Day 0870 - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” (1998)

Following the Fugee’s phenomenally successful album 'the Score', Hill helped fellow Fugee Wyclef Jean with his solo album, then started on her own.  She struck writers block but found a well of inspiration following the birth of her first child.

The resultant album is brilliant and powerful.  Hill mixes RnB, pop, hip-hop and dub but manages to make it all sit together cohesively.

After a brief school roll-call styled intro, the album hits the ground running with "Lost Ones" with Hill rapping over a sparse but funky track that kind of brings to mind the Roots for some reason.   The album almost immediately switches gears to deliver the soulful pop of "Ex-Factor".

Lauryn switches back and forth between rapping ("Final Hour" is as good a set of rhymes as any of her contemporaries) and singing (like on the beautifully harmonised "I Used to Love Him").  

To date, this appears to be the only full-length solo release from Lauryn Hill.   Quality over quantity I guess.

Day 0834 - The Score

Fugees "The Score" (1996) - got it

Another of those albums/artists that was everywhere when I was in high school.   The Fugees had evolved from an earlier group featuring members Lauryn Hill and Pras.  They were joined by Wyclef Jean and renamed themselves Fugees (short for Refugees or Refugee Camp).

The Fugees' second album 'the Score' lays out a definite political/conscious hip-hop sound.  Making use of plenty of existing material, but instead of just sampling and working over the top of it, the group chose to largely re-record what they use.  They covered Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly" and Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry", but also utilised (and repurposed) parts of "Ready or not" by the Delfonics for their own song of the same name.

The album was a hit, but then the three Fugees busied themselves with solo projects and, sadly, to this day have never really produced anything further together, save one leaked single.