Music News: 15 Years Of 'The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill' Update: 2023 Tour! APPLE MUSIC GREASTEST ALBUM?

[playahaitian]

15 Years Of 'The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill'

From the bottom to the top, and back down once more, Lauryn Hill’s had a turbulent time in the public eye since breaking into the pop world as one-third of Fugees. Said outfit’s debut LP, 1994’s ‘Blunted On Reality’, eventually chalked up six-figure sales stateside – but its modest success pales in comparison to its successor, 1996’s ‘The Score’.

The UK’s summer of 1996 was memorable for two things: Euro ’96 briefly rekindling the notion among st football-following sorts that England might actually be capable of winning a major tournament, and Fugees’ ‘Killing Me Softly’, the second single lifted from ‘The Score’, sitting at number one for five weeks. The trio’s next single, ‘Ready Or Not’, was another number one, claiming the top spot for a fortnight.

A global chart-topper and double-Grammy-winner, ‘The Score’ saw Fugees reach a new level of commercial recognition – but Hill was about to step into a spotlight of her own, one she didn’t need to share with bandmates Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel. 1998’s ‘The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill’ saw the singer truly elevate herself from a significant player in a bigger picture to a headline attraction in her own right.

‘The Miseducation…’ won five Grammy Awards. It went to number one in the US and Canada. If you put your faith in critical scores, it was the most acclaimed album of 1998. The album spawned three hit singles: ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’, ‘Ex-Factor’ and ‘Everything Is Everything’. It should have been the launchpad proper for Hill’s ascent to unquestionable superstardom. And, then…

And then, troubles began. At the time of writing, Hill is behind bars, serving a three-month sentence for tax evasion. But this isn’t the place to detail her tribulations post ‘The Miseducation…’ – it’s a celebration of an amazing album, which today is every bit as intoxicatingly affecting as it was on release in August 1998.

For this revisiting of a truly fantastic record celebrating its 15th anniversary – foreshadowing a Spotlight piece proper in the next issue of Clash magazine – we’ve turned to rising south London rapper Ashley Charles, aka Amplify Dot. Having caused no little stir on the rap scene with her singles so far – including ‘Kurt Cobain’ and the Busta Rhymes-featuring ‘I’m Good’ – she’ll be releasing her debut album later in 2013. Having already shared a stage with the legendary Missy Elliott, she’s exhibiting the potential to emulate the American rapper’s successes.

Dot was, like many, touched by ‘The Miseducation…’ in her formative years. So it’s over to her for why Lauryn Hill’s album remains a masterpiece.

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The ‘90s was a golden era for hip-hop and gave birth to many a masterpiece, from Nas’ ‘Illmatic’ to Biggie’s ‘Ready To Die’ and, of course, Missy Elliott's genre-defying ‘Supa Dupa Fly’.

But for me there is one album from this inspired decade that truly defined a generation: ‘The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill’.

It is difficult to articulate the sustained cultural relevance of Hill’s debut album in a way that truly does justice to its deserved longevity. But 15 years on, it is a body of work that continues to be as heroically emotive as it was on its first play in 1998. It is seldom that an entire collection of music is able to preserve such social pertinence, but on ‘The Miseducation…’ the discourse remains intact.

Lauryn Hill was a triple threat in the ‘90s: a rapper, a singer, and an actress. She nailed the role of Rita in Sister Act 2, one of the few movie sequels that outshines its predecessor.

Hill ran rings around her peers when it came to profound lyrical content, and her distinct vocal tone and thought-provoking nuance is the reason why ‘The Score’ by Fugees can also be hailed as a rap staple.

Whenever I am asked that age-old journalism favorite, “Who is your biggest inspiration?”, it is Lauryn who I always name-check without hesitation.

I cried as I listened to ‘To Zion’, was humbled as I listened to ‘Lost Ones’ and I sang along to ‘Ex-Factor’ as if I had just lost my one true love at the tender age of 10.

