Today is Lauryn Hill’s birthday and she is celebrated in our culture more than just about any female we have ever seen in Hip-Hop. Lauryn Hill broke the mold of the female emcee’s image in the mid to late 90’s, both by her presents in The Fugees and her solo venture. But Lauryn left a gigantic hole in the Hip-Hop landscape in the 2000’s that female Hip-Hop in particular is still suffering from. The brilliance of The Fugees is one that I personally feel in under-appreciated in Hip-Hop. This group was the perfect mixer of everything. You had the musician in Clef, the businessman in Pras, and the lyricist and songbird in Lauryn. Another thing that makes The Fugees different than most Hip-Hop groups is the fact that two thirds of the group attended Ivy League Colleges. Clef didn’t, but he went to a school for music and clearly that paid off due to his incredible musicianship. The Fugees debut album “Blunted On Reality” was met with little fanfare as the group was still trying to find themselves and their sound. Fortunately their record label Ruffhouse/Columbia didn’t give up on them because their sophomore album “The Score” was one of the biggest albums in Hip-Hop history. The Score also is one of the most impressive follow-up albums that Hip-Hop had ever seen due to the fact that Blunted On Reality is far from classic. Pras jokingly proclaims that Blunted On Reality only sold 12 copies. Although we’re not sure on the real number of The Fugees debut album sales we know the sophomore album was a worldwide success selling 6 million copies in the United States alone.
In early 1995, Ruffhouse gave The Fugees a $135,000 advance and granted them complete artistic control for The Score. They used the money for recording equipment and set up a studio in Wyclef’s uncle’s basement. After this album The Fugees became international Rock Stars and Lauryn was the frontwoman for this Hip-Hop band. So clearly the desire for Lauryn to make a solo effort was on the minds of executives and fans alike. But The Fugees were a unit, so when Clef came out with “The Carnival” it almost read like a sequel of The Score. The whole group was involved, and just like The Score Lauryn Hill came with more brilliant BARS. This just made the thirst for a solo Lauryn Hill project grow even stronger. At this point we knew if we did get a Lauryn Hill album this would more than likely be the best mix of a Hip-Hop & R&B album that we have ever seen. Lauryn begin work on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, long story short this album sold 19 million copies worldwide, won 5 Grammys, and was included by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry. Being the first Hip-Hop album eve to win a Grammy for Album Of The Year. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is highly regarded as one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums ever made. But the unfortunate thing is that after this 1998 classic we received no more studio albums from The Fugees or Lauryn Hill. Lauryn knocked it out the park with her debut album and then gave us nothing but an Unplugged of acoustic sounding demos after that.
Not to dump on Lauryn on her birthday but I feel like a generation missed out. It’s not totally Lauryn’s responsibility to hold down the music industry but she was the Queen of a lane and when she went inactive that lane wasn’t occupied by a huge influential name/talent. Lauryn was a positive figure that young woman looked up to, her presence to this day left a large effect on a generation. People wonder why her fans in 2017 wait for hours to see her perform songs that are nearly 20 years old. It’s because that one album that Lauryn released affected lives. Now, imagine if Lauryn would have continued to create in the 2000’s. Would Nicki Minaj be a different type of artist than she is today? Would Lauryn have birthed more artist that took on a similar lane as her because of how her continued music would have affected them? Would we have had another great Fugee album that would have inspired others as well? Let’s be honest, female Hip-Hop in the 2000’s was at an all-time low. The few female emcees that were making critically acclaimed efforts weren’t getting the proper platform to showcase their efforts because of the void in the market. Record companies were looking for the next Lil Kim not the next Lauryn Hill. The music that was being put out by urban radio wasn’t raising the next Lauryn Hill. If Lauryn would have been making new music in the 2000’s that reality would be different.
Again, Lauryn is not responsible for all of us and she lives her life the way she wants to and sees fit. But it’s clear the effect that she had on a previous generation and I just think it’s unfortunate that the young women growing up in the 2000’s didn’t know what it felt like to anticipate a new Lauryn Hill album and play it for the first time. As I previously stated the hole that Lauryn Hill left in female Hip-Hop for not following up The Miseducation Of Lauryn female emcees are still suffering from today. But even with that said Lauryn we love you and salute and still hold on to hope that you will bring us another studio album someday.
