of that year. She performed
two shows for the tour and passed out on stage during the start of her
second performance and left the stage. She refused to give refunds to
angry consumers for the show.[85] On June 10, Hill's management informed the promoters of the Stockholm Jazz Festival, which she was scheduled to headline, that she would not be performing due to unspecified "health reasons."[85] Shortly afterward, the rest of the tour was canceled as well.[85]
2010–present: Further activities and imprisonment
In January 2010, Hill returned to the live stage and performed in stops across New Zealand and Australia on the Raggamuffin Music Festival.[86] Many of the songs that Hill had performed and recorded over the past six years were included on an April 2010 unofficial compilation album titled Khulami Phase.[87] The album also features a range of other material found on the Ms. Hill compilation.[87] Hill appeared at the Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, California, in June 2010, her first live American performance in several years.[88] An unreleased song called "Repercussions" was leaked via the Internet in late July 2010, debuting at number 94 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (and peaked at number 83 the following week), making it her first Billboard chart appearance as a lead artist since 1999.[89]
Hill and her backing musicians performing at Coachella Valley Music Festival in California in 2011
Hill joined the Rock the Bells
hip-hop festival series in the U.S. during August 2010, and as part of
that year's theme of rendering classic albums, she performed The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in its entirety for the first time.[90] She increased the tempo and urgency from the original recording, but at times had difficulty in communicating with her band.[90] Hill continued touring, including a set at the 6th Annual Jazz in the Gardens, in Miami Gardens, Florida in December.[91] In Spring 2011, Hill performed at the Coachella Valley Music Festival,[92]New Orleans Jazz Fest,[93] and at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.[94] In July 2011, Hill gave birth to her sixth child, Micah, her first not with Rohan Marley; the father remains publicly unknown.[70] In February 2012, Hill performed a new song titled "Fearless Vampire Killer", during a sold-out performance at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C.[95] In late 2012, Hill toured with rapper Nas; her portion of the tour, titled Black Rage, is named after her song, released October 30.[96]
Hill has described the song as being "about the derivative effects of
racial inequity and abuse" and "a juxtaposition to the statement 'life
is good,' which she believes can only be so when these long standing
issues are addressed and resolved."[97] In June 2012, Hill was charged with three counts of tax fraud or
failing to file taxes (Title 26 USC § 7202 Willful failure to collect or
pay over tax) not tax evasion on $1.8 million of income earned between 2005 and 2007.[98]
During this time she had toured as a musical artist, earned royalties
from both her records and from films she had appeared in, and had owned
and been in charge of multiple corporations.[99] In a long post to her Tumblr,
Hill said that she had gone "underground" and had rejected pop
culture's "climate of hostility, false entitlement, manipulation, racial
prejudice, sexism and ageism." She added that, "When I was working
consistently without being affected by the interferences mentioned
above, I filed and paid my taxes. This only stopped when it was
necessary to withdraw from society, in order to guarantee the safety and
well-being of myself and my family."[100][101] On June 29, 2012, Hill appeared in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark and pleaded guilty to the charges; her attorney said she would make restitution for the back taxes she owed.[98]
By April 22, 2013, Hill had paid back only $50,000 of the $554,000 she
owed immediately; U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo criticized
Hill, saying "This is not someone who stands before the court penniless.
