The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

In 1996, Lauryn Hill met Rohan Marley while touring as a member of the Fugees. The two gradually formed a close relationship, and while on tour, Hill became pregnant with his child.[8] The pregnancy and other circumstances in her life inspired her to record a solo album. After contributing to fellow Fugees member Wyclef Jean's 1997 solo record Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival, Hill took time off from touring and recording due to her pregnancy and cases of writer's block.[9] This pregnancy, however, renewed Hill's creativity, as she recalled in an interview several years later: "When some women are pregnant, their hair and their nails grow, but for me it was my mind and ability to create. I had the desire to write in a capacity that I hadn't done in a while. I don't know if it's a hormonal or emotional thing ... I was very in touch with my feelings at the time." Of the early writing process, Hill said, "Every time I got hurt, every time I was disappointed, every time I learned, I just wrote a song."[10]

While inspired, Hill wrote over thirty songs in her attic studio in South Orange, New Jersey.[11] Many of these songs drew upon the turbulence in the Fugees, as well as past love experiences.[12] In the summer of 1997, as Hill was due to give birth to her first child, she was requested to write a song for gospel musician CeCe Winans.[11] Several months later, she went to Detroit to work with soul singer Aretha Franklin, writing and producing her single "A Rose is Still a Rose". Franklin would later have Hill direct the song's music video.[13] Shortly after this, Hill did writing work for Whitney Houston.[14] Having written songs for artists in gospel, hip hop, and R&B, she drew on these influences and experiences to record The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.[15]

Julian Marley (pictured in 2010) was one of several members from Bob Marley's family who visited the album's recording sessions in Jamaica.

Hill began recording The Miseducation in late 1997 at Chung King Studios in New York City,[16] and completed it in June 1998 at Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston, Jamaica.[17] In an interview, Hill described the first day of recording, stating: "The first day in the studio I ordered every instrument I ever fell in love with: harps, strings, timpani, organs, clarinets. It was my idea to record it so the human element stayed in. I didn't want it to be too technically perfect."[18] Initially, Jean did not support Hill recording a solo album, but eventually offered to help as a producer, which she did not accept.[19][20] Aside from doing work at Chung King Studios, Hill also recorded at Perfect Pair Studios in New Jersey, as well as Sony Studios,[21] with some songs having different elements recorded at different studios.[21] The bulk of the album, however, was recorded at Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston, Jamaica, the studio built by reggae musician Bob Marley.[22] Regarding this shift in environment, Hill stated: "When I started recording in New York and New Jersey, lots of people were talking to me about going different routes. I could feel people up in my face, and I was picking up on bad vibes. I wanted a place where there was good vibes, where I was among family, and it was Tuff Gong."[23] Many members of the Marley family were present in the studio during the recording sessions, among them Julian Marley, who added guitar elements to "Forgive Them Father".[22]

In an interview, recording engineer Gordon "Commissioner Gordon" Williams recalled the recording of "Lost Ones", stating: "It was our first morning in Jamaica and I saw all of these kids gathered around Lauryn, screaming and dancing. Lauryn was in the living room next to the studio with about fifteen Marley grandchildren around her, the children of Ziggy, and Stephen, and Julian, and she starts singing this rap verse, and all the kids start repeating the last word of each line, chiming in very spontaneously because they were so into the song."[24] Columbia Records considered bringing in an outside producer for the album and had early talks with RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan. However, Hill was adamant about writing, arranging, and producing the album herself: "It would have been more difficult to articulate to other people. Hey, it's my album. Who can tell my story better than me?"[25] She recalled Ruffhouse Records executive Chris Swartz ensuring her artistic freedom while recording the album: "I had total control of the album. Chris Swartz at Ruffhouse, my label, said, 'Listen, you've never done anything stupid thus far, so let me let you do your thing.'"[26]

