The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
I was 13 or 14 when I first heard The miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I was probably too young to grasp some of its content and its meaning but that didn't stop me from playing it. It was in retrospect the first album by a female artist that I had listened to in depth. It got me with its smooth sounds, funky beats and its lyrics (which I would try to sing along to when I played it).Released in 1998 the album had 14 tracks listed on it's album cover but it contained 2 hidden tracks (if memory serves me correctly). It featured D'Angelo (nothing even matters) and Mary J Blige (I used to love him) as guest artists and I recently learned that John Legend played the piano accompaniment on the track Everything is Everything.
She talks about the complexities and beauty of love and relationships in tracks like "tell him", "ex-factor", "when it hurts so bad", "nothing even matters" and "I used to love him". On "superstar" I think she was talking about music not inspiring whilst on "to zion" she sings about her son Zion and that whilst his may not have a been a planned pregnancy she's happy and feels blessed to be having him. Then there are the inspirational songs like "everything is everything". "doo wop"'s chorus serves like a warning while in the verses she sings about young people selling ourselves short, asking us to reassess what's important.
Video: Doo Wop (that thing) 1998
I haven't covered all the songs on the album but clearly its an album that was worth all its acclaim. It won 5 Grammy awards, was ranked #37 on Vh1's Greatest album of all time while on Rolling Stone magazine it ranked #312 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Click here to listen to the tracks and view its lyrics.
Labels: Lauryn Hill, music, review
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