Imagine you are a twenty-something-year-old living in New York City. It is the summer of 1998, and hip-hop is at its peak. A young Lauryn Hill just released her debut solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Time stands still. Life is good. This is where The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill immediately transports me. An album so genius, so revolutionary, it defined a moment in time.
Miseducation is full of staples. From the Grammy award-winning tough-love anthem “Doo Wop (That Thing)”, to empowering rap hit Lost Ones, to the tender love ballad Nothing Even Matters, or personal ode to motherhood in “To Zion”. Every single song is a pop culture staple. The album manages to pay homage to a diverse range of classics such as reggae staple Sister Nancy, the empress of soul Gladys Knight, and hip-hop legends the Wu-Tang Clan, while simultaneously maintaining technical and musical innovation. It merged hip-hop and soul, redefining the genres for a new generation. What’s more, each track is embedded with insightful and thought-provoking political commentary that is more relevant today than ever before. When listening to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, one thing is certain– Lauryn Hill knows how to make an album.
At only 17, a young Lauryn Hill caught the attention of fellow students Pras Michael and Wyclef Jean. Together, they formed the musical group The Fugees. The group saw massive success, most notably from the hit song Killing Me Softly, a stunning cover version of the Roberta Flack classic. Almost immediately after their rise in popularity, the public clamored for Lauryn to go solo. This was due not only to her astounding vocals, but groundbreaking lyrics and songwriting as well. In 1998, at the age of 23, Lauyrn released her solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was the first rap album to explore the themes of love, Black empowerment, feminism, social justice, motherhood, and more, all in one album. With lyrics such as “And they facin’ court case when the child support late. Money-taking and heartbreaking, now you wonder why women hate men” from Doo Wop (That Thing), Hill reveals truths about gender norms and feminism. She also shares deeply personal lyrics, like “Look at your career’, they said. ‘Lauryn, baby, use your head.’ But instead, I chose to use my heart.” from To Zion referring to her pregnancy with her first child. It is worth noting that Lauryn Hill was also a dark-skinned Black woman, wearing coarse, natural hair in the style of freeform locks. She did not look like the standard of beauty even for Black women at the time, which was significantly more Eurocentric. Hill commented on such standards of beauty in the track Doo Wop (That Thing) with the lyric, “It’s silly when girls sell their souls because it’s in. Look at where you be in, hair weaves like Europeans. Fake nails done by Koreans.” Hill spoke about her political dialogue in the album in a 1999 interview: “I make music that communicates issues that aren’t always on the top of the agenda, for people who aren’t always spoken for.” Hill’s ability to seamlessly interweave her personal experiences and radical political opinions broke barriers for all artists, but most specifically for Black women.
While Miseducation is known for Hill’s stellar and relevant songwriting, it is also revolutionary for its use of multiple genres. Impossible to fit into one musical category, the album includes everything from rap to R&B to jazz to soul. The album opens with a heavy hip-hop beat in Lost Ones, which is immediately cut off with a reggae guitar chord. Songs such as To Zion include the “call and response” between Hill and a choir, paying direct homage to the blues and gospel genres. Motown soul references can be found in Doo Wop (That Thing)’s direct reference to The 5th Dimension’s Together Let’s Find Love. According to Lenesha Randolph, backup singer for Hill, in reference to Doo Wop (That Thing), Hill said “I wanna play with ‘50s and ‘60s harmonies, like barbershop guys on the corner and then we all just jumped in harmonizing acapella ‘whoo whoo whoo whoo.’” Additionally, half of the album was recorded in Bob Marley’s studio in Jamaica, which likely contributed to much of its Jamaican dancehall influence. An example being “Lost Ones’” stark influence from Sister Nancy’s Bam Bam. When interviewed by The Rolling Stone in 2021, Hill said that she intended 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.” The result of Hill’s choice to merge multiple genres together on top of sneaking in vocal riffs, harmonies, and rap ad-libs- is not only an album incredible to listen to, but technically genius.
After the massive success of her debut solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Hill left the industry entirely. It was and remains her only solo album. This winter, Hill is embarking on a 25th-anniversary tour of the iconic record. When looking at any piece of art, it’s important to understand its place and relevance in pop culture at the time of its creation. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was the first album with both rap and vocals. It combined different musical influences to create stunning melodies and vocals, while also providing important commentary on social justice issues. The album is a time capsule, stuck in the nineties, yet feels more relevant today than ever.
Work Cited:
“Inside ‘The Miseducation of Lauyrn Hill’”, The Rolling Stone, Laura Checkoway, August 26, 2008
“Lauryn Hill: I’m Not Afraid to be the Person I Am”, Rock’s Backpages, The Guardian, Simon Witter, August 21, 2013