As I matured through my teens this album stayed on heavy rotation. I owned it on CD, MP3, and the relic we now know as a MiniDisc. I carried this album with me throughout the years as it continued to soundtrack my experiences.

‘Doo Wop’ taught me about materialism and self-respect, while ‘I Used To Love Him’ opened my eyes to the darker sides of love. My appreciation for each lyric heightened with age as I learned to understand its intricacy, and it began to serve as my daily meditation.

‘The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill’ is, without question, my favorite album of all time. It is a musical journey that is still unrivaled by any other woman in hip-hop. It is unlikely to be surpassed or even equaled by Lauryn herself, let alone by any one of the many musicians that were inspired by this rare glimpse at genius.

Hip-hop lost its way after the ‘90s, for me, and is only now finding its feet again. There is no better illustration of this than Lauryn Hill’s own rise and fall. But despite her publicized battles and internalized demons, Lauryn’s contribution to music with a single album is more than many artists will dare to even dream of in a lifetime.

She is, and will perhaps always be, the queen of hip-hop, but I hope that within the next 15 years we see a deserving heir to her throne.

Words: Amplify Dot

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http://www.clashmusic.com/features/15-years-of-the-miseducation-of-lauryn-hill

 

[Damn Right]

REALLY good album. but 15 years after it dropped you rarely hear any songs from it played at parties, get-togethers or on the radio. people didn't hear it and instantly wanna copy her style. that's why i wouldn't call it a timeless classic.

dope azzed project? no doubt!

but a game changer? nahhh.

 

[ansatsusha_gouki]

The only song I like from the album is "Ex Factor",other than that I dont really care for the album...

 

[2 ONE 3]

Final Hour

That Thing

Ex Factor

Nothing Even Matters

& of course


Lost Ones


Timeless music

 

[Osca Lee]

ex factor cant be touch...now that is a classic

 

[Eduble]

Classic. Still listen to it.

 

[stretchwallz]

A full play CD...no skips

Best female hip hop album ever...Lauryn rhymes were profound and feminine at the same time. Unlike the other women in hip hop who were she-males on the mic, she could convey sensitivity, maternity, love, pain, and strength without sounding like the men in hip hop. Such a true artist that no other MC was able to copy her or mimic her sound. Truly a deep and introspective MC on the level of Nas when you examine her lyrics

Don't discuss the baby mother business
I've been in this third LP, you can't tell me, I witness
First handed, I'm candid
You can't stand it
Respect demanded
And get flown around the planet
Rock hard like granite or steel
People feel Lauryn Hill from New York to Israel
And this is real
So I keep makin' the street's ballads
While you lookin' for dressin' to go with your tossed salad

 

[Mr. Del]

REALLY good album. but 15 years after it dropped you rarely hear any songs from it played at parties, get-togethers or on the radio. people didn't hear it and instantly wanna copy her style. that's why i wouldn't call it a timeless classic.

dope azzed project? no doubt!

but a game changer? nahhh.

I don't know who you hang out with, but her songs are played all the time.

I'm actually a little tired of the album, it's been played so much. Still like it, though.

 

[fabregas]

Can't call it a classic. Never heard a dj play any of her songs, its not on the radio etc.

From the desk of Hiss Excellency.

 

[playahaitian]

REALLY good album. but 15 years after it dropped you rarely hear any songs from it played at parties, get-togethers or on the radio. people didn't hear it and instantly wanna copy her style. that's why i wouldn't call it a timeless classic.

dope azzed project? no doubt!

but a game changer? nahhh.

 

[Helico-pterFunk]

Definitely one of the best albums of the past 15 - 20 years.

 

[2 ONE 3]

Definitely one of the best albums of the past 15 - 20 years.

