The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill: Going beyond what a textbook teaches (400th Review)

Lauryn Hill is a bonafied hip-hop superstar, and one of the few artists who remained true to hip-hop while simultaneously being incredibly successful on the mainstream. Lauryn Hill never sold her soul for club anthems. Lauryn never bragged about her money (trust me, she has plenty). Lauryn never sat there and talked about how many people she killed to gain street cred. Nope. I said before that it seems like the best albums that come out in any single music genre seem to be the ones in which the artist made for THEMSELVES, straying away from any sort of public or audience. Look back to your favorite albums and you too will realize that this is true.

Perhaps that could be the reason why The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is so good. Making a great hip-hop record is a challenge in itself. Now, making a great hip-hop album which is ALSO incredibly successful in the mainstream AND stacks Grammy Awards up the a-hole is perhaps the biggest challenge ever. Only a select few hip-hop artists can claim the fame to a Grammy (I think a few more deserve it), and Lauryn is one who can claim a ton. So the question remains, what is the magic formula that got people so stir-crazy over this album? Why is THIS album recognized as one of hip-hop's finer achievements, when a lot of the BEST hip-hop albums came out years prior? Honestly, we will probably never know. All I can honestly say is that L-Boogie deserves it.


Track List & Rating

1. Intro (NOT RATED)
2. Lost Ones (5 Stars)
3. Ex-Factor (5 Stars)
4. To Zion (5 Stars)
5. Doo Wop (That Thing) (5 Stars)
6. Superstar (4 Stars)
7. Final Hour (5 Stars)
8. When It Hurts So Bad (5 Stars)
9. I Used To Love Him (4 Stars)
10. Forgive Them Father (5 Stars)
11. Every Ghetto, Every City (4 Stars)
12. Nothing Even Matters (4 Stars)
13. Everything Is Everything (5 Stars)
14. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (4 1/2 Stars)
15. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You (5 Stars)
16. Tell Him (5 Stars)


The "Intro" serves its purpose: to introduce Lauryn's miseducation in a little metaphoric skit which is pretty fun to listen to, and pretty much explains what you're about to hear without really telling you. Lauryn's intentional hookie-playing only serves as an appetizer for a dish composed of a woman venting her emotions and breaking all musical and artistic barriers to do it.

Lauryn Hill is definitely not one to hide her emotions, but she also tells stories within her music. I'm not talking about ridiculous, fun stories like those told by Slick Rick, or the violent street tales told by Mobb Deep, but rather more personal diaries about things she has seen and experienced. Lauryn always has something to say, and most of it is from the perspective of a strong woman who experiences a ton of hardships as well as being happy.

"Lost Ones" is our first look at this. Lauryn looks at the overall view of life, telling us that the cycle seemingly never ends for us. I get it, and I can wholeheartedly agree. We as humans go through good, but then something bad comes out of it, and it's constantly balanced. Granted we all wish to have more good moments, that isn't always the case. Musically, the song is, simply put: awesome. The production is bouncy and catchy, and Lauryn's lyrics are powerful and well-written. Lauryn's overall rhyming ability can easily be put up there with the industry's best performers regardless of gender.

While L-Boogie has her fair share of bouncy, light-hearted tunes, she definitely doesn't hold back on the slower, more emotional tracks. A lot of these tracks primarily deal with love and heartbreak, but overall they are always things that the average human can relate to. Lauryn doesn't waste our time bragging about her money (which she does have), or feeding us bullshit stories about being "hood". That's not her thing. "Ex-Factor" is her thing. Lauryn serenades us about her lost love, realizing that he may be the only one for her, but the pain is far too powerful to stay. Anybody who knows me knows that I can relate, and I'm sure everybody else can too. Her vocals are as good as they can possibly be (which equates to excellent), and the music is steaming of emotion.

"It could all be so simple... But you'd rather make it hard
Loving you is like a battle... And we both end up with scars"

The lead single "Doo Wop (That Thing)" was one of the catchiest songs of 1997, and it brings back that nostalgic middle-school feeling to me. What is it about? Well, I'm sure anybody listening back then remembers, but I digress, it's simple. Life. Morality. Honor. All of this is touched on by Lauryn with her intelligent, poetic writing style. Lauryn educates us on leading a straight and narrow path in life and how sometimes you are dealt with obstacles that you must battle through. It's so true. It's amazing how L-Boogie can make a song this bouncy and energetic also contain a powerful message. An incredible piano medley backed by rugged bass and horns laces up the awesome beat, and Lauryn is second-to-none on the microphone:

"To begin, how you think you're really going to pretend
Like you wasn't down and you called him again?
Plus when, you give it up so easy you ain't even foolin' him
If you did it then, then you'd probably do it again
Talking out your neck, saying you're a Christian
A Muslim, sleeping with the Gin
Now that was the sin that did Jezebel in
Who're you going to tell when the repercussions spin?"

