She later admitted that she was shocked by the amount of attention that the album won her and was overwhelmed by the unrealistic expectations of her label and the music industry as a whole. The album went on to influence a slew of artists in the years after its release, and it radically altered the trajectory of Hill’s life and career. The release of her debut solo album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” rocketed her to astronomical success.

Despite the massive success of The Fugees (with hit singles like “Killing Me Softly,” “Ready or Not” and “Fu-Gee-La”), Hill decided to go solo in 1998. As part of the group, Hill made a name for herself for her cutting rhymes and melodic singing. It was in her freshman year of high school in 1991 that she was approached by Pras Michel, a Haitian immigrant, to form the rap group The Fugees. The album was called both a masterpiece and an unfortunate fall from grace. Her devout Baptist parents instilled in her from a young age the importance of faith, which would later go on to shape much of her artistic sensibility. Hill’s ability to wrestle with the realities of original sin and grace-as they apply to both her own life and the institutions that hold power in our society today-echo the prophetic sensibilities of the greatest religious figures and musical artists.Ī New Jersey native, Hill was born in Newark and then moved to the more suburban South Orange, where she eventually attended Columbia High School. 2.0.” Consisting of 13 acoustic guitar-driven songs-half-rapped, half sung-and nine spoken interludes, all littered with biblical references, the album was called a masterpiece by some (including Kanye West, who sampled one of the tracks on his debut album), while others, citing her cracking vocals and extended “rants,” saw it as an unfortunate fall from grace.ĭespite its mixed reception at the time, today the album leaves listeners with questions and provocations that are just as relevant as they were 20 years ago, if not more so. Twenty years ago, the singer and rapper Lauryn Hill divided critics and fans with the release of her album “MTV Unplugged No.

Lauryn hill mtv unplugged no 2.0