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is considered a neo soul album, according to Christopher John Farley of Time[32] and Rhapsody writer Mosi Reeves;[33] Complex magazine refers to it more generally as R&B.[34] Its music incorporates styles such as soul, hip hop, and reggae,[35] with some songs based in hip hop soul, according to the Encyclopedia of African American Music (2010).[36] "When It Hurts So Bad" is musically old roots reggae mixed with soul. While mostly in English, "Forgive Them Father" and "Lost Ones" both feature singing in patois, which is the common dialect in Jamaica. Although heavily R&B, the song "Superstar" contains an interpolation of the rock song "Light My Fire" by The Doors. Hill said that she "didn't want to come out with a [Fugees] type of sound", but create "something that was uniquely and very clearly a Lauryn Hill album."[26] She also said that she did not intend for the album's sound to be commercially appealing: "There's too much pressure to have hits these days. Artists are watching Billboard instead of exploring themselves. Look at someone like Aretha, she didn't hit with her first album, but she was able to grow up and find herself. I wanted to make honest music. I don't like things to be too perfect, or too polished. People may criticize me for that, but I grew up listening to Al Green and Sam Cooke. When they hit a high note, you actually felt it."[37]

Much of Hill's lyrics dealt with motherhood, the Fugees, reminiscence, love, heartbreak, and God.[11] Commenting on the album's gospel content, Hill stated "Gospel music is music inspired by the gospels. In a huge respect, a lot of this music turned out to be just that. During this album, I turned to the Bible and wrote songs that I drew comfort from."[40] Several of the album's songs, such as "Lost Ones", "Superstar", "Ex-Factor" and "Forgive Them Father" were widely speculated as direct attacks at Fugee members Wyclef and Pras.[41][42] "Ex-Factor" was originally intended for a different artist, however, Hill decided to keep it after it was completed, due to its personal content.[43] Although a large portion of the album's love songs would turn out to be bitter from Hill's previous relationship, "Nothing Even Matters",[44] a duet performed by Hill and R&B singer D'Angelo, showcased a brighter, more intimate perspective on the subject. The song was inspired by Hill's relationship with Rohan Marley. Speaking about "Nothing Even Matters"' lyrics, Hill remarked: "I wanted to make a love song, á la Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, and give people a humanistic approach to love again without all the physicality and overt sexuality."[45]

"To Zion", among the more introspective tracks on the album, spoke about how Hill's family comes before her career[27] and her decision to have her first child, even though many at the time encouraged her to abort the pregnancy, so as to not conflict with her burgeoning career.[42] In an interview she discussed the song's origin and significance, commenting "Names wouldn't come when I was ready to have him. The only name that came to me was Zion. I was like, 'is Zion too much of a weight to carry?' But this little boy, man. I would say he personally delivered me from my emotional and spiritual drought. He just replenished my newness. When he was born, I felt like I was born again."[46] She further stated: "I wanted it to be a revolutionary song about a spiritual movement, and also about my spiritual change, going from one place to another because of my son."[47]

Throughout The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, several interludes of a teacher speaking to what is implied to be a classroom of children are played. The "teacher" was played by American poet and politician Ras Baraka speaking to a group of children in the living room of Hill's New Jersey home.[42] Hill requested that Baraka speak to the children about the concept of love, to which he improvised in the lecture.[42] Slant Magazine's Paul Schrodt remarked on the title's reference to Carter G. Woodson's The Mis-Education of the Negro: "[Hill] adopts Woodson's thesis and makes it part of her own artistic process. Like the songs themselves, the intro/outro classroom scenes suggest a larger community working to redefine itself."[28] Along with Woodson's book, the album's title was inspired by the film and autobiographical novel The Education of Sonny Carson.[42]

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was released on August 25, 1998.[27] It was promoted with three singles—"Doo Wop (That Thing)", "Ex-Factor", and "Everything Is Everything"; all of which became hits and produced popular music videos.[48] The album broke numerous sales records.[49] In its first week, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200,[50] becoming the first album by a unaccompanied woman rapper to peak or debut at number one in the US.[51][52] Its first-week sales of over 422,000 copies, broke the record for female artists at time, previously held by Madonna's Ray of Light (1998).[53] The Miseducation also became the first debut album by a woman to launch atop the Billboard 200 chart;[54] which made Hill the first act to have debuted at number one on both the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 with their first entries on each chart.[55] The album's first-week sales remained the highest first-week sales for a debut album released by a woman in the 20th century,[56][57] and the highest for a female rapper ever.[58]