Likewise, "Final Hour" is not only a great song to listen to, but establishes Lauryn Hill as one of the most potent emcees. Lauryn's rhyme-schemes and vocabulary are top-notch, and the inner messages that she brings are truly inspirational. "You can get the money!... You can get the power!... But keep your eyes on the Final Hour!" means so much more than what's on the outside. You can sit there and lavish in your riches and boast about your materialistic objects, but you will forever be truly incomplete unless you find inner happiness. Regardless of how many cars you own or where you work or what your financial status is, you are also human and you bleed red and suffer through the same emotions other do. Money does not equal invincibility. I don't think I need to say that Lauryn Hill is a powerful emcee.

"When It Hurts So Bad" gets personal. Fans of the soulful songstress describing her pain upon a smooth backdrop (i.e. "Killin Me Softly") will easily open their arms for this song. Lauryn Hill cemented her status as a rapper and a singer, with powerful vocals as well as aggressive lyrics, and she is in full sing mode here. You're probably wondering what the song is about. Well, despite the title easily fooling some people into thinking that it's about doing your own dental work, Lauryn analyzes the painful emotions that one goes through during a breakup and when you find out that your love was not returned. Story of my life. The cruelty of faking a relationship is something that women go through a lot more often than men (cause men are pigs), but when it happens to us men, it's just as bad. "Found out the man I'd die for // he wasn't even concerned" says it all. You love somebody and you throw everything onto them to one day find out that it was for nothing. Sure, you never ask for something in return except time and love, but when you get neither, it is a battle lost. Lauryn may have lost this battle, but she's proving more and more that this album is a winner.

Skipping ahead, "Everything is Everything" was another smash single and with good reason. This is one of my favorite songs on the whole album. The first thing that seduces you is the production. An assortment of synthesized organs and strings, combined with lush scratching and a damn-near perfect bassline. I don't think I need to describe once again that Lauryn is a gifted songwriter, singer, and emcee, which is quite a difficult combination to balance. She does it. On "Everything is Everything", L-Boogie analyzes the human race's strange view on life and ability to be forgetful of the little things which make everything up. Her powerful serenading act only as a really good intro for her simply kick-ass verse.

"My practice extending across the atlas... I begat this
Flipping in the ghetto on a dirty mattress
You can't match this rapper slash actress
More powerful than two Cleopatras
Bomb graffiti on the tomb of Nefertiti
emcees ain't ready to take it to the Serengeti"

After the superb title track, the album closes with two awesome tracks. "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", is a simply superb cover of the Frankie Vallie love song. This is about as close as it gets to an R&B banger, with Lauryn's emotional and passionate singing, over powerful and sombre gospel production weaves together perfectly. The second bonus track, "Tell Him", continues her journey into telling the one she loves that she truly cares. The mood is very refreshing and unique, and lyrically she puts everybody else to shame. I can easily picture any R&B singer or emcee being envious of the talent that L was seemingly born with. These two tracks only bring an already classic album together.

There is a very strong chance that Lauryn Hill will never make an album as good as The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I don't think that it's the best hip-hop record ever, like most of the mainstream public would like you to think, but it's an incredible mix of soul and street-hop. Quite simply put: few albums sound as good, or even resembling, this one. Lauryn's life is something that not only the ladies can relate to, but the guys as well. I already knew before this album dropped that L-Boogie is one of the best emcees ever and never questioned her talent, so this just cements Lauryn's singing and rapping ability. She writes as good as any of the guys, and sings probably better than anybody on late night BET. Her songwriting ability is unparalleled to almost anybody, simultaneously having the ability to say so much with little words, but also being able to masterfully write complex, descriptive and dense rap verses. Either way, you'd be a fool to not at least listen to this once, regardless of how jaded a listener you may be. Lauryn Hill is deserving of her Grammies because not only did she win them for her, but she won them for hip-hop. To quote Nas: "We Will Prevail". Stay in school.

5 Stars




THE FUGEES (SHORT) DISCOGRAPHY:

The Fugees - Blunted on Reality

The Fugees - The Score