'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEE/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQb/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAALkBaT//xAAgEAACAAUFAQAAAAAAAAAAAAABAwACBAYRBRMUIUJT/9oACAEBAAE/ALyu4zVOo5phy2pRsO+PYiouQB7AUA4mPkR//8QAGBEAAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIAERL/2gAIAQIBAT8AwGUXP//EABcRAAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABIgL/2gAIAQMBAT8AzDk//9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Apple Music's Best Albums list went viral this past week for its final Top 10 projects, which ranked Lauryn Hill's debut, and only official solo album release in her career, titled The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as the best album of all time.
This project was released back in 1998 and over the years has garnered significant praise from the Hip/Hop and R&B communities, with many regarding The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as being one of the most influential pieces of work ever released.
Trending
Lauryn became the first woman to ever win 5 or more Grammy Awards, with the Recording Academy stating that her debut project was the only Hip/Hop LP to ever win the "Album of the Year" award.
Apple Music's Ebro Darden explained the reason why this project topped the streaming company's "All Time" list when he stated:
"This album delivers on so many levels. It exemplifies and captures popular music of the last 25 years, holistically. It’s R&B, it’s hip-hop, it’s independent women, strong women, it’s topical, it’s sampling… I think that’s why it got voted number one."
A track-by-track review of Lauryn Hill's debut album
The American vocalist's debut album is one of the most contemporary pieces of music released over the past three decades, with many artists like Nicki Minaj, SZA, and Beyonce, curating their sound and style similar to the vibe captured on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
The album is extremely self-reflective with a complete runtime of one hour and 17 minutes. The record was directed to resemble Hill's perspective on life, intertwined with heavy Pop and R&B production, which all come together to paint a picture of Lauryn's unique artistic mindset. The project dives into themes of:
- Relationships
- Love
- Education
- Success
- Mindset
- Acceptance
- Motivation
- Parents and Children
- Fame
- Luxury
- Maturity
- Hope
- Strength
- Happiness
- Visionary
Disclaimer: The following review is rated EXPLICIT. Reader discretion is advised.
Intro (Roll Call)
The album opens by placing listeners in the middle of classroom roll-call with the only student absent being "Lauryn Hill." This introduces the idea of her miseducation stemming from instances where she skipped out on important life lessons.
Lost Ones
Opening with a classic 90s Hip-Hop beat, we are led into Lost Ones with Lauryn rapping about a lost relationship. Her flow and rhyme schemes are ear candy as she floats through each pocket effortlessly while building out a message to her ex-partner, as seen in lines like:
"Every man wanna act like he's exempt / Need to get down on his knees and repent / Can't slick talk on the day of judgment / Your movement's similar to a serpent"
Ex-factor
Lauryn uses clever wordplay while naming this track by alluding to an "Ex-relationship" and "X-factor," which means having a special quality for success.
Over the years, this song has been heavily discussed for Lauryn intentionally writing this song about her ex-bandmate Wyclef Jean, who seemingly had an intimate relationship with Hill while being married to Claudinette Jean. Notable bars from this song include:
"I keep letting you back in / How can I explain myself? / As painful as this thing has been / I just can't be with no one else"
To Zion (Feat. Carlos Santana)
Lauryn dedicates this track to her first-born son Zion, who was fathered by Bob Marley’s son (Rohan Marley), and was only a year old when this album was released.
The song revolves around Hill's conflicted mindset regarding Zion's birth, with her explaining that choosing to bear a child was more important than her career, best noticed in lines like:
"Unsure of what the balance held / I touched my belly overwhelmed / By what I had been chosen to perform / But then an angel came one day / Told me to kneel down and pray / For unto me a man-child would be born"
Doo Wop (That Thing)
Arguably one of Lauryn's biggest songs to date, Doo Wop (That Thing) became the first debut single to hit No. 1 in the history of Billboard magazine. The track samples 5th Dimension's 1971 single Together Let's Find Love on the upbeat production.
"Let's stop pretend, the ones that pack pistols by they waist men / Cristal by the case men, still in they mother's basement / The pretty-face men claiming that they did a bid men / Need to take care of they three or four kids" - Lauryn raps on Doo Wop.
Superstar
On this track, we find Lauryn speaking on the corruption of an artist's creativity as they climb higher into the "Superstar" category. The chorus drives this theme home with a heartfelt performance over a classic blend of 90s R&B and Hip/Hop, with lines like:
"C'mon baby light my fire / Everything you drop is so tired / Music is supposed to inspire / How come we ain't gettin' no higher?"
Final Hour
A fresh instrumental that masterfully blends a live presentation of Jazz and Hip/Hop is one of the key factors for why this track stands out. Lauryn spends a lot of Final Hour highlighting themes like Maturity, Repentance, Love, Hope, and Strength.
Hill's MC skills shine as the artist crafts creative metaphors sprung out of bouncy rhyme schemes, with notable lines like:
"Get diplomatic immunity in every ghetto community / Had opportunity went from Hoodshock to Hood-chic / But it ain't what you cop, it's about what you keep / And even if there are leaks, you can't capsize this ship / 'Cause I baptize my lips every time I take a sip"
When It Hurts So Bad
In When It Hurts So Bad, Lauryn speaks on a failing relationship where she explains how although it may seem that their partnership ended, she is unwilling to give up on that love.
The outro of the track also goes back to the classroom skit with the student explaining his opinion of "Love," seen on lines like:
"I feel like love right now is like confusion / It's like people think they love somebody / When they don't really love somebody / Like I thought I was in love with this girl but I really wasn't / It's like now, I don't feel about her"
I Used to Love Him (Feat. Mary J. Blige)
Lauryn partners up with Mary Blige to deliver an emotional response to relationships on the track I Used to Love Him. Both artists speak on the issues they faced in their relationships and highlight many of the reasons for it never working out, explaining why they no longer love their partners.
The song is filled with themes of Manipulation, Love, Deception, and Partnerships, best evidenced in lines like:
"As I look at what I've done / The type of life that I've lived / How many things I pray the father will forgive / One situation involved a young man / He was the ocean and I was the sand / He stole my heart like a thief in the night / Dulled my senses and blurried my sight / And I used to love him"
Forgive Them Father
The funky production on Forgive Them Father appears to have gained its inspiration from Concrete Jungle by Bob Marley. Stacked with Jamaican firepower, this track employs Shelley Thunder for backing vocals floating over a guitar-heavy instrumental, credited to Julian Marley.
"It took me a little while to discover / Wolves in sheep coats who pretend to be lovers / Men who lack conscience will even lie to themselves, to themselves / A friend once said, and I found to be true / That everyday people, they lie to God too / So what makes you think, that they won't lie to you?" - Lauryn Hill sings on 'Forgive Them Father'
Every Ghetto, Every City
Lauryn takes listeners through a story about her life, highlighting what it was like growing up in her hometown of South Orange, New Jersey, and interpreting the similarities between her experience with millions of others growing up in bustling cities.
The artist recounting the positive and negative aspects of her young life by recreating vivid scenarios makes Every Ghetto, Every City one of the more inspirational pieces on this album, with memorable lines like:
"Move the patch from my Lee's to the tongue of my shoes / 'Member, Freling-Huysen used to have the bomb leather / Back when Doug Fresh and Slick Rick was together / Looking at the crew, we thought we'd all live forever"
Nothing Even Matters (Feat. D’Angelo)
Singing about Love and Relationships on Nothing Even Matters, Lauryn teams up with D'Angelo to deliver beautiful melodies on the classic R&B beat filled with transient instruments to highlight the emotional response to losing a relationship.
It appears the lyrics are dedicated to Hill's ex (Rohan Marley) who fathered six of her children, throughout their relationship from 1996 - 2009, including Zion to whom the fourth track on this album was written.
"These buildings could drift out to sea / Some natural catastrophe / Still, there's no place I'd rather be / 'Cause nothing even matters to me" - Lauryn Hill sings on 'Nothing Even Matters'
Everything Is Everything
This track is notable for its inspiring theme of resilience, with Lauryn highlighting the importance of teaching the youth to positively deal with societal issues like Racial Injustice, Money Struggles, and Ambitious Dreams.
Hill raps on Everything Is Everything with exceptional precision and delivery, over notable lines like:
"Adjacent to the king, fear no human being / Roll with cherubims to Nassau Coliseum (What?) / Now hear this mixture, where Hip Hop meets scripture (Uh) / Develop a negative into a positive picture"
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
The final track on Lauryn Hill's debut album is titled The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. As per Genius, the artist explained her vision for the song during a special message to fans that explained her goal for this record was to highlight the importance of "movement, growth and inspiration."
The song takes listeners through Lauryn's mindset as she navigates the changing world, hoping for solace in her own identity and vision, best evidenced by lines like:
"I look at my environment and wonder where the fire went / What happened to everything we used to be, I hear so many cry for help / Searching outside of themselves / Now I know that His strength is within me"
Officially, the album ends at track 14, with two bonus songs, Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You and Tell Him, being included on the tracklist post-release. Although both these songs are thematically similar to the album, this review only considered Lauryn Hill's original tracklist.
Hill's album is truly an exceptional listen for music fans of all generations, given the ease with which Lauryn weaves through socially relatable issues and concerns, inviting listeners into her worldview.
Each song feels like a movie with an intricate yet understandable storyline, which is highly likely why The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is praised for being one of the greatest debut albums of all time.
