Where did Lauryn Hill grow up? Singer's early years explored

With eight Grammys, four Guinness World Records, and uncountable timeless classics, Lauryn Hill has established herself as one of the pioneering female artists in history. The 49-year-old is often credited with breaking barriers for female rappers across the world and popularizing genres like neo-soul and melodic rap.

Despite the unprecedented fame, Lauryn Hill had humble beginnings. The Fugees rapper was born on May 26, 1975, in East Orange, New Jersey to Valerie Hill and Mal Hill. Her father was a computer and management consultant while her mother was an English teacher. Hill grew up in South Orange with her family.

A young Lauryn was a bright student with multiple interests. However, music has been her passion since the very beginning. She spent countless hours listening to artists like Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Gladys Knight, and Aretha Franklin in her childhood, often falling asleep while listening to these veterans.

Hill's first breakthrough as a singer came when she performed The Star-Spangled Banner before a middle school basketball match. Her rendition was appreciated so much that the record was played in all subsequent games. At 13, she also appeared as an amateur night contestant on It's Showtime At The Apollo.

After middle school, Hill went to Columbia High School, where she founded the school's gospel choir, took violin lessons, and learned how to dance. In addition to her inclination towards music, Lauryn Hill was academically bright. She took advanced placement courses and received top grades in most subjects. Her teachers hailed her as a natural leader.

In a 2000 interview with the Academy of Achievement, the Fugees rapper recalled her time in school, elaborating on her academic prowess. She said:

"I had a love for—I don't know if it was necessarily for academics, more than it just was for achieving, period. If it was academics, if it was sports, if it was music, if it was dance, whatever it was, I was always driven to do a lot in whatever field or whatever area I was focusing on at the moment."

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Lauryn Hill: From high school student to Fugees founder

Fugees And Ms Lauryn Hill Perform At Scotiabank Arena - Source: Getty (Image via Mathew Tsang/Getty Images)

It was in the freshman year of high school that Lauryn Hill founded The Fugees, with classmate Pras Michel and his cousin, Wyclef Jean. The band was initially called Translator Crew but was later renamed Fugees. The word is an abbreviation for 'refugees' and refers to a derogatory term used for Haitian Americans.

The trio started their journey with performances at local clubs and talent search competitions. Despite starting as a singer, Hill taught herself rapping to diversify the output of the band. During this time, Hill's talents as an actor were also noticed for the first time. She started taking acting lessons in Manhattan and appeared in Broadway shows like Club XII and a reimagination of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night using hip-hop influences.

One of the biggest breakthroughs in her acting career was when she co-starred alongside Whoopi Goldberg in 1993's Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. She also appeared in Steven Soderbergh's 1993 film King of the Hill. Although the role was a minor one, it received widespread critical acclaim.

After graduating from high school in 1993, Lauryn Hill released her first album with Fugees called Blunted on Reality. Their debut work was poorly reviewed by critics despite hitting #62 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart. However, Lauryn Hill's rap verse in the song Some Seek Stardom was seen as a major highlight of the album.

In 1996, the trio released its second album called The Score. Peaking at the pinnacle of the U.S. Billboard 200, the album catapulted Fugees to fame. The song sold more than 20 million units worldwide and bagged Best Rap Album at the Grammys. Singles like Fu-Gee-La and Ready or Not became testimonies of Lauryn Hill's singing and rapping prowess

At 21, Hill enrolled at Columbia University for a major in history. However, she withdrew a year later when the sales of The Score skyrocketed.

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The members of Fugees took a hiatus in 1997 to pursue their solo careers. A year later, Lauryn Hill released her first (and only) solo album called The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which became one of the highest-selling albums in history. Hill's debut solo work also won Album of the Year and Best R&B Album at the Grammys.