 

[Mad Genius]

REALLY good album. but 15 years after it dropped you rarely hear any songs from it played at parties, get-togethers or on the radio. people didn't hear it and instantly wanna copy her style. that's why i wouldn't call it a timeless classic.

dope azzed project? no doubt!

but a game changer? nahhh.

i think it was a game changer in the sense that it was the true end of an era of artists that wanted to affect change through music and their celebrity. part of why lauryn hill walked away was because she saw the label and the industry in general wanted her to be more about "doo wop" visually... rather than "lost ones" or "dop wop" lyrically. part of the deal of getting stardom is being willing to walk away from the political side of your artistry. that seemed to bother her alot. the industry at that time was doing away with any and all artists that wanted to truly affect the minds of the people. so from that aspect, lauryn hill was the last of a dying breed. she represented one of the last artists that had a chance to be more than just a rapper/singer. and the industry worked hard to make sure she understood that she wasn't going to be allowed to be anything more than that.

its not that artists didn't want to be like lauryn hill...they weren't allowed to be like lauryn hill. labels across the board stopped looking to sign artists like her. that's not what they wanted to promote. rappers stopped trying to be political and extra lyrical because they couldn't get signed, not because they didn't want to emulate what she did. that's why its a big deal when artists like kendrick lamar and j. cole get through. artists with a message are generally disregarded these days. and the ones that find a way to get in have to water down their message to the point where they don't appear to be a threat to the establishment.

so to me...that's where lauryn hill's true greatness lies. she was the last major black artist to have a truly successful album that was largely based on positive, political messages to black people. and the industry has worked in conjunction with radio/tv to make sure that it wont happen again.

 

[2 ONE 3]

i think it was a game changer in the sense that it was the true end of an era of artists that wanted to affect change through music and their celebrity. part of why lauryn hill walked away was because she saw the label and the industry in general wanted her to be more about "doo wop" visually... rather than "lost ones" or "dop wop" lyrically. part of the deal of getting stardom is being willing to walk away from the political side of your artistry. that seemed to bother her alot. the industry at that time was doing away with any and all artists that wanted to truly affect the minds of the people. so from that aspect, lauryn hill was the last of a dying breed. she represented one of the last artists that had a chance to be more than just a rapper/singer. and the industry worked hard to make sure she understood that she wasn't going to be allowed to be anything more than that.

its not that artists didn't want to be like lauryn hill...they weren't allowed to be like lauryn hill. labels across the board stopped looking to sign artists like her. that's not what they wanted to promote. rappers stopped trying to be political and extra lyrical because they couldn't get signed, not because they didn't want to emulate what she did. that's why its a big deal when artists like kendrick lamar and j. cole get through. artists with a message are generally disregarded these days. and the ones that find a way to get in have to water down their message to the point where they don't appear to be a threat to the establishment.

so to me...that's where lauryn hill's true greatness lies. she was the last major black artist to have a truly successful album that was largely based on positive, political messages to black people. and the industry has worked in conjunction with radio/tv to make sure that it wont happen again.

Well Said

 

[godofwine]

These are fun hott

Final Hour

That Thing

Ex Factor

Nothing Even Matters

& of course


Lost Ones


Timeless music

 

[water]

i think it was a game changer in the sense that it was the true end of an era of artists that wanted to affect change through music and their celebrity. part of why lauryn hill walked away was because she saw the label and the industry in general wanted her to be more about "doo wop" visually... rather than "lost ones" or "dop wop" lyrically. part of the deal of getting stardom is being willing to walk away from the political side of your artistry. that seemed to bother her alot. the industry at that time was doing away with any and all artists that wanted to truly affect the minds of the people. so from that aspect, lauryn hill was the last of a dying breed. she represented one of the last artists that had a chance to be more than just a rapper/singer. and the industry worked hard to make sure she understood that she wasn't going to be allowed to be anything more than that.

its not that artists didn't want to be like lauryn hill...they weren't allowed to be like lauryn hill. labels across the board stopped looking to sign artists like her. that's not what they wanted to promote. rappers stopped trying to be political and extra lyrical because they couldn't get signed, not because they didn't want to emulate what she did. that's why its a big deal when artists like kendrick lamar and j. cole get through. artists with a message are generally disregarded these days. and the ones that find a way to get in have to water down their message to the point where they don't appear to be a threat to the establishment.

so to me...that's where lauryn hill's true greatness lies. she was the last major black artist to have a truly successful album that was largely based on positive, political messages to black people. and the industry has worked in conjunction with radio/tv to make sure that it wont happen again.

