The Re-Education

Matt Altstiel
12/04/06
GLOS 3900

The Re-Education by Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill, to me doesn’t just represent one of the best female rappers of all time, but one of the best MCs period. Her voice has to be considered one of the most expressive and emotive of any rapper. Furthermore, Hill’s ability to blend musical styles and excel in a variety of musical genres also presents her as a formidable musical talent. From an early age, Hill has been performing; whether it be as an MC, singer or actress. Few MCs have the lyrical talent to capture the harsh reality of street life, the power of love and combat political apathy within a single verse, let alone a single album. As a group member of the Fugees and as a solo artist, Hill has preferred quality over quantity as witnessed by her limited number of album releases and non-album tracks. The deep faith and conviction conveyed by Hill in her lyrical content are the mark of a multi-layered, complicated artist.

Hill began her career very early already landing a spot at the world famous Apollo Theatre in Harlem by the age of thirteen in 1988. Hill, along with fellow high school classmates and neighborhood friends, Wyclef Jean and Prakazrel Michel, comprised the now legendary group, the Fugees. While both Fugees’ albums played to the individual strengths of all three members, Hill’s commanding rap and singing voice clearly leant the group its sonic force and unique feeling. The group’s biggest landmark hits “Ready or Not” and “Killing Them Softly” feature Hill as the prominent vocalist. The second album, The Score, far superior in lyrical content and scope to its predecessor, was hailed as an incredible achievement in Hip Hop and secured two Grammy awards. As the group reached massive popularity, internal conflict prompted each individual member to peruse a solo recording career.

As a solo artist, Hill released The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998. The album showcased nearly every single skill Hill possessed in her artistic arsenal, by this point honed for over ten years. Not only did the album obliterate the previous Hip Hop record sale marks with 18 million, it garnered lavish critical praise. The African American community praised the album by showering it with 4 NAACP Image Awards. The Grammy’s provided another career highlight by awarding Hill with the distinction of five Grammy’s, the most ever received by a female artist. Part of the album’s massive popularity was the mega-hit “Doo-Wop (That Thing).” Always critical of the social climate of Hip Hop, the song’s pointed lyrics mocked the excessive patriarchy displayed within the genre.

Never content with one artistic direction, Hill released from an extended artistic hiatus in 2002 to release her MTV Unplugged album. The album marked a sharp turn from traditional Hip Hop as her voice and an acoustic guitar were the only instruments. An intensely personal collection of songs, Hill striped away the excessive production and pretense of rap by refusing to apologize for the heavy lyrical nature of the songs. Her voice, strained from a respiratory illness, lead more credibility and reality to her lyrics than through simple words alone. The album also showed the incredible self-transformation within Hill that occurred during her hiatus. Rather than be sucked into the radio Hip Hop formula, she escaped in order to find deeper meaning within her music and preserve her own individuality.

Hill’s career path, clearly tackling increasingly difficult subject matter with unparallel clarity, will most likely not be replicated. The ability of Hill to be taken seriously not only as a street smart, world weary MC, but also as a soul and reggae vocalist is a testament to her artistic talent. Furthermore, given the potential ease for Hill to succumb to the trappings of commercial success; her artistic reinventions are all the more startling. Lauryn Hill certainly did not invent Hip Hop, but her own personal and artistic reinterpretations have created a wholly unique version of the genre.