This is a criminal matter. Actions speak louder than words, and there
has been no effort here to pay these taxes."[101]
Hill also faced possible eviction from her rented home in South Orange
as well as a civil lawsuit from the town for running a business out of a
home without a zoning permit.[102] On May 4, 2013, Hill released her first official single in over a decade, "Neurotic Society (Compulsory Mix)".[103]
She later published a message on her Tumblr describing how she was
"required to release [it] immediately, by virtue of the impending legal
deadline."[103] The release received some criticism for lyrics that appeared to tie societal decay to certain LGBT social movements.[104]
Hill responded that the song was not targeted at any particular group
but was instead focused on anyone hiding behind neurotic behavior.[105] Following a deal with Sony Music,
which involves Hill creating a new record label within the company,
Hill was said to be scheduled to release her first album in fifteen
years during 2013.[103] On May 6, 2013, Hill was sentenced by Judge Arleo to serve three
months in prison for failing to file taxes/tax fraud and three months house arrest afterwards as part of a year of supervised probation.[106][107] She had faced a possible sentence of as long as 36 months,[101] and the sentence given took into account her lack of a prior criminal record and her six minor-aged children.[107][108]
By this point Hill had fully paid back $970,000 in back taxes and
penalties she owed, which also took into account an additional $500,000
that Hill had in unreported income for 2008 and 2009.[108] In the courtroom, Hill said that she had lived "very modestly" considering how much money she had made for others,[107] and that "I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them. I had an economic system imposed on me."[106] Hill reported to the minimum-security Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury on July 8, 2013, to begin serving her sentence.[109] Hill was released from prison on October 4, 2013, a few days
early for good behavior, and began her home confinement and probationary
periods.[110] She put out a single called "Consumerism" that she had finished, via verbal and e-mailed instructions, while incarcerated.[111] Judge Arleo allowed her to postpone part of her confinement in order to tour in late 2013 under strict conditions.[112]
During 2014, Hill was heard as the narrator of Concerning Violence, an award-winning Swedish documentary on the African liberation struggles of the 1960s and 1970s.[113] She also continued to draw media attention for her erratic behavior, appearing late twice in the same day for sets at Voodoo Fest in November 2014.[114] In May 2015, Hill canceled her scheduled concert outside Tel Aviv in Israel following a social media campaign from activists promoting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. She said she had wanted to also perform a show in Ramallah in the West Bank
but logistical problems had proved too great. Hill stated: "It is very
important to me that my presence or message not be misconstrued, or a
source of alienation to either my Israeli or my Palestinian fans."[115] Hill contributed her voice to the soundtrack for What Happened, Miss Simone?, a 2015 documentary about the life of Nina Simone,
an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist. Hill was
originally supposed to record only two songs for the record, but ended
up recording six. She also served as a producer on the compilation
alongside Robert Glasper.
Hill said of her connection to Simone: "Because I fed on this music ...
I believed I always had a right to have a voice. Her example is clearly
a form of sustenance to a generation needing to find theirs. What a
gift."[116]NPR
critically praised Hill's performance on the soundtrack, stating: "This
album mainly showcases Lauryn Hill's breadth and dexterity. Not
formally marketed as Hill's comeback album, her six tracks here make
this her most comprehensive set of studio recordings since The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998."[117]
In April 2016, Hill hosted and headlined what was billed as the inaugural Diaspora Calling! festival at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn.[118] The festival's purpose was to showcase the efforts of musicians and artists from around the African diaspora like Brooklyn Haitian Rara band Brother High Full tempo.[119] The following month, Hill was approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes late for her show at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta,[120][121] though members of Hill's team claimed it was only an hour after their scheduled start time.[122]
Moments after the less than 40 minute show ended due to the venue's
strict 11:00pm closing time, Hill said her driver had gotten lost and
she could not help that.[120] Less than 48 hours later, after a large backlash from her fans on Twitter, she took to her Facebook page and stated she was late for the concert because of certain needs, including her need to "align her energy with the time."[121]
Kofi Natambu, editor of and contributor to Sound Projections, is a writer, poet, cultural critic, and political journalist whose poetry, essays, criticism, reviews, and journalism have appeared in many literary magazines, journals, newspapers, and anthologies. He has written extensively about music as a critic and historian for many publications, including the Black Scholar, Downbeat, Solid Ground: A New World Journal, Detroit Metro Times, KONCH, the Panopticon Review,Black Renaissance Noire, the Village Voice, the City Sun (NYC), the Poetry Project Newsletter (NYC), and the African American Review. He is the author of a biography Malcolm X: His Life & Work (Alpha Books) and two books of poetry: The Melody Never Stops (Past Tents Press) and Intervals (Post Aesthetic Press). He was the founder and editor of Solid Ground: A New World Journal, a national quarterly magazine of the arts, culture, and politics and the editor of a literary anthology Nostalgia for the Present (Post Aesthetic Press). Natambu has read his work throughout the country and given many lectures and workshops at academic and arts institutions. He has taught American literature, literary theory and criticism, cultural history and criticism, film studies, political science, creative writing, philosophy, critical theory, and music history and criticism (Jazz, Blues, R&B, Hip Hop) at many universities and colleges. He was also a curator in the Education Department of Detroit’s Museum of African American History. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Natambu currently lives in Berkeley, California with his wife Chuleenan.
Last night, Nina Simone was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and as part of the induction ceremony, Andra Day and Lauryn Hill
paid tribute to the late musician with a heartfelt medley of her songs
“I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free,” “I Put a Spell on You,”
and “Feeling Good” in Cleveland.