100% truth



She breaks it down in this song

 

[stretchwallz]

Can't call it a classic. Never heard a dj play any of her songs, its not on the radio etc.

From the desk of Hiss Excellency.

??? DJ's played all of her songs from 98-02 at clubs and on radio. FYI radio DJ's don't select songs (haven't since the mid 80's) 5-8 men are responsible for 90% of what you hear on all radio FM or XM...it's a huge racket and it's bought and paid for. Music is programming too...I was fired for refusing to play D4L Laffy Taffy a few years ago

The reason you hear Robin Thicke everywhere today is because it is MANDATED...or termination (now it's the most listened to song in 20 years of airplay monitoring)

 

[REDLINE]

Dope album and yes a classic.

 

[water]

The reason you hear Robin Thicke everywhere today is because it is MANDATED...or termination (now it's the most listened to song in 20 years of airplay monitoring)

Lots of fuckery with the manufactured system

 

[brickwall92]

??? DJ's played all of her songs from 98-02 at clubs and on radio. FYI radio DJ's don't select songs (haven't since the mid 80's) 5-8 men are responsible for 90% of what you hear on all radio FM or XM...it's a huge racket and it's bought and paid for. Music is programming too...I was fired for refusing to play D4L Laffy Taffy a few years ago

The reason you hear Robin Thicke everywhere today is because it is MANDATED...or termination (now it's the most listened to song in 20 years of airplay monitoring)

 

[water]

"Why would a system, ‘well intentioned’, wait until breakdown or incarceration to consider rehabilitation, after generations of institutionally inflicted trauma and abuse on a people? To me it is obvious that the accumulation of generational trauma and abuse have created the very behaviors the system tries to punish, by providing no sufficient outlets for the victims of institutional terror. Clearly, the institution seeks to hide its own criminal history at the expense and wholeness of the abused, who ‘acting out’ from years of abuse and mistreatment, reflect the very aggression that they were exposed to."





See more

http://mslaurynhill.tumblr.com/

 

[Helico-pterFunk]

Lots of fuckery with the manufactured system

Yeah - I listen to 3 radio stations in the car, and some CDs. It's interesting to hear what the latest "pop" hits are ... as there are a handful in heavy rotation. Shit ... there have been times wherein I'll be driving and hear ALL 3 playing Rihanna songs at the same time (sometimes within seconds of each other). Leaves you a bit puzzled in the whip ... as each station claims to be "the #1 station in ..." and are all supposedly in direct competition with one another. 'Member one time hearing the same Rihanna song on all 3 ... and almost crashing the car in laughter. The manufactured system - ♫ .

 

[Ming Fei Hong]

If this album isn't a classic, I have no clue what a classic is...

 

[Mr.Chuckles]

If this album isn't a classic, I have no clue what a classic is...

Classic

 

[playahaitian]

i think it was a game changer in the sense that it was the true end of an era of artists that wanted to affect change through music and their celebrity. part of why lauryn hill walked away was because she saw the label and the industry in general wanted her to be more about "doo wop" visually... rather than "lost ones" or "dop wop" lyrically. part of the deal of getting stardom is being willing to walk away from the political side of your artistry. that seemed to bother her alot. the industry at that time was doing away with any and all artists that wanted to truly affect the minds of the people. so from that aspect, lauryn hill was the last of a dying breed. she represented one of the last artists that had a chance to be more than just a rapper/singer. and the industry worked hard to make sure she understood that she wasn't going to be allowed to be anything more than that.