It topped the Billboard 200 for a second consecutive week, during which it sold 265,000 copies;[59] and earned a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after two weeks.[60] The following week, Hill became the first artist in the history of the Billboard 200 chart to enter the list at number one with a debut album and spend three consecutive weeks at the summit, when the album stayed at number one on the chart.[61] The album held four non-consecutive weeks at number one, which tied the record during the time for most weeks at number one for a hip hop album released in the Soundscan Era, before being surpassed by Jay-Z's Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998).[62][63] By late October 1998, it had spent nearly two consecutive months within the top five of the chart,[64] and had not fallen below the number three slot. The album's chart stability was considered rare for a hip hop release at the time, since most hip hop albums that debuted high quickly plummeted down the charts.[65]

The Miseducation had sold 2.9 million copies in the United States by December 1998, becoming one of the best-selling albums of that year.[66] It also topped the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums year-end chart,[67] making it the first and to this date, the only album by a woman to accomplish this feat.[68] In Ireland, the album became the first rap album to reach number one on the Irish Albums Chart.[69] In Japan, it sold over one million copies in its first few months, and became one of the few million-certified albums by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.[70]

The album's sales increased after Hill's appearance at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, as it sold 234,000 more copies in the week of March 3, 1999,[71] and 200,000 copies the following week.[72] 198 days after its release, the album was certified 5× platinum by the RIAA, and is one of the fastest-selling albums to achieve this milestone.[73] By August 1999, it had sold 10 million copies worldwide, including nearly 700,000 in Canada.[74] The album would eventually log a total of 26 weeks in the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart.[75] In April 2002, Columbia said that the album had sold 12 million copies worldwide,[76] and by 2009, its global sales were reported to be 19 million copies.[77]

As of 2015, it is the only rap album by a woman (from July 1995 - July 2005) to spend more than one week at number one; is the longest-running number one album from a woman rapper; and one of the longest-running number one rap albums ever on the Billboard 200 chart, according to XXL.[78] In 2018, it was announced that The Miseducation was the most-streamed album released in 1998, on Spotify.[79] It is one of the 20 most streamed albums from the 1990s in the United Kingdom,[80] along with being one of the most streamed albums from the 70s, 80s and 90s, according to the Official Chart Company.[81]

The album held the record for the longest-charting debut album by a female rapper on the Billboard 200, at 91 weeks, for over 21 years before being surpassed by Cardi B's Invasion of Privacy (2018).[82] In 2021, the album was Diamond certified by the RIAA,[83] which led Hill to earn the Guinness World Record for being the first female rapper to reach RIAA Diamond status.[84] It was also reported that the album has sold 20 million copies worldwide according to Sony Music.[85][86][87]

Tour

Hill toured worldwide to promote the album, starting at Budokan (pictured) in Japan.

Initially, there was no immediate tour planned due to the album not needing further promotion. Hill was also pregnant again with a child due in September 1998.[88] Her first live performances of the songs were at Saturday Night Live and the Billboard Music Awards.[89] In January 1999, Hill recruited a band and began rehearsals for what would become The Miseducation Tour.[90] Tickets sold out as soon as the tour was announced.[88]

The tour began at Budokan in Tokyo on January 21, 1999. Hill performed there again the following night, and played at two other Tokyo venues in the following week.[88] One week later, she flew to London for her performance at the Brixton Academy on February 8.[88] With 20 US dates total,[91] the American part of the tour, which featured Outkast as the opening act, started on February 18 in Detroit, and ended on April 1 in Hill's hometown of Newark, New Jersey.[91] During the tour, Hill performed three sold-out nights at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.[92] She began the tour's 14-date European leg on May 13, when she performed at the Oslo Spektrum in Norway, closing on June 2 at the Manchester Arena in England.[93] Hill would return back to the US, performing 10 shows in July and August, with Busta Rhymes as an opening act.[94] She then returned to Japan, where the tour was completed.[95] Los Angeles Times stated that the tour was "quite possibly the most accomplished tour ever by a hip-hop artist" at the time.[96]

