Biography
Lauryn Hill first gained widespread attention as a member of the Fugees, a multi-platinum, Grammy-winning group, yet she asserted her independence as a singer, songwriter, rapper, and producer with the 1998 solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Weaving rap, soul, and reggae into one cohesive style, the record stood out for its eclectic, uplifting, and empowering qualities and was frequently named by emerging musicians as a defining influence. After its release she largely withdrew from view, limiting new material to a live recording, scattered tracks on compilations, and occasional guest appearances. Disillusionment with the business, combined with legal difficulties and inconsistent live shows, never erased the lasting resonance of her 1990s achievements.
Growing up in South Orange, New Jersey, Hill absorbed her parents’ wide-ranging, multi-generational record collection from an early age. She began singing as a child and landed small parts on the daytime drama As the World Turns and in the film Sister Act II: Back in the Habit. Her on-again, off-again role in the Fugees started at thirteen and was repeatedly interrupted by acting work and attendance at Columbia University. After building a regional following in the tri-state area, the group issued its first album, the heavily promoted yet uneven Blunted on Reality in 1994; the project flopped and nearly ended the band. Success arrived with the multi-platinum 1996 release The Score, which established the Fugees among rap’s leading acts through the hit singles “Killing Me Softly,” “Ready or Not,” and “No Woman, No Cry.”
Hill issued her own debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, in August 1998. Every song except a cover of Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” was written or co-written by her, and she received credit for arranging and producing the entire project. Rooted in her classic influences, the album reflected those roots both musically, as in the Motown-esque singalong “Doo Wop (That Thing),” and lyrically, as in the nostalgic “Every Ghetto, Every City.” While Miseducation held strong chart positions through the fall and winter of 1998, Hill became a national media figure, appearing on covers of magazines from Time and Esquire to Teen People. By year’s end the album dominated numerous best-of lists, and she was recognized for helping bring hip-hop into the mainstream. That trajectory reached its height at the February 1999 Grammy Awards, where she claimed five awards from eleven nominations, including Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, and Best R&B Album—the most ever won by a woman. Shortly afterward she mounted a widely praised national tour with Atlanta rappers OutKast.
Continued work on her solo career met several setbacks. She faced a lawsuit from musicians who said they had not received full credit for their contributions to Miseducation; the dispute was settled out of court. When planned film projects collapsed, Hill stepped back from music to raise her family, later linking the break to a sense that she had been overly constrained. The double-disc live set MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 arrived in May 2002, presenting an unvarnished, deeply personal performance that debuted at number three yet soon left the Billboard 200. In the following years her recordings and appearances stayed infrequent and unpredictable, one highlight being a Fugees reunion at Dave Chappelle’s Block Party. In 2013 she served nearly three months in prison for tax evasion, yet became more active after her release. The next year she narrated the English-language version of the Swedish documentary Concerning Violence. For the 2015 release Nina Revisited: A Tribute to Nina Simone she acted as executive producer and recorded six songs, among them renditions of “Feeling Good” and “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair.”
Growing up in South Orange, New Jersey, Hill absorbed her parents’ wide-ranging, multi-generational record collection from an early age. She began singing as a child and landed small parts on the daytime drama As the World Turns and in the film Sister Act II: Back in the Habit. Her on-again, off-again role in the Fugees started at thirteen and was repeatedly interrupted by acting work and attendance at Columbia University. After building a regional following in the tri-state area, the group issued its first album, the heavily promoted yet uneven Blunted on Reality in 1994; the project flopped and nearly ended the band. Success arrived with the multi-platinum 1996 release The Score, which established the Fugees among rap’s leading acts through the hit singles “Killing Me Softly,” “Ready or Not,” and “No Woman, No Cry.”
Hill issued her own debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, in August 1998. Every song except a cover of Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” was written or co-written by her, and she received credit for arranging and producing the entire project. Rooted in her classic influences, the album reflected those roots both musically, as in the Motown-esque singalong “Doo Wop (That Thing),” and lyrically, as in the nostalgic “Every Ghetto, Every City.” While Miseducation held strong chart positions through the fall and winter of 1998, Hill became a national media figure, appearing on covers of magazines from Time and Esquire to Teen People. By year’s end the album dominated numerous best-of lists, and she was recognized for helping bring hip-hop into the mainstream. That trajectory reached its height at the February 1999 Grammy Awards, where she claimed five awards from eleven nominations, including Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, and Best R&B Album—the most ever won by a woman. Shortly afterward she mounted a widely praised national tour with Atlanta rappers OutKast.
Continued work on her solo career met several setbacks. She faced a lawsuit from musicians who said they had not received full credit for their contributions to Miseducation; the dispute was settled out of court. When planned film projects collapsed, Hill stepped back from music to raise her family, later linking the break to a sense that she had been overly constrained. The double-disc live set MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 arrived in May 2002, presenting an unvarnished, deeply personal performance that debuted at number three yet soon left the Billboard 200. In the following years her recordings and appearances stayed infrequent and unpredictable, one highlight being a Fugees reunion at Dave Chappelle’s Block Party. In 2013 she served nearly three months in prison for tax evasion, yet became more active after her release. The next year she narrated the English-language version of the Swedish documentary Concerning Violence. For the 2015 release Nina Revisited: A Tribute to Nina Simone she acted as executive producer and recorded six songs, among them renditions of “Feeling Good” and “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair.”
Albums
