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BORN: May 26, 1975
"Hey, it's my album! Who else can tell my story
better than me?" says Lauryn Hill, chanteuse,
rapper, songwriter, actress, activist and mother.
She's talking about The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
(RuffHouse/Columbia), her solo debut album and one
of the most hotly-anticipated records of 1998.
Produced by Lauryn herself, The Miseducation of
Lauryn Hill is a deeply personal album, running the
gamut from affairs of the heart to socio-political
issues, set against a sonic backdrop displaying the
remarkable talent of this young native of South
Orange, New Jersey. The title, according to Hill,
shouldn't be taken too literally. The doe-eyed
23-year old, who completed her freshman year at
Columbia University, explains: "... the concept
of 'Miseducation" is not really miseducation at
all. To me, it's more or less switching the
terminology... it's really about the things that
you've learned outside of school, outside of what
society deems appropriate and mandatory. I have a
lot of respect for academia... But there was a lot
that I had to learn * life lessons * that wasn't
part of any scholastic curriculum. It's really our
passage into adulthood when we leave that place of
idealism and naivete."
Lauryn's eagerly-anticipated solo opus has been a
long time coming. Critics, who were first privy to
Hill's mellifluous, sometimes gritty alto on the
Fugees' 1993 debut, Blunted on Reality, suggested
she break free of the constraints of the group and
go solo. The critics obviously missed the point.
Undaunted, Hill stuck to her principles, which
included fierce loyalty to the group, and went on to
co-write, co-produce and serve as featured performer
on the Fugees' sophomore offering, The Score. The
rest, so the adage goes, is history. The album went
on to rack up sales of over 17 million units, making
the Fugees the biggest-selling rap group of all
time.
With fellow cohorts, Prakazrel "Pras"
Michel and Wyclef Jean, Lauryn also garnered two
1996 Grammy awards: Best Rap Album for The Score and
Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With
Vocal for Lauryn's poignant cover of the Roberta
Flack classic "Killing Me Softly." That
single became the hip-hop anthem of 1996 and firmly
insuring the Fugees' success in the upper echelons
of pop music's colorful history.
The young woman -- who Public Enemy's Chuck D
admiringly describes as "sunlight" and a
"Bob Marley (of the) 21st Century," has
documented her glorious, multi-faceted life on
record. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill -- like its
author/protagonist -- is confrontational, strong,
forthright, and intelligent, while retaining a
delicate, sensitive balance. This young auteur steps
fearlessly into the musical arena, dealing with
subjects that are close to her heart. At times, her
humor is wry and candid and her pain and anger
startling, but she is never bitter. She has been
galvanized by her life experiences.
"I'm close to all of them," she says,
almost maternally, about her songs. "Every time
I got hurt, every time I was disappointed, every
time I learned, I just wrote a song," she
explains, "but the song that touches me the
most is the one about my son." "Joy of My
World is in Zion" is for those "...who may
have thought I was all that, but here is some of the
pain I was going through. Here's my human side... It
was very strange to me how this became an issue *
this decision of mine. But what began as something
dark became the brightest and most important thing
to me."
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill forays into hip-hop
territory with cuts like "Doo Wop" and the
Jamaican-tinged grooves of "Lost Ones."
Throughout the album, Hill's delicious vocals engage
and captivate. Musically, she brings a warmth and
sensitivity to the sound of The Miseducation of
Lauryn Hill and displays her wide knowledge of the
workings of the studio as producer on this stunning
debut. She is undaunted by the fact that this area
of recording is considered mainly male territory.
"Men have a hard time taking direction from
women, but when you pay somebody, you pay them to
get it right, " she says. "I think that
women will be called 'bitches' and 'hard to work
with' if they ask for and get what they want. So I
don't pay attention to that at all. Music is so
important to me and how I come across in music is so
important. I'm a perfectionist. If I have to do it a
hundred times, I'll do it a hundred times!"
And though men's attitudes towards women in the
industry riles her, she forges ahead. The
Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is evidence of her
self-assured attitude as a well-rounded artist and
studio technician. Her skills as a prolific
songwriter have led to her writing songs for various
artists. She wrote and produced "On That
Day" for gospel artist CeCe Winans, and, in
addition to writing the smash hit title cut for
Aretha Franklin's current album, A Rose is Still a
Rose, Lauryn also directed song's accompanying
video. She has proven herself to be a versatile
performer and producer.
Her immense talent transcends gender-specific
constraints. "Men like it when you sing to
them. But step out and try and control things and
there are doubts. This is a very sexist
industry," she opines. "They'll never
throw the genius title to a sister. They'll just
call her 'diva' and think it's a compliment. It's
like our flair and vanity are put before our musical
and intellectual contributions."
Having spent her much of her formative years in the
nation's spotlight, first as an actress (she
appeared in a recurring role in "As the World
Turns" and was featured in "Sister Act II:
Back In the Habit") and now as a multi-platinum
artist who still finds time for charitable causes
(she is the founder of non-profit organization, The
Refugee Camp Youth Project, whose manifesto is based
on giving back to the community and improving the
quality of life for inner-city children), Lauryn
Hill has very much come into her own and The
Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the musical proof. As
Lauryn Hill, the hip-hop groundbreaking genius, puts
it, "I want my music to touch real people. I'm
still trying to figure myself out, like most
people.... because I'm still living and
learning..."
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