Hill did not want an extensive tour because of obligations to her family and the difficulties she experienced touring with the Fugees in 1996, which she found desensitizing and isolating. According to Hill biographer Chris Nickson in 1999, "there was the possibility of more dates being added ... but it was unlikely that Lauryn would be willing to make the tour more grueling and draining. She'd come to know that there was much more to life than a career."[95]

Professional reviews (1998)

Review scores
Source	Rating
Entertainment Weekly	A[97]
The Guardian	[98]
Los Angeles Times	[99]
Melody Maker	[100]
Muzik	[101]
NME	8/10[39]
Pitchfork	8.0/10[29]
Q	[102]
Rolling Stone	[38]
Spin	9/10[31]

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was met with widespread critical acclaim;[103][104] according to Los Angeles Times journalist Geoff Boucher, it was the most acclaimed album of 1998. Reviewers frequently praised Hill's presentation of a female's view on life and love.[105] Eric Weisbard from Spin called her a "genre-bender" whose confident singing and rapping was balanced by vulnerable themes and sentiment.[31] In The New York Times, Ann Powers found it "miraculous" and "exceptional" for Hill to use "her faith, based more in experience and feeling than in doctrine," as a means of connecting "the sacred to the secular in music that touches the essence of soul."[106] AllMusic's John Bush was impressed by how she produced most of the album, "not as a crossover record, but as a collection of overtly personal and political statements", while demonstrating "performing talents, vocal range, and songwriting smarts".[27] David Browne, writing in Entertainment Weekly, called it "an album of often-astonishing power, strength, and feeling", as well as "one of the rare hip-hop soul albums" to not lose focus with frivolous guest appearances. Browne applauded Hill's artistic vision and credited her for "easily flowing from singing to rapping, evoking the past while forging a future of her own".[97] Dream Hampton of The Village Voice said she seamlessly "travels her realm within any given song",[107] while Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot deemed the record a "vocal tour de force" with arrangements that "bristle with great ideas".[108] XXL gave the album a perfect "XXL" rating,[109] with the magazine saying that it "not only verifies [Hill] as the most exciting voice of a young, progressive hip-hop nation, it raises the standards for it."[110]

In a less enthusiastic review, Q magazine's Dom Phillips felt the music's only flaw was "a lack of memorable melody" on some songs that did not use interesting samples,[102] while John Mulvey from NME quibbled about what he felt were redundant skits and Hill's "propensity" for histrionics and declarations of "how brilliant God is" on an otherwise "essential" album.[39] Pitchfork's Neil Lieberman found some of the ballads tedious and the melodies "cheesy".[29] Citing "Lost Ones" and "Superstar" as highlights, The Village Voice music editor Robert Christgau deemed it the "PC record of the year", featuring exceptionally understated production and skillful rapping but also inconsistent lyrics, average singing, and superfluous skits.[111] He appreciated the "knowledge [and] moral authority" of Hill's perspective and values, although he lamented her appraisal of God on record.[112] In the Los Angeles Times, Soren Baker believed Hill was more effective as a critical rapper than a singer on the more emotional songs, where her voice was "too thin to carry such heavy subject matter".[99]

Though The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was largely a collaborative work between Hill and a group of musicians known as New Ark (Vada Nobles, Rasheem Pugh, Tejumold Newton, and Johari Newton), there was "label pressure to do the Prince thing," wherein all tracks would be credited as "written and produced by" the artist with little outside help.[19][42] While recording the album, Hill was against the idea of creating documentation defining each musician's role.[19]

