Lauryn Hill is considered to be one of the greatest artists of all time. Her music style is a unique fusion of hip-hop, r&b, soul, and reggae that raised the standard for urban music in the 90s. Starting as a member of the New Jersey-born multi-platinum Grammy award-winning group, The Fugees, Lauryn’s distinctive sound and lyrical stance became rooted in the hip-hop world.
In 1998, Lauryn Hill dropped her first and so far only solo album, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. The album is filled with lyrics about motherhood, the pandemonium of the Fugees, the composition of love, and higher spiritual intelligence (God). Miseducation debuted number 1 on Billboard’s 200 charts and sold 422,624 copies in its first week. We are all familiar with the three hit singles and treasured music videos “Doo Wop (That Thing)”, “Ex-Factor”, and “Everything Is Everything”.
The success of Miseducation went international, leading Lauryn to supreme global fame. It was nominated for 10 Grammys, winning 5 out of the 10 for Best New Artist, Best R&B Song, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best R&B Album. Miseducation is often credited as the album that crossed hip-hop over to the mainstream world.
There is a reason why The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill gained such instant fame. And there is also a reason why it is her only solo album. Before crafting the album, she was pregnant with her first child. Her pregnancy boosted her inspiration and Lauryn wanted nothing but the album to be realistic and heartfelt. She also wrote songs for gospel singer CeCe Winans, soul Queen Aretha Franklin and r&b’s own Whitney Houston. Her experience with such prominent women also influenced her creativity senses for Miseducation.
“I entered into my craft full of optimism (which I still possess), but immediately saw the suppressive force with which the system attempts to maintain it’s control over a given paradigm. I’ve seen people promote addiction, use sabotage, black listing, media bullying and any other coercion technique they could, to prevent artists from knowing their true value, or exercising their full power.” – Lauryn Hill’s 2013 Tumblr Letter
Lauryn Hill bore no interest in commercial success. She wanted the freedom to express her realities and master them the way her natural mind envisioned it. To get a real human sound (at the time, hip-hop music mastered the art of complex digital production), she purchased all of her favorite instruments, harps, strings, timpani drums, organs, and clarinets. This explains the vivid soul-touching instrumentals throughout the gem.
Miseducation was released under Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. The controversy behind the control of record labels is a reality for most artists in the music industry. Her reasons for departing from the Fugees are due to the desire of record labels to control and manipulate their craft, nearly forcing them into complete dependence on the industry for survival.
Lauryn was convinced that she was being used by the industry for label profit reasons. She felt a deep sense of resistance to express herself, and unlike many of our other beloved artists, Miss Hill wanted OUT of the matrix. She was not in favor of promoting things that contribute to the downfall of society. Labels were demanding artists who were willing to devalue their craft for marketing purposes.
At one point, Columbia wanted Lauryn to use outside producers for Miseducation. One of the producers they reached out to was Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, who certainly has a profound respect for Lauryn Hill’s creativity. Her goal was to tell her story by herself without any outside influences. At most she did not want this record to sound like a Fugees record. She wanted the world to know the sound of Lauryn Hill. Besides Columbia, many people throughout her production journey made attempts to lure her into using outside influences. She was not going to risk her artistic worth for the sake of an industry with an agenda that is opposite to her own.
“What Lauryn is doing is opening doors for female artists who aren’t materialistic and flashing their titties,” said RZA. “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.”
RZA ,1998 via MTV
Due to an unfavorable touring experience with the Fugees, and the lack of freedom, worldly pressure, and dirty business deals Lauryn decided to pause her music career. At this point, she was a Grammy award-winning artist and mother of two with international fame, who was able to see above the planes of her success. Lauryn Hill is an advocate of truth. She noticed that her lifestyle was being affected by her music’s international phenomenon. Because she had an understanding that family was more a priority than her stance in the music industry, she took charge of her life and began to create the appropriate environment for her pure endeavors.
“I did this in order to build a community of people, like-minded in their desire for freedom and the right to pursue their goals and lives without being manipulated and controlled by a media protected military industrial complex with a completely different agenda.” – Lauryn Hill’s 2013 Tumblr Letter
In recent times, Lauryn has spent the last 5 years touring and working on her next solo album, a follow-up to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Her recent touring experience has fueled her musical creativity to its rightful state. As she has advocated, this album will be produced strictly under her terms. Not only has this hip-hop Queen been on tour, but she has made notable contributions to the “What Happened, Miss Simone” soundtrack and the Concerning Violence documentary. She contributed six tracks to the Nina Simone project and gained nothing but pure bliss in the making! As for the Concerning Violence documentary which is about the brutalities against women in the prison system, the femcee was the narrator of the film, supporting many women who can relate to the matter.
Overall Lauryn Hill’s pioneering choice to focus on her personal endeavors over industry marketing tactics expressed the genuine concern she had for herself and the hip-hop community. When it comes to femcees, she is in her own category. She embodied having control over her destiny and breaking out of the widespread matrix. Her absence in the music industry will never go ignored. No female artist has even been able to match her creativity. Lauryn Hill holds no challenges in the hip-hop game, as her success is marked as legendary.
“I Love making art, I Love making music, these are as natural and necessary for me almost as breathing or talking. To be denied the right to pursue it according to my ability, as well as be properly acknowledged and compensated for it, in an attempt to control, is manipulation directed at my most basic rights” – Lauryn Hill’s 2013 Tumblr Letter