its not that artists didn't want to be like lauryn hill...they weren't allowed to be like lauryn hill. labels across the board stopped looking to sign artists like her. that's not what they wanted to promote. rappers stopped trying to be political and extra lyrical because they couldn't get signed, not because they didn't want to emulate what she did. that's why its a big deal when artists like kendrick lamar and j. cole get through. artists with a message are generally disregarded these days. and the ones that find a way to get in have to water down their message to the point where they don't appear to be a threat to the establishment.

so to me...that's where lauryn hill's true greatness lies. she was the last major black artist to have a truly successful album that was largely based on positive, political messages to black people. and the industry has worked in conjunction with radio/tv to make sure that it wont happen again.

my dude this is so well thought out and written you BETTER submit this or post this on a blog or something.

SERIOUSLY.



#bgolbrotherhood

 

[Mr. Del]

Doo Wop is playing on the radio right now. Who said they don't play her music anymore?

 

[Mad Genius]

my dude this is so well thought out and written you BETTER submit this or post this on a blog or something.

SERIOUSLY.



#bgolbrotherhood

 

[playahaitian]

i think it was a game changer in the sense that it was the true end of an era of artists that wanted to affect change through music and their celebrity. part of why lauryn hill walked away was because she saw the label and the industry in general wanted her to be more about "doo wop" visually... rather than "lost ones" or "dop wop" lyrically. part of the deal of getting stardom is being willing to walk away from the political side of your artistry. that seemed to bother her alot. the industry at that time was doing away with any and all artists that wanted to truly affect the minds of the people. so from that aspect, lauryn hill was the last of a dying breed. she represented one of the last artists that had a chance to be more than just a rapper/singer. and the industry worked hard to make sure she understood that she wasn't going to be allowed to be anything more than that.

its not that artists didn't want to be like lauryn hill...they weren't allowed to be like lauryn hill. labels across the board stopped looking to sign artists like her. that's not what they wanted to promote. rappers stopped trying to be political and extra lyrical because they couldn't get signed, not because they didn't want to emulate what she did. that's why its a big deal when artists like kendrick lamar and j. cole get through. artists with a message are generally disregarded these days. and the ones that find a way to get in have to water down their message to the point where they don't appear to be a threat to the establishment.

so to me...that's where lauryn hill's true greatness lies. she was the last major black artist to have a truly successful album that was largely based on positive, political messages to black people. and the industry has worked in conjunction with radio/tv to make sure that it wont happen again.

follow-up question...

WHY???

What is the endgame?

How are they gonna benefit? Particularly financially?

 

[Mad Genius]

follow-up question...

WHY???

What is the endgame?

How are they gonna benefit? Particularly financially?

simply put...politically astute, self aware black people are not good consumers.

the period of time when it was all about african medallions and music from groups like x-clan put a scare into the powers that be. if young black kids and black people in general are self aware and unified, then at any given moment we can easily boycott whatever we want and be extremely effective. during that time, we as group were looking down on materialism and buying dashikis and african wear. that's the worst thing in the world to the establishment, politically and financially.

couple that with the corporate takeover of rap/hiphop music and it effectively put an end to most of that kind of music before lauryn hill released 'miseducation'. but since the fugees were popular and wyclef was gaining power as a producer and artist, they gave lauren a release date because they knew she would sell millions. but the label was well aware of the content and tried to glam her up as much as they could to take away from the message. her popularity threatened to bring that movement back and they weren't going to let that happen. hill and the neo-soul movement could have done it if the soul artists hadn't rebelled against the "neo-soul" term, and if the labels hadn't watered down the genre by signing artists who weren't about that but made it seem like they were. they killed the movement before it could get started.

 

[yaBoi]

classic

 

[playahaitian]

Nas Reviews Lauryn Hill’s ‘The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill

Artist: Lauryn Hill
Reviewer: Nas
Rating: XXL
Anniversary: 15-year

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in the September 2013 issue of XXL Magazine.