In 1998, New Ark filed a 50-page lawsuit against Hill, her management and her record label, stating that Hill "used their songs and production skills, but failed to properly credit them for the work."[136] The musicians claimed to be the primary songwriters on two tracks, and major contributors on several others, though Gordon Williams, the album's mixer and engineer, described the project as a "powerfully personal effort by Hill ... It was definitely her vision."[105] Audio engineer Tony Prendatt, who also worked on the album, defended Hill, with a statement saying "Lauryn's genius is her own".[137] In response to the lawsuit, Hill claimed that New Ark took advantage of her success.[138] New Ark requested partial writing credits and monetary reimbursement.[139] The suit was eventually settled out of court in February 2001 for a reported $5 million.[42][140]

Marvel Comics released a series of variant comic book covers inspired by influential contemporary rap albums, which included a reimagined Miseducation themed Ms. Marvel comic cover.[192] San Francisco Bay Area music collective UnderCover Presents, formed by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, released a Miseducation tribute album entitled UnderCover Presents: A Tribute to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (2017).[193]

On The Miseducation's fifteenth anniversary in 2013, American rapper Nas reviewed the album for XXL, hailing it as a model for artists of all genres to follow. He also called it "a timeless record, pure music", and said it "represents the time period—a serious moment in Black music, when young artists were taking charge and breaking through doors."[194]

In 2018, Hill launched a North American tour to commemorate the album's 20th anniversary.[195] Adele penned a letter referring to the album as  her "favorite record of all time", while noting that it represented "an honest representation of love and life", and added "I feel I can relate too but also I know there's elements and levels I never will be able to. Ms. Lauryn Hill was on form in every way possible. Thank you for the record of a lifetime, thank you for your wisdom! Thank you for existing. Happy 20th".[196] American girl group TLC, spoke to Beats 1 about the album's influence, with Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas stating "I mean, she be in the videos sometimes pregnant, and sometimes not. She was doing it at a time where they would probably be like, "wait until you have your baby." Whereas these days, a female artist — whether you're an actress or whatever — if you're pregnant, you celebrate that from the moment that you decide to share it with the world. She didn't care, she just did it. Her voice — to be able to rap like that and sing like that, she was and is unbelievably talented. There's nobody like Lauryn Hill."[197]

In celebration of the album's 20th anniversary, Billboard interviewed 16 artists who have been inspired by the album, which included Jazmine Sullivan, Maggie Rogers, Rapsody, Normani, Chloe Bailey, Lizzo, Andra Day, Saweetie, Ella Mai, Teyana Taylor, Anne-Marie and more.[198] The album was also the subject of author and journalist Joan Morgan's 2018 book She Begat This: 20 Years of 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill'.[199][200] That same year, Spotify presented the Dear Ms. Hill art installation in Brooklyn, New York which saw fans, including H.E.R. and Kelly Rowland, submit letters about The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and then used those letters to turn them into paper art.[201] Further, the Spotify podcast Dissect launched their first ever mini series, which examined the album and its impact.[202] Hill also collaborated with Woolrich to design Miseducation inspired pieces for their 'American Soul Since 1830' collection, and starred in the accompanying campaign.[203][204]

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[235]

• Billboard Year-End
• List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 1998
• List of number-one R&B albums of 1998 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B albums of 1999 (U.S.)
• List of best-selling albums in the United States

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Caramanica, Jon (2004). "Lauryn Hill". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
• Furman, Leah; Furman, Elina (1999). Heart of Soul. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-43588-5.
• Havranek, Carrie (2009). Women Icons of Popular Music: The Rebels, Rockers, and Renegades, Volume 1. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-34084-0.
• Nickson, Chris (1999). Lauryn Hill: She's Got That Thing. St. Martin's Paperbacks. ISBN 0-312-97210-5.
• Price, Emmett G., III; Kernodle, Tammy L.; Maxile, Horace Jr., eds. (2010). Encyclopedia of African American Music, Volume 3. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-34199-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)

• Laura Checkoway, "Inside The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill", Rolling Stone, August 26, 2008.

• The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill at Discogs (list of releases)