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The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was released soon after Lauryn Hill left the trio Fugees. Released by Ruffhouse and Columbia Records, the album manifested themes of relationships, love, motherhood, and interpersonal conflicts, and became the only solo studio album of the Grammy winner.
Released on August 19, 1998, with a playtime of over 77 minutes, the album had three singles - Doo Wop (That Thing), Ex-Factor, and Everything is Everything. Of the three, Doo Wop (That Thing) became Lauryn Hill's only single to ever hit the pinnacle of Billboard Hot 100.
Hill issues a warning to African-American men and women through Doo Wop (That Thing). The song admonishes modern relationships, i.e., the doo-wop culture introduced by African Americans in the 1940s. According to the singer, men and women are often responsible for their demise, warning them against 'that thing' - a euphemism for both monetary and physical desires.
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Lauryn expresses her faith in humanity, stating that we need to be 'right within' for the collective development of society. The song also touches on patriarchy and how men mistreat women by using it as a tool. However, Hill states that women often catalyze their own miseries.
The trailblazing success of Lauryn Hill's Doo Wop (That Thing), explored
Doo Wop (That Thing) became a chartbuster from the day it was released, reaching the pinnacle of the Billboard Hot 100 list in its debut week. Lauryn Hill became the first woman after Debbie Gibson (for 1989's Lost in Your Eyes) to have produced and written a Billboard-topping single.
She also joined juggernauts like Roberta Flack, Sinead O'Connor, Linda Goldstein, Valerie Simpson, and Ellie Greenwich to become only the sixth woman in history to produce a number-one single. Doo Wop (That Thing) was also the first rap single by a woman rapper to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in its debut week. The song remained at the top for two weeks, setting the record for the longest-running song at number 1 by a solo woman rapper (until Cardi B's Bodak Yellow broke it in 2017).
Furthermore, the song peaked atop Billboard's Hot Rap Songs chart, making Hill the first solo woman to top both Billboard charts simultaneously (it was matched only in 2021 by Cardi B's Up). Doo Wop (That Thing) reached single digits in several countries worldwide. It also peaked at #1 in Iceland, and at #3 in the United Kingdon Hip-Hop and R&B Chart.
The song was also accompanied by a music video directed by Monty Whitebloom and Andy Delaney. Split into two screens, Lauryn Hill pays homage to both R&B and hip-hop culture through the video. The video currently has 190 million views on YouTube and is one of the most-viewed music videos in Lauryn Hill's extravagant repertoire of works.
Doo Wop (That Thing) also won big at the 41st Grammy Awards, bagging Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. This was accompanied by the parent album winning Best R&B Album and the prestigious Album of the Year.
Finally, the music video bagged Best Female Video, Best R&B Video, Best Art Direction, and Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards. Hill also received the Michael Jackson Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video at the Soul Train Music Awards.
In recent news, Lauryn Hill has been on The Miseducation Anniversary Tour with the Fugees and special guest YG Marley, which kicked off on August 9, 2024.