I kept hearing about the album; there was a hype there, and when “Doo Wop” dropped, it was more than I expected.

There’s always a void when it comes to the female MC world, and she went beyond that. It checked me as an MC because she was pure. There was no chains, no fancy cars, she checked us on all of that. On songs like “Superstar” and “Lost Ones” and “Doo Wop,” she talked to us, she went into who we were as men and women. And that was needed at the time and to this day. To me it was like the soul of Roberta Flack, the passion of Bob Marley, the essence of Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson and the essence of hip-hop wrapped up in one thing. All that was inside that album.

When it starts and you hear the classroom and then they go on to talk about love, she’s teaching people what love is. It made me wonder, “How the hell does this person know about love the way she’s singing about it?” She sang about love and betrayal and hurt and rejoicing and happiness and joy like someone who’s been here longer than she had.

It’s a timeless record, pure music. And that’s what we don’t hear anymore. She birthed her sound, and that’s timeless. She didn’t try to be cool, she was already cool. She didn’t have to fit in with any style, she was the new style, and it’s a positive style.

It represents the time period—a serious moment in Black music, when young artists were taking charge and breaking through doors. It cleared the way for rap music to be what it is today. We demanded that the whole world pay attention, so the music had to be that dynamic, and she represents that. She was one of the soldiers in that mission. Before then, it was in its place. Beyond that, musically, the content—it’s an album that everyone today should listen to if they wanna make an album. No matter who you are—R&B, rap, rock, soul, whatever—you wanna make an album, I would say everyone should take a listen to this before you start working on yours.

And then I’ll go beyond that. It’s a piece of work that’s needed in your deck, in your CD chamber, in your iPod. It’s one of those records that you need, like Legend like Bob Marley, or all those Stevie Wonder albums. See, we didn’t have that, our generation didn’t really have that. We had the soul of Mary J. Blige, but she was pretty much out there alone in terms of an artist who was giving you the music like that, where you can believe it and you feel it. It was the closest thing we have since our parents’ era. She was the other female that gave us the closest thing we had since our parents’ era, Stevie Wonder and all that music that we grew up listening to, no artist in our generation except Lauryn—Mary and Lauryn, as far as women we concerned—and she was doing that thing and gave us a feeling that our parents had, and made sure we didn’t miss out on the feeling. She had that for us.

The album cover is her face scratched into the desk and she’s wearing dreadlocks, and she’s proud of who she is, and today I don’t see enough black women—there are lots of proud black women—but there’s so many that don’t really tap into their natural beauty. She tapped into hers and rapped about it. We were like, yo, this girl, we’re about to embark on a journey with this young woman, and we’re just gonna allow her to take us anywhere we want to go. -@Nas (as told to @Dan Rys)

 

[playahaitian]

Lauryn Hill’s ‘Miseducation’ Collaborators Remember The Album 15 Years Later

The story of The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill is a tangled one. The album, which celebrated its 15th anniversary yesterday (August 25), was born of controversy and stacked full of emotional honesty on top of 14 tracks of R&B, funk, reggae and hip-hop. The writing and recording process encompassed 18 months, two pregnancies and a journey to Jamaica, while the aftermath wound up icing friendships and tarnishing reputations. And from somewhere in the middle of it all came an album that won five Grammys, set a record for most sales in a single week by a female solo artist (423,000) and is regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of its time, with Nas telling XXL last month that it cleared the way for rap music to be what it is today.

At this point in its existence, Miseducation can be looked at as an outstanding album rather than the centerpiece of a chaotic, five-year drama played out through media outlets and lawyers just as much as recording studios and car speakers. Bookended by the deterioration of The Fugees on one side and a lawsuit on the other, the album itself is one of those cultural markers that helps define that era of hip-hop in the late 1990s. But among those who helped create the album, the hurricane that was Miseducation wasn’t as much of a blessing as it was to everyone else.

The story of the lawsuit has been told but is worth a brief re-telling here: Following the release of the album, the four musicians who formed Hill’s New Ark studio band—Rasheem “Kilo” Pugh, Vada Nobles and twin brothers Johari and Tejumold Newton—sued Hill and her label Columbia when they were not credited as writers and producers, eventually settling out of court for a reported $5 million. “That album was the biggest thing on the planet, and everyone looked at us as the guys suing her,” Pugh says. “It left us as The Lawsuit Guys.”

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Things had started well after their first meeting; Pugh brought the crew to Hill’s house in Orange, NJ, where the former Fugee laid out her plan to branch out from her old group. She hit it off with her new band quickly. “She’s really like a sister; if there was a female version of me, it would be her,” says Jo Newton. “I knew the family, her mother and father, brother, her man, her kid. We were extensions of her family.” Hill brought the team into a studio she had in her attic, where they began cutting songs for Aretha Franklin and Andrea Martin, before starting work on Miseducation either in the attic studio or at various locations in Manhattan, recording on two-inch reels and using as few loops and samples as possible.

“Lauryn was definitely the guide—it was her vision,” Jo says. “Our job was to take whatever was in [her] head and put it down for her.” This led to a building-block process of writing, where a spark would morph into an idea, become a groove and then emerge as a song. “Everybody had jobs,” Pugh remembers. “Vada’s job was to find that groove that made us hum. Then T [Tejumold] and Jo’s job was the instrumentation to enhance that groove. And when the groove was so catchy that it made us hum—either Lauryn or me—then it was time to create those words that she wanted to sing. It was literally constant work; even when you didn’t think you were working, you were working. The vibe was incredible.”

Because none of this working process was defined on paper—hence the lawsuit—it’s not always clear whose memory of the sessions is more correct; both the Newton twins and Pugh separately claimed to have been the authors behind the title track, for instance, though all at least agree Hill was not. Pugh and Jo Newton separately spoke of sparring sessions—a one-line battle-rap-type exercise where each person would try to one-up the other while keeping the rhyme scheme intact—which led to or augmented a number of Lauryn’s verses. The influences are consistent across the board—Donny Hathaway, old school doo wop records, KRS-One breaks, Cooley High and old Bill Cosby movies. It’s worth pointing out that in 2008, both her former manager Jayson Jackson (“them [songs] was way too personal”) and her boyfriend Rohan Marley (“A team of them ganged up on her”) told Rolling Stone that Lauryn always wrote her own lyrics, but they also described a collaborative environment that tallies up with the New Ark stories.

http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2013/08/...laborators-remember-the-album-15-years-later/

 

[Black Radical]

Can't call it a classic. Never heard a dj play any of her songs, its not on the radio etc.

From the desk of Hiss Excellency.

SO DJs and the radio determine what is classic hip hop to you?

Ur lost. This is one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. Period. I wouldnt even have a discussion with someone about hip hop who questioned this.

 

[mangobob79]

simply put...politically astute, self aware black people are not good consumers.

the period of time when it was all about african medallions and music from groups like x-clan put a scare into the powers that be. if young black kids and black people in general are self aware and unified, then at any given moment we can easily boycott whatever we want and be extremely effective. during that time, we as group were looking down on materialism and buying dashikis and african wear. that's the worst thing in the world to the establishment, politically and financially.

couple that with the corporate takeover of rap/hiphop music and it effectively put an end to most of that kind of music before lauryn hill released 'miseducation'. but since the fugees were popular and wyclef was gaining power as a producer and artist, they gave lauren a release date because they knew she would sell millions. but the label was well aware of the content and tried to glam her up as much as they could to take away from the message. her popularity threatened to bring that movement back and they weren't going to let that happen. hill and the neo-soul movement could have done it if the soul artists hadn't rebelled against the "neo-soul" term, and if the labels hadn't watered down the genre by signing artists who weren't about that but made it seem like they were. they killed the movement before it could get started.

Chuuuuuchhh!!

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[MadWun]

Whole